The Law Dictionary

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LIQUIDATED AND UNLIQUIDATED DAMAGES Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

The former term is applicable when the amount of the damages has been ascertained by the judgment in the action, or when a specific sum of money has been expressly stipulated by the parties to a bond or other contract as the amount of damages to be recovered by either party for a breach of the agreement by the other. Watts v. Shep- pard, 2 Ala. 445; Smith v. Smith, 4 Wend. (N. Y.) 470: Keeble v. Keeble, 85 Ala. 552, 5 South. 149: Eakin v. Scott, 70 Tex. 442, 7 S. W. 777. Unliquidated damages are such as are not yet reduced to a certainty in respect of amount, nothing more being established than the plaintiff’s right to recover; or such as cannot be fixed by a mere mathematical calculation from ascertained data in the case. Cox v. Mclaughlin, 76 Cal. 60, 18 Pac. 100, 9 Am. St. Rep. 164.

TLD Example 1: The contract contained a liquidated damages clause, so the plaintiff in the breach of contract lawsuit did not have to prove the amount of its losses.

TLD Example 2: Personal injury lawsuits require a victim to present evidence establishing the amount of its unliquidated damages in order to receive compensation.

Disclaimer

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