Damages and fees
A Section 1983 case can end in compensatory damages for what was done to you, nominal damages where a violation is proved but no loss is, and punitive damages against the officer, never against the City. A prevailing plaintiff may also recover attorney's fees from the defendants under Section 1988, and the New York City law, the New Jersey Civil Rights Act and New York's recording statute each have a fee provision of their own. Florida caps what the government pays and forbids punitive damages against it. This page goes through each kind of damages, who pays it, and how our fee works. It does not estimate what any case is worth.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
Damages in a police abuse case are governed by a handful of rules that decide who pays what: the Supreme Court's rule that a city never pays punitive damages, the fee statute that shifts the plaintiff's attorney's fees to the defendants, the New York statute that caps interest on a judgment against the City, the Florida statute that caps the judgment itself, and the federal rule that a prisoner cannot recover for mental or emotional injury without a physical one. This page goes through them. It does not put a number on anything; the what a case is worth page explains why. The law page has the rest of the framework.
Three kinds of damages
Compensatory
Compensatory damages are the money that compensates for what was done: the injury and its treatment, the loss of liberty and its consequences, the harm to a person's life that followed. They are proved with evidence, medical records, lost income, the testimony of the person and the people around them, and a jury decides them. Nothing on this site predicts them.
Nominal
Where a constitutional violation is proved but no measurable loss is, the remedy is nominal damages: a token amount that records the violation. The Supreme Court held in Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, 592 U.S. 279 (2021), that nominal damages redress a completed violation and keep a case alive. They are not a consolation prize. A plaintiff awarded nominal damages has prevailed, which is what the fee statute requires, and a nominal award can stand beside a punitive one.
Punitive
Punitive damages punish and deter, and under Section 1983 they run against the individual officer. They never run against the City: in City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, 453 U.S. 247 (1981), the Supreme Court held that a municipality is immune from punitive damages under Section 1983, while individual officers are not. The Second Circuit's decision in Garnett v. Undercover Officer C0039, 838 F.3d 265 (2d Cir. 2016), shows the pair in practice: in a fabricated-evidence case the jury awarded nominal damages plus $20,000 in punitive damages against the officer, and the court of appeals affirmed. That figure is a jury award in another person's case, reported in a published decision, not a benchmark and not a prediction. Under the City's 2021 law, punitive damages are in the court's discretion (N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-805).
Where the money comes from
The rules above decide who is liable for which kind of damages. The rules under which the City pays a judgment or a settlement entered against an individual officer are not published on this site, because they are not in our verified ledger. What is published, on the by the numbers page, is what the City paid in NYPD misconduct lawsuits by year, as public statistics with the Legal Aid Society as the source.
Attorney's fees, paid by the defendants
Section 1983 does not mention fees. Section 1988 does: in a Section 1983 action the court "may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs" (42 U.S.C. § 1988(b)). The award is separate from the damages and is paid by the defendants. It is the reason a case with modest compensatory damages can still be brought: a plaintiff who prevails, even on nominal damages, is a prevailing party.
The state and local statutes have their own fee provisions. Under the New York City law of 2021, attorney's fees and costs are recoverable with compensatory damages or with the $1,000 statutory damages election (N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-805); the $1,000 figure is a statutory election, not a cap. Under New York Civil Rights Law § 79-p, the right-to-record statute, the civil action carries damages, punitive damages and fees. Under § 79-n, the bias statute, fees are discretionary. Under the New Jersey Civil Rights Act the court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs (N.J.S.A. 10:6-2(f)). Florida's § 768.28 is a tort waiver and is not a fee-shifting statute in our ledger; we publish no Florida fee rule.
| Claim | Compensatory | Punitive | Fees | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 1983, against the officer | Yes | Yes | Yes, to the prevailing party | 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b); Uzuegbunam; Garnett |
| Section 1983, against the City (Monell) | Yes | No | Yes | City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, 453 U.S. 247 (1981) |
| N.Y.C. Admin. Code ch. 8 (NYPD) | Yes, or the $1,000 election | Court's discretion | Yes | N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-805 |
| N.Y. Civ. Rights Law § 79-p (recording) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Civ. Rights Law § 79-p |
| New Jersey Civil Rights Act | Yes | Not published here | Yes, to the prevailing party | N.J.S.A. 10:6-2(c), (f) |
| Florida, against the government | Capped: $200,000 per person, $300,000 per incident | No | Not published here | Fla. Stat. § 768.28(5)(a) |
Interest, caps and the prisoner rule
Interest on a judgment against the City of New York
Interest on a judgment against a municipal corporation in New York is a statutory figure and is capped: it "shall not exceed nine per centum per annum," and the rate on a wrongful death judgment is 6 percent (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 3-a). The settlement and trial page explains what happens after a verdict.
