PO210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Benjamin N. Cardozo, Punitive Damages, Strict Liability
Document Summary
The final element of a negligence claim is the damage (or harm) a plaintiff suffers as a proximate result of a defendant"s breach of duty. Under normal conditions, the type of harm protected by negligence law is physical (whether it be to person or property). It does not normally protect against pure economic loss (e. g. , if you get in my way as i drive to work, causing me to lose income), but it can protect against secondary losses that proximately flow from physical injury. Special categories of liability (1) strict liability: in certain circumstances a defendant may be held liable even in the absence of intent or negligence. As expressed earlier, damage awards are supposed to bring the plaintiff into a position that she would have been in but for the tort that has been committed. Two major types of damages: (1) compensatory: the aim is to compensate the losses incurred by the plaintiff.
