Punitive Damages - Alive and Well   

Generally speaking, the civil justice system is designed to compensate, not to punish.  While most of us would rightfully be upset when someone fails to fulfill their contract with us, the law does not and will not compensate us for the associated aggravation in a business dispute.   

For example, if you pay somebody to paint your house for X dollars and he or she fails to do the work.   Maybe the painter was overscheduled; may the painter took ill; maybe the painter woke up one day and said "I don't feel like being a painter anymore."

What to do?  You can hire another painter to paint the house.  But what if the new painter charges Y dollars?  The law entitles you to recover the difference, if any, between X and Y from the original painter.  These are your damages and the law entitles you to recover them.  Your being upset, however justified, is not compensable.

Does our civil justice system ever punish?   It can and it does.

When somebody enters into an agreement that they neither have the ability nor the intention to perform, that is something quite darker. That is not merely the failure to honor an agreement, it is a fraud.    And our system of justice takes such conduct very seriously and does incorporate mechanisms to deal with it, sometimes quite harshly.   Enter punitive damages.

As its name implies, punitive damages are designed to punish.  While not ordinarily available in most cases, they can be had in the right case ... a case where intentional deceit or other similar conduct is proven.

Recently, the Easton, Maryland law Firm of Jacobs and Barney successfully tried such a case before a Dorchester County, Maryland jury.

In the matter of Ashubrn v. Wrightson et ux.,  Case No.  09-C-10-017817-CN, a relatively wealthy couple were interested in purchasing Ms. Ashburn's family farm - a farm of signficiant size - then owned by a number of Ms. Ashburn's siblings.   For their part, the Wrightsons made promises to Ms. Ashburn to convey to her a modest parcel of land with the farmhouse if she helped them to buy the farm a favorable purchase price.

Ms. Ashburn did as she was requested, helping the Wrightsons purchase the farm, something that they could not have done but for Ms. Ashburns efforts on their behalf.

Once the Wrightsons got what they wanted  - the Ashburn family farm - they walked away from Ms. Ashubrn and dishonored their agreeement with her.  Left with little choice and no home, Ms. Ashburn filed suit.

Based upon the evidence presented at trial, the jury found that the Wrightsons had engaged in intentional fraud and awarded punitive damages as well as significant compensatory damages, together totalling over One Millions Dollars ($1,000,000.00).

While punitive damages are not ordinary, the fine work of Michael Jacobs, Esq. and his daugher and partner, Melanie Barney, Esq., just goes to show that punitive damages are alive and well in Maryland.

Congratulations to Mike and Mel for a job well done on behalf of their client.


For more information, direct all inquires to Michael Jacobs, Esq. at (410) 820-7600.