Sheryl WeikalLet's talk about ad damnums. That's the part in the lawsuit that asks for a specific thing. Sometimes that's money. Sometimes that's what we call "equitable" or "non-monetary" relief, where what we're asking for is an order from the court requiring someone to do something.
There's a myth out there that you get whatever you ask for in your lawsuit, which leads to people asking for millions or billions of dollars in their ad damnums. But unless the plaintiff is Donald Trump and the defendant is a coward, that's not actually how anything works.
The number you ask for in your lawsuit is usually NOT actually what you get. A lot of people think that if you ask for $70 million in your lawsuit, and then you prove the defendant wronged you, they have to pay you $70 million. But damages aren't determined that way. You have to prove your damages.
"Damages" is legalese for the money you are owed. In some cases, like contracts, that's easy. You promised to pay me $10 for my widget, you didn't pay, you owe me $10. I can ask for a billion dollars in my complaint from now until the heat death of the universe, but I'm still only getting $10.
Now sometimes you'll hear about people getting large amounts of money for "pain and suffering" or "emotional distress."
"Pain and suffering" is usually legalese for "anticipated future medical expenses." If you've been in a car accident,
you get pain and suffering if you will need medical care for the future, or the amount you're being paid for the medical bills you have isn't enough to compensate you for extreme pain. Similarly, emotional distress is for extreme humiliation and the like caused by things like discrimination.
But neither of those things is available in all or even most cases. You aren't allowed to sue for emotional distress in most breach of contract cases, for instance. You can't get pain and suffering for your lemon law case.
Still, people think that big ad damnums are the rule because they generate headlines. But most of those news stories don't cover how those cases turn out - only that they were filed. And there's a rule that a mentor told me that ad damnums are like the Price is Right:
There's no penalty for being too low, but judges very well might penalize you if your demand is over what you can actually prove - especially if you're WAYYYY over. That's why I follow a pretty standard and boring practice of listing the jurisdictional minimum as the ad damnum in most of my cases.
_InfinityIf you ask for not less than a dollar but prove a million dollars at trial, you get a million dollars. But if you ask for not less than a million dollars but prove a dollar...you might have a problem.
So just remember this rule: it's not about what you ask for, it's about what you can prove.