What a case is worth
We do not estimate what a case is worth, on this site or on the phone, and we publish no results. What we can do is explain what moves the number: the injury and how well it is documented, how long you were held, how the criminal case ended, what the video shows, the officers' histories, whether the City can be reached, qualified immunity, the officers' exposure to punitive damages, attorney's fees, and in Florida the statutory caps. This page goes through each, and then explains the refusal.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
"What is my case worth" is the first question most people ask and the one we answer least. Not because the answer is secret, but because at the start no one has it. The number depends on facts that are still in a precinct's video server, in a medical chart that has not been written, and in a criminal courtroom. What follows is the list of factors, in roughly the order they weigh, so that you can see what the case will turn on. If a criminal charge is pending, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone; several of these factors are decided in that case, as the criminal case and civil case page explains.
The factors
The injury, and its documentation
Compensatory damages are measured by loss: physical injury and pain, medical costs, lost wages, emotional harm, the loss of liberty itself. The same injury with a same-day emergency room record, imaging, follow-up treatment and dated photographs is a different case from the same injury with a doctor's visit three weeks later. The first week page exists because the documentation is built then or not at all. For a person in custody, a federal claim for mental or emotional injury requires a prior showing of physical injury or a sexual act (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e)), so the facility's medical records decide more than they would outside.
The length of the detention
A false arrest claim covers the period from the arrest until you were held under legal process, usually arraignment (Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384 (2007)). A night in a precinct and a week on Rikers before arraignment are different losses. Detention after legal process on fabricated evidence is a further claim (Manuel v. City of Joliet, 580 U.S. 357 (2017)), and months of it are measured too.
How the criminal case ended
A Section 1983 damages claim that would imply the invalidity of a conviction is barred while the conviction stands (Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994)), and a plea to a lesser charge can have the same effect. A malicious prosecution claim requires that the prosecution "ended without a conviction," with no affirmative showing of innocence needed (Thompson v. Clark, 596 U.S. 36 (2022)), and the analysis runs charge by charge (Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon, 602 U.S. 556 (2024)). The same arrest is one civil case after a dismissal and a smaller one after a plea. This is the factor a person has the most control over and the least information about, and it is why we talk to defense counsel before the plea, not after.
The strength of the video
Probable cause is judged on the totality of the circumstances known to the officer (District of Columbia v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48 (2018)); force on the totality of the circumstances with no "moment of threat" cutoff (Barnes v. Felix, 605 U.S. ___ (2025)). Footage that shows those circumstances decides both questions before a jury is picked. Footage that is missing, cut off, or from an angle that shows nothing leaves the officer's sworn account against yours. The evidence page explains how the footage is requested and preserved.
The officers' records
Since the repeal of Civil Rights Law § 50-a in June 2020, an officer's disciplinary history is available under FOIL with redactions and is produced in discovery. A history of similar substantiated complaints affects the officer's credibility and the City's exposure under Monell; a clean record cuts the other way. The disciplinary records page explains what is available.
Whether the City can be reached
The officers are always defendants. Whether the City is one depends on three routes, and the routes differ in difficulty. Under Section 1983 the City is liable only for its own policy or custom, not for its employees' acts (Monell v. Dep't of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978)), and a failure-to-train theory ordinarily needs a pattern of similar violations (Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51 (2011)). Under state law the City answers for what its officers did within the scope of employment, but only if a notice of claim was served within 90 days (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law §§ 50-e, 50-i). And for an NYPD case the City's 2021 law creates a claim against the employer directly, with a three-year period and no qualified immunity defense (N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 8-803, 8-804, 8-806). A case in which the City is a defendant on the state claims is a different case from one in which the 90 days were missed and only the Monell route remains.
Qualified immunity
An officer is shielded from damages on the federal claims unless the conduct violated a clearly established right (Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982)), the court may decide that question first (Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009)), and the Supreme Court's decision in Zorn v. Linton, 607 U.S. ___ (2026), on March 23, 2026, tightened the "beyond debate" requirement. The closer the facts are to a published case holding the same conduct unlawful, the weaker the defense and the stronger the case; the further, the more the case depends on the state-law claims, which carry no such defense. The qualified immunity page explains the doctrine.
The officers' exposure to punitive damages
Punitive damages are available against an individual officer whose conduct warrants them, and never against the City (City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, 453 U.S. 247 (1981)). Conduct a jury could find malicious or reckless changes the case's value and its settlement posture, because the officer, not the City, is the one exposed.
Attorney's fees
A prevailing plaintiff in a Section 1983 action may be awarded a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs (42 U.S.C. § 1988(b)). Fees are paid by the defendants on top of the damages, and they change the arithmetic of a case with a modest injury and a clear violation, which is one reason such cases are brought and defended seriously.
