assessment of damages

An assessment of damages is the process by which a court takes to determine the extent of the loss suffered by the litigation who has been the subject of a breach of contract or other legal liability giving rise to the legal liability in damages. During the assessment, the court will consider the evidence of the parties said to give rise to the losses sustained and determine the quantum of liability.

An assessment of damages should be distinguished from an inquiry as to damages, which in English procedure are separate proceedings from those to determine liability in the first instance.  An inquiry as to damages will be ordered where the evidence or law to be applied in assessing the damages in the particular case is complex or there is some other good ground to spilt the trial into these two distinct stages.

When assessing damages, the tests to be applied are: (1) what type of loss would usually arise from the breach in question, and (2) what type of loss would reasonably arise having regard for the knowledge of the parties at the time of the contract.

Usage: The assessment of damages was the preferred remedy over an account of profits.

Related Words: breach of contract; account of profits; damages; direct loss; consequential loss; locus standi; injunction; financial loss; nominal damages.