What is Mitigation of Damages?
The legal duty of an injured party to take reasonable steps to minimize their losses and avoid making their injuries worse after an accident.
Understanding Mitigation of Damages
The duty to mitigate does not require the plaintiff to take extraordinary measures but rather to act as a reasonable person would to prevent further harm. Failure to follow medical advice, refusal to undergo recommended surgery, or unnecessarily delaying treatment can reduce the damages a plaintiff is entitled to recover. The defendant bears the burden of proving the plaintiff failed to mitigate.
Examples
- 1Defendant arguing plaintiff's damages increased because they skipped physical therapy
- 2Failure to seek medical treatment for weeks after an accident
- 3Plaintiff refusing recommended surgery that would have improved their condition
Related Terms
Damages
Monetary compensation awarded to a person injured through the wrongful conduct of another party. Damages are intended to restore the injured party to the position they were in before the injury occurred.
Economic Damages
Compensation for financial losses that can be calculated with specificity, including medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and future expenses.
Non-Economic Damages
Compensation for subjective, non-financial losses such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.
Reasonable and Necessary
The legal standard requiring that medical treatment and expenses be both medically appropriate for the condition and charged at a fair rate to be recoverable in a personal injury claim.
Per Diem Argument
A method of calculating pain and suffering damages by assigning a specific dollar amount to each day the plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer from their injuries.
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