A lawyer is suing a structural engineer on behalf of a client for $250,000 who’s garage slid off a hillside because of the struc
tural flaws missed by the engineer which caused it to slide away during a rainstorm. Assuming the court rules in favor of the client, what types of damages would be needed in order for them to be equally happy as they were before the garage fiasco?
The types of damages that would be needed in order for them to be equally happy as they were before the garage fiasco are:
a) Compensatory damages
b) Consequential damages
Explanation:
a) Compensatory Damages are claims paid to directly to compensate the non-breaching party for the value of what was damaged, not done, or performed. For this purpose, compensatory damages will be equal to the cost of getting the garages fixed.
b) Consequential Damages address the costs incurred by the non-breaching party as a result of damages done to other facilities. Example, the sliding off of the garage could have led to flood water damaging some other property, which were not the direct subject of the claim.
