Litigation Lawyers in Havre

The civil litigation system in Havre, Montana is designed to provide compensation for persons who are injured because of the unlawful conduct of others. It is not much concerned with punishing or deterring wrongdoers.

There is an exception to this basic rule, however: in certain cases, a court in Havre, Montana will award damages designed to punish the wrongdoer, and deter others from future wrongdoing. This practice is recognized as "punitive damages."

You should be cognizant that courts in Havre, Montana are not especially fond of authorizing punitive damages, because they view it as a financial windfall that generally runs counter to civil litigation's primary purpose of compensating victims of wrongdoing for the harm they've suffered. However, if the conduct of the defendant was completely reprehensible and the harm caused was deliberate, a court might impose damages to punish the defendant, known as "punitive damages."

Conduct that can give rise to punitive damages in Havre, Montana

Generally personal injury cases in Havre, Montana involve injuries that the defendant did not intend to cause, but was still at fault in causing them (through negligence, for instance). In Havre, Montana, this is not enough to justify the award of punitive damages.

Punitive Damages in Havre, Montana are only awarded in cases where the actions of the plaintiff was intentional and highly immoral, or extremely reckless. In Havre, Montana, torts such as fraud, gross negligence, and theft are sufficient to award punitive damages. Courts consider numerous factors when deciding whether or not punitive damages are warranted. Courts will look at the nature of the act, as well as the defendant's intent in performing the act. This will be weighed, on a sliding scale, against the actual harm that the defendant's conduct caused to the plaintiff.

You should be cognizant of the fact that there are some pretty severe limits on punitive damages in Havre, Montana. The U.S. Supreme Court has found that there are constitutional limits on punitive damage awards. Punitive damages can't be too disproportionate to the actual damages that the plaintiff has suffered. Appeals courts have found that excessive punitive damage awards violate the defendant's right to due process, by depriving them of massive amounts of property.

A good rule of thumb for calculating the upper limit of punitive damages in Havre, Montana is that punitive damages can be no larger than compensatory damages times ten. This rule is not absolute, of course. Courts in Montana have a good deal of discretion in awarding punitive damages, and will decide them based on the facts of each case. Because of this, punitive damage awards larger than 10 times compensatory damages are occasionally upheld, while much smaller awards have been overturned, because they were deemed excessive in a certain case.

How Can a Havre, Montana Attorney Help?

Havre, Montana's courts have wide discretion in awarding punitive damages. Therefore, it is impractical to comprehensively discuss all the situations in which punitive damages can arise.

If you are immersed in a case in Havre, Montana where punitive damages are a possibility, a very large amount of money could be at stake, whether you are the plaintiff or defendant. You should not delay to speak with a civil litigation attorney in Havre, Montana