Additur conditionally increases an inadequate verdict, offering the defendant the increase or a new trial.

Anchoring is the tactic of suggesting a specific damages figure early to influence the range within which the factfinder ultimately decides.

The before-and-after method measures lost profits by comparing performance before and after the conduct at issue.

A bifurcated punitive phase tries the punitive damages amount separately after liability and compensatory damages are determined.

The billed versus paid dispute concerns whether recoverable medical damages are measured by amounts providers billed or the lower amounts actually...

The collateral source rule bars reducing a plaintiff's damages by payments received from independent sources such as health insurance, though many states...

Compensatory damages are money awarded to restore an injured party to the position they would have occupied but for the defendant's conduct.

Cost projection methodology is the approach used to estimate future expenses across the relevant time period.

Damages are the monetary compensation a court awards to remedy a legal injury, and they are the primary remedy in most civil litigation.

A damages cap is a statutory limit on recoverable damages, most commonly applied to non-economic or punitive awards rather than economic losses.

The discount rate converts future losses to present value, and small changes produce large differences in the total.

Disfigurement damages compensate for permanent alteration of appearance following injury.

Disgorgement requires a defendant to surrender profits obtained through wrongful conduct.

Economic damages are quantifiable financial losses such as medical expenses, lost income, and out-of-pocket costs caused by an injury.

Emotional distress damages compensate for psychological harm, subject to varying requirements for physical injury or manifestation.

Fee shifting requires one party to pay another's attorney fees, departing from the American Rule.

Future damages compensate for losses expected to occur after trial, reduced to present value.

Future medical expenses are the projected costs of treatment a plaintiff will require after trial, proven through expert testimony and reduced to present...

A golden rule argument asks jurors to place themselves in the plaintiff's position, which is improper in most jurisdictions.

The growth rate assumption projects how costs or earnings will increase over the damages period.

Hedonic damages purport to quantify the value of life itself through economic methodology, and are widely excluded.

Household services damages compensate for the value of domestic work a claimant can no longer perform.

A life care plan is an expert projection of an injured person's future medical and support needs, itemized by service, frequency, duration, and cost.

Life expectancy tables provide statistical estimates of remaining lifespan, used to project future damages periods.

Loss of consortium is a derivative claim by a spouse or family member for the loss of companionship, services, and intimacy caused by another's injury.

Loss of earning capacity compensates for the reduction in a plaintiff's ability to earn income in the future, separate from wages already lost.

Loss of enjoyment of life compensates for the reduced ability to experience life's pleasures following injury.

Lost profits analysis quantifies revenue a business would have earned absent the defendant's conduct.

Lost wages are the income a plaintiff did not earn because of the injury, from the date of harm through recovery or trial.

Medical specials are the total documented medical expenses claimed, past and sometimes future.

Mitigation of damages is the principle that a plaintiff must take reasonable steps to limit their losses and cannot recover for harm that reasonable...

The net accumulations method measures wrongful death economic loss as what the decedent would have saved rather than earned.

Nominal damages are a token award recognizing a legal wrong where no actual loss was proven.

Non-economic damages compensate for subjective losses such as pain, suffering, emotional distress, and diminished enjoyment of life.

Pain and suffering damages compensate for the physical discomfort and emotional distress caused by an injury.

Past medical expenses are charges for treatment received before trial, forming the documented component of medical damages.

A per diem argument asks the jury to value pain and suffering at a daily rate multiplied across the claimant's remaining life.

Post-judgment interest accrues on a judgment from entry until payment.

Prejudgment interest compensates for the delay between accrual of a claim and entry of judgment.

A preliminary injunction preserves the status quo during litigation pending final resolution.

Present value is the current worth of future damages after applying a discount rate, reflecting that a dollar received today is worth more than one...

Punitive damages are awarded to punish egregious misconduct and deter its repetition, over and above compensation for the plaintiff's loss.

A punitive damages cap is a statutory limit on punitive awards, expressed as a fixed amount, a multiple of compensatory damages, or both.

Ratio analysis examines the relationship between punitive and compensatory damages in assessing constitutional excessiveness.

Reasonable value of medical services is the measure of recoverable medical damages in jurisdictions rejecting billed charges.

Remittitur is a court-ordered reduction of an excessive jury verdict, typically offered to the plaintiff as an alternative to a new trial.

Reptile theory is a plaintiff trial strategy that frames a defendant's conduct as a threat to community safety in order to motivate larger jury awards.

Setoff is the reduction of a judgment by amounts already paid to the plaintiff, most often settlements with other defendants.

Settlement credit reduces a judgment against a non-settling defendant by amounts other defendants paid.

Statutory damages are amounts fixed by statute, available without proof of actual loss.

Survival damages compensate for the decedent's own losses between injury and death, recovered by the estate.

A temporary restraining order provides immediate short-term relief pending a preliminary injunction hearing.

Treble damages multiply the actual award by three, provided by statute for specified violations.

Work-life expectancy estimates the remaining years a person would have worked, used to project lost earnings.

Wrongful death damages compensate surviving family members for the losses caused by a death, with recoverable categories defined by state statute.

The yardstick method estimates lost profits by comparing the plaintiff to similar unaffected businesses.