Chapter 10-7 Pleading Requirements