Compensatory Damages
Monetary damages awarded to compensate a party for actual losses caused by another's breach or wrong.
Compensatory damages put the injured party in the financial position they would have been in had the breach or wrong not occurred. They cover actual, provable loss, lost profits, repair costs, replacement costs, foreseeable consequential damages.
Two categories: general damages flow directly from the wrong (the unpaid invoice itself), and consequential damages flow from the surrounding circumstances (downstream contracts the breach caused). The latter must be reasonably foreseeable to be recoverable.
California limits damages by mitigation requirements, the injured party must take reasonable steps to reduce their loss. Speculative or hypothetical damages are not recoverable. We document the loss carefully so the number stands up at trial.
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