How to Calculate TYPES OF Damages

When quantifying damages, you begin with Gross Damages, reduce that by certain factors to get Recoverable Damages, and end up with Net Damages, what you may net after deducting the expenses of your case.   Looking at your damages and case costs in this triangular way makes you a Realist, instead of a Dreamer – an essential step in evaluating your case.

Lawsuit Analyzer^© uses Recoverable Damages (your most likely outcome) to arrive at your Case Value and Settlement Value. Net Damages are to show you what you are likely to net after your legal process is complete.

It takes a four-step process to arrive at these all-important numbers:

Phase 5 of Lawsuit Analyzer^© quantifies damages assessment, along with several other assessments in Comprehensive Case Analysis:

The claimant, an author, hired a book printer to print his new self-published book. The price was $18,000 paid in advance. The contract included a Limitation on Damages clause and an Attorney Fee award provision. The books were delivered, and two-thirds of them were defective. The book printer said the books the author claimed were defective are within industry standard.

Phase 2, Damages Assessment. The author’s score is only ten since estimated Net Damages are above the Small Claims Court limit and he did not elect to decrease case value to fit the limit (which would have earned him 50 points). If not a Small Claims case, score is based on the amount of Net Damages with lower values earning less points. See more on how the author’s damages were arrived at under Comprehensive Case Assessment.

Phase 3,  Legal Options Assessment is only 50 out of 190 points primarily because the case will travel the long and complex road through the upper court system (which we refer to as the House of Horrors) since the value is above the Small Claims Court limit in the state where the case will be filed and since there is no Mediation or Arbitration provision, thus the House of Horrors will be the forum for the case. The 50 points earned is due to having an Attorney provision so if the author is represented by counsel and wins, he will not be out attorney fees.

Phase 4, Collectability Assessment of 150 is the highest possible score due to the fact that the printer is a corporation. See our Collectability page  for more on how collectability is assessed.

Feasibility Assessment is 76% out of 100% due to the low scores in Phase 2, Damages, and Phase 3, Legal Options. In lay terms, the case feasibility reduction is because the author will have to take a reasonably low-valued case through a two or more-year battle in the court system to obtain a judgment. He’s got an attorney and an Attorney Fee provision, but still it will be a long, stressful, adversarial journey.