In rare personal injury cases, punitive damages constitute a large portion of the compensation awarded to a plaintiff. Punitive damages are called “exemplary damages” under Texas law.
A Texas jury may award exemplary damages in a personal injury case to punish a defendant for outrageous conduct or extreme negligence and to deter similar behavior in the future. In a semi-trailer truck accident claim, for example, a law firm’s tractor-trailer accident attorney might ask a jury to award punitive damages if it had been established that the accident was caused by the truck driver’s intoxication behind the wheel and the trucking company knew the trucker had a history a drunk driving and kept the driver on the road anyway.
Most personal injury claims are meant to make an injured person financially whole by recovering compensation for their financial losses due to medical expenses, time out of work, vehicle damage, and pain and suffering caused by the trauma inflicted upon them. An experienced Dallas personal injury attorney at Kraft & Associates can evaluate the details of a serious accident and determine whether it’s appropriate to seek punitive damages as part of a claim. Our attorneys will follow the facts and develop the evidence and argument that allows us to demand all the compensation you are due, including punitive damages when warranted. Contact us for a free consultation about your claim.
What Are Punitive Damages in Texas?
The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code (Sec. 41) says exemplary damages are any damages awarded as a penalty or by way of punishment rather than for compensatory purposes. To award punitive damages, a jury must find that the plaintiff has proven with “clear and convincing evidence” that the harm the defendant inflicted upon the plaintiff was the product of:
- Malice – A specific intent by the defendant to cause substantial injury or harm to the claimant or
- Gross Negligence – An act or failure to act in which:
- A reasonable person would have recognized the extreme degree of risk and the probability of potential harm to others or
- the defendant had actual awareness of the risk involved but nevertheless proceeded with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others
- Fraud – an act of deception that is willful and performed with the intent to deceive.
A jury must vote unanimously to award punitive damages and must be unanimous on the amount of money it awards.
A jury can only award exemplary damages after it has awarded more than nominal economic and/or non-economic damages.
Economic damages are awarded for monetary losses, such as due to medical expenses, lost income, lost earning capacity, and property damage, such as a wrecked car. Non-economic damages are awarded for the harm the plaintiff has suffered, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of quality of life.
Texas Limits the Amount of Punitive Damages
In most cases, a jury in Texas is limited on the amount of compensation it may award in punitive damages. Under the law, the amount may not exceed an amount equal to the greater of:
- $200,000, or
- Two times the amount of economic damages awarded plus the amount of non-economic damages awarded, not to exceed $750,000.
However, the cap on punitive damages does not apply to cases involving any of 18 major crimes, such as murder; kidnapping; sexual assault; injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual; various types of fraud; bribery; intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter (often charged in drunk driving accidents leading to injury or death); or manufacture of methamphetamine.
How Do You Prove Punitive Damages?
For a civil jury to award punitive damages, it must have first awarded economic or non-economic damages. Then, the jury must agree unanimously that the injured person has proven with clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, gross negligence, or fraudulently.
Clear and convincing evidence is a more rigorous standard than “a preponderance of the evidence,” which is required to award economic or non-economic damages in personal injury cases.
The Texas statute about damages in civil cases defines clear and convincing evidence as the degree of proof that will produce in the mind of the jury a firm belief as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established.
In the drunk driving truck accident we used as an example above, our investigators would seek the trucker’s driving record and results of alcohol and drug tests, which are required by federal law and must be retained. If our attorneys find the at-fault truck driver has DWI convictions or failed tests (or a lack of testing), we would argue that allowing that driver to remain behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer was gross negligence.
Get Legal Help From a Dallas Tractor Trailer Accident Attorney
If you or a family member has been injured in a crash with a tractor-trailer or other heavy truck in Texas, an investigation by our Dallas truck accident attorneys may show that you have a right to demand punitive damages for the trauma you endured through no fault of your own. In special cases, punitive damages may be substantial.
At Kraft & Associates, P.C., we are committed to helping you seek all the compensation you need to rebuild your life after experiencing serious trauma. We have the resources and determination to investigate the cause of your injuries and to show what is owed to you by a trucker, trucking company, or other responsible parties.
Contact us today for a free assessment of your truck accident claim.
