Nominal damages are typically one dollar or a similar small sum, awarded where liability is established but actual damages are absent or unproven. They vindicate the right rather than compensate.
They may support fee shifting or punitive awards in some contexts.
Alternative Names:
Nominal Award, Token Damages
Why it Matters?
The practical significance is that a nominal award establishes prevailing party status, which can trigger fee shifting under statutes providing fees to a prevailing plaintiff. That converts a technically successful but economically empty claim into a substantial fee exposure. In constitutional and civil rights litigation the Supreme Court has confirmed that nominal damages redress a completed violation, preserving claims that would otherwise be moot.
Frequently Confused with
Frequently asked questions
Why do nominal damages matter?
Do they support punitive damages?
