Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: calculating damages

As the other answers have pointed out, punitive damages and damages for emotional distess are not available in breach of contract cases. If the breach in your case was a fraud and/or if the defendant had a fiduciary duty to you and violated it by the same act that breached the contract, you may be able to recover such damages.

HOWEVER, you will not be able to collect such damages if your complaint only alleged a breach of contract -- which your question suggests is the case. Defendants are entitled to notice of what they are accused of doing so they can gather evidence, conduct legal research and develop a defense strategy to use at the hearing. If your complaint alerted the defendant only to a breach of contract claim then you will not be allowed to add accusations of fraud or breach of fiduciary duty at the hearing.

If you have already filed your papers you may be able to amend your complaint to include these allegations. You will have to serve the amended complaint on the defendant and you may need to reschedule the hearing if it is coming up soon -- defendants are entitled not only to know what they are accused of doing but also to have sufficient time to use that knowledge to prepare their defense.

I should add that most small claims court judges are very reluctant to impose punitive damages. Even if your judge is more willing, the defendant's financial condition is a factor in calculating those damages and you are technically the one with the burden of proving what the defendant's condition is.

Finally, I want to clarify something Mr. Starrett said. The *total* amount of your damages must be $7,500 or less, since that is the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court. This amount does not include interest and court costs, which can increase your total award beyond the $7,500 limit.

Re: calculating damages

You can't recoverage emotional distress damages unless you can prove fraud. You cannot recover punitive damages unless you can show "fraud, malice or oppression" by "clear and convincing evidence".

Assuming you can prove fraud, emotional distress damages are completely at the discretion of the small claims judge. Punitive damages are based on the financial status of the defendant and cannot exceed 9 times the oompensatory damages and cannot exceed the small claims limit that is applicable to your case.

Re: calculating damages

In addition to what Mr. Starrett has said, I will add that in California a plaintiff may not ask for a specific amount of punitive damages, in any court. You just ask for punitive damages and the judge or jury figures the amount.

Re: calculating damages

In addition to my colleagues' points, you might ask for simple (not compound) interest from the date of the breach, at the legal rate of 10% annually. You should calculate that in advance to help the judge.