Definition

1. Noun (Legal Term):
   • Twice the amount of compensatory damages: A legal remedy where a court awards an injured party twice the amount of money that would normally be calculated to compensate for their loss or injury. It is a form of punitive or statutory damages designed to punish the wrongdoer for particularly egregious conduct and to deter similar future actions.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The jury awarded the plaintiff double damages after finding the defendant's actions to be willful and malicious.
  • Under the consumer protection statute, the company may be liable for double damages for knowingly selling defective products.

Advanced Usage

• "to be subject to double damages": to be legally liable for paying twice the compensatory amount.
  • Landlords who violate this housing code provision are subject to double damages.
• "an award of double damages": the court's formal grant of this specific remedy.
  • The judge entered a judgment that included an award of double damages.

Variants and Related Words

• Treble damages (n): A similar legal remedy where the court awards three times the amount of compensatory damages.
  • The antitrust law allows for the recovery of treble damages.
• Compensatory damages (n): The standard monetary award intended to compensate the plaintiff for actual loss, which forms the base amount for calculating double damages.
• Statutory damages (n): Damages whose amount is stipulated within a statute, which may be a multiple (like double) of actual damages.

Synonyms

• Liquidated damages (in specific contexts): A predetermined sum stated in a contract as the amount to be paid in case of a breach, which can sometimes be a multiple of actual damages, though not always synonymous.
• Punitive damages: Damages intended to punish the defendant, which can include multiples like double damages, though punitive damages are often calculated differently.

Related Phrases

• "to sue for double damages": to initiate a legal claim seeking this specific remedy.
  • The attorney advised her to sue for double damages under the state's deceptive trade practices act.

Related Idioms

• This is a precise legal term and is not typically used in idiomatic expressions outside of legal contexts.

Noun

1. twice the amount that a court would normally find the injured party entitled to