In Florida, the caps
On the state-law claim against the government, damages are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, with the excess payable only by a legislative claim bill and no punitive damages or prejudgment interest against the government (Fla. Stat. § 768.28(5)(a)). Those are statutory caps, unchanged after the veto of HB 145 on June 30, 2026, and they do not apply to the federal claim against the officers. The Florida page explains.
| Factor | Moves the case because | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Injury and documentation | Compensatory damages are measured by proved loss | 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e) for prisoners |
| Length of detention | Loss of liberty is the false arrest injury, until legal process | Wallace v. Kato; Manuel v. City of Joliet |
| Outcome of the criminal case | A conviction can bar the claim; favorable termination opens malicious prosecution | Heck v. Humphrey; Thompson v. Clark |
| The video | Probable cause and force are judged on the circumstances it shows | Wesby; Barnes v. Felix |
| The officers' records | Credibility, and the City's knowledge of a pattern | Ch. 96, L. 2020; Connick |
| Reaching the City | Three routes of different difficulty | Monell; Gen. Mun. Law §§ 50-e, 50-i; Admin. Code § 8-803 |
| Qualified immunity | Ends the federal claims against the officers if granted | Harlow; Pearson; Zorn v. Linton |
| Punitive exposure | Against the officers only, never the City | City of Newport |
| Fees | Paid by the defendants on top of damages | 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) |
| Florida caps | Ceiling on the state-law claim against the government | Fla. Stat. § 768.28(5)(a) |
Why we give no number
Three reasons. First, we do not have it. Every factor above is decided by evidence that does not exist in usable form on the day you call, and a figure offered before the footage, the medical records and the criminal case are in is a guess dressed as advice. Second, the rules. New York Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1 and Florida Bar Rule 4-7.13, cited on our disclaimer page, govern what a lawyer may say about results and outcomes, and an estimate on a website is a statement about an outcome to a person whose facts we do not know. Third, the arithmetic of other people's cases does not transfer. The public payout figures on the by the numbers page are totals across hundreds of lawsuits a year; they establish that the City pays these claims and nothing else. This site accordingly publishes no results of the firm's own, no averages, no ranges, and no case evaluator. The deadline tool counts days; it does not value anything.
Nominal damages are a real outcome
A jury can find that your rights were violated and award nominal damages, a token sum, because no compensable loss was proved. The Supreme Court held that nominal damages redress a completed violation and keep a case alive (Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, 592 U.S. 279 (2021)). They can stand beside a punitive award against the officer: in Garnett v. Undercover Officer C0039, 838 F.3d 265 (2d Cir. 2016), the Second Circuit affirmed a jury award of nominal damages plus $20,000 in punitive damages against the officer on a fabricated-evidence claim where probable cause existed. That figure is a jury award in a reported decision, not a measure of any other case. A person deciding whether to bring a case should understand that a verdict for the plaintiff and a nominal award are the same event more often than the phrase "won the case" suggests.
What we will tell you, on the first call, is which claims the facts support, which defendants can be reached and by what route, which deadlines apply and when they run, and what evidence to preserve this week. That is the part of the answer that exists.
By the numbers
What New York City paid in NYPD misconduct lawsuits, 2019 to 2025, and what the CCRB received. Public figures, cited, and why they predict nothing.
By the numbers →Damages and fees
Compensatory, nominal and punitive damages, attorney's fees under Section 1988, and who pays what.
Damages →Settlement and trial
Who settles for the City, what a jury decides, and what attaches to a judgment afterward.
Settlement and trial →Common questions
Can you tell me roughly what my case is worth?
No, and a lawyer who does on a first call is guessing. The value of a police abuse case depends on evidence that does not exist yet in a usable form: the footage, the medical records over time, the outcome of the criminal case, the officers' depositions, and the court's ruling on qualified immunity. We will tell you which claims the facts support and which factors will matter. We will not put a number on it.
Why does the criminal case matter to the value?
Because a conviction or a plea can bar a civil claim that would imply the conviction was invalid, and because a malicious prosecution claim requires that the prosecution ended without a conviction. A case that ends in a dismissal and a case that ends in a plea to a violation are different civil cases, and the criminal case is decided first.
Are the public payout figures a guide?
No. They are totals across hundreds of lawsuits a year with nothing in common but the defendant. They tell you the City pays police misconduct claims; they tell you nothing about which claims, how much each, or yours. The by the numbers page publishes them with their source and says the same thing.
What are nominal damages?
A token award where the jury finds a violation but no compensable loss. The Supreme Court held in Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski that nominal damages redress a completed violation and keep a case alive. A nominal award can be paired with punitive damages against an officer: in Garnett, the Second Circuit affirmed a jury award of nominal damages plus $20,000 in punitive damages on a fabricated-evidence claim. That is a real outcome, and it should be understood before a case is filed.
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.