Also known as: particular damages · special damage
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A specific, quantifiable loss that a plaintiff must plead with particularity and prove as a legal consequence of the defendant's conduct.
Pamela Phillips shared sensitive medical details only with her firm's HR director during a required intake. Partners circulated the memo internally, prompting Pamela to withdraw from client work and lose a year-end bonus. The distinct economic harm satisfies the particular damage element and supports recovery beyond general privacy injury.
Parker Phillips lost a major consulting contract after a false publication accused him of professional misconduct. The lost fees constitute particular damage beyond presumed reputational harm, allowing recovery of the specific economic loss shown at trial.
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Pearl Porter was suspended from school without any hearing. She proved that the denial of process caused her emotional distress and lost wages from missed work. The concrete losses qualify as particular damage supporting compensatory recovery rather than nominal damages alone.
A plaintiff may recover the harm to privacy interests, mental distress of the kind that normally results, and any special damage of which the invasion is a legal cause.
Particular damage consists of specific, provable losses that must be pleaded and proved. General damages are those presumed to flow from the wrong and need not be itemized.
Yes, when the loss is a legal consequence of the invasion or violation and is specifically stated in the pleadings.
Yes. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(g) requires that any item of special damage be specifically stated in the pleadings.
…business; or unchastity by a woman. Id. , § 570. To be actionable, all other types of slanderous statements required proof of special damage other than actual loss of reputation or emotional distress, that special damage almost always being in the form of material or pecuniary loss of some kind. Id. , § 575 and comment b, pp.…