Non-economic damages address harms without a market price: physical pain, mental anguish, emotional distress, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.
No formula governs their calculation. The factfinder assigns an amount based on the evidence, guided by argument and, in some states, statutory caps.
Alternative Names:
General Damages, Non-Pecuniary Damages
Why it Matters?
This is where verdicts become unpredictable and where nuclear verdicts originate, since there is no ceiling supplied by evidence. Plaintiff strategy makes the loss concrete through daily-life testimony and visual evidence. Defense strategy addresses it directly rather than ignoring it, since a defense that contests only economic damages implicitly concedes the larger number.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How do juries calculate non-economic damages?
Are non-economic damages capped everywhere?