Florida: caps, no punitive damages, no prejudgment interest
Under Florida's sovereign immunity waiver, damages against the State and its subdivisions are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident; the excess is payable only through a legislative claim bill; and no punitive damages and no prejudgment interest may be awarded against the government (Fla. Stat. § 768.28(5)(a)). Those are statutory caps on the state-law claim against the government. They do not apply to the federal claim against the individual officer. HB 145 (2026), which would have raised the caps, was vetoed on June 30, 2026, and the caps are unchanged. The Florida page has the rest.
Prisoners: the physical injury requirement
For a person who was a prisoner when the claim arose, the Prison Litigation Reform Act adds a limit: no federal civil action may be brought for mental or emotional injury suffered while in custody without a prior showing of physical injury or the commission of a sexual act (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e)). A person held in a cell who was threatened, humiliated or terrified but not physically hurt faces that rule on the damages side, in addition to the exhaustion rule on the front end (§ 1997e(a)). The jail and prison abuse page goes through both.
Damages depend on claims, and claims depend on clocks
Every remedy on this page belongs to a claim, and each claim has its own deadline: 90 days for the notice of claim against the City in New York and New Jersey, three years for the federal claim in New York, two in New Jersey, four in Florida. The deadlines page has the table, and the deadline tool counts from your date.
How our fee works
We take police abuse cases on a contingency fee. That means three things, and the written retainer says each of them before we begin. Our legal fee is a percentage of what is recovered, and if nothing is recovered there is no legal fee. Court filing fees and case expenses, such as records, transcripts and expert witnesses, are separate from the legal fee, and the retainer says who advances them and how they are repaid from a recovery. And where a statute lets the court award attorney's fees against the defendants, as Section 1988 and the state statutes above do, the retainer explains how that award is treated. We do not publish the percentage on this site or describe the fee with a slogan. The retainer is the fee agreement, and you should read it before you sign it. The services page describes what the fee covers.
If a charge is pending
Damages are proved at the end of a case, from records and testimony. If a charge from the same incident is pending, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone, including in a statement about your injuries; the criminal case and civil case page explains why.
What a case is worth
The factors that move the number, the ones that do not, and why this site does not estimate.
What a case is worth →Settlement and trial
How settlement with the City works, who decides, what a jury decides, and interest and fees after a verdict.
Settlement and trial →By the numbers
What New York City paid in police misconduct cases, 2019 to 2025. Public figures, cited, about other people's cases.
The numbers →Common questions
Can I get punitive damages?
Against an individual officer, yes, if the jury finds the conduct warrants them; the Second Circuit affirmed a jury's award of nominal damages plus $20,000 in punitive damages against an officer in a fabricated-evidence case, Garnett v. Undercover Officer C0039. Against the City of New York, no: municipalities are immune from punitive damages under Section 1983. Under the City's 2021 law punitive damages are in the court's discretion. In Florida, no punitive damages may be awarded against the State or its subdivisions.
What are nominal damages and why would anyone want them?
Nominal damages are a token sum awarded when a constitutional violation is proved but no measurable loss is. The Supreme Court held in Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski that nominal damages redress a completed violation and keep a case alive. A plaintiff who wins nominal damages has prevailed, which matters for attorney's fees under Section 1988 and can support a punitive award against the officer.
How does your fee work?
On a contingency fee. Our legal fee is a percentage of what is recovered, confirmed in a written retainer before we begin, and if nothing is recovered there is no legal fee. Court filing fees and case expenses are separate from the legal fee, and the retainer says who advances them and how they are repaid. Where a statute lets the court award attorney's fees against the defendants, the retainer explains how that award is treated. We do not publish percentages on this site; they are in the retainer.
How much is my case worth?
We do not say, on this site or in a first conversation. The number depends on the injury, the evidence, the defendants, the court and the jury, and anyone who gives you a figure before knowing those is guessing. The what a case is worth page explains the factors that move the number and why we refuse to estimate it.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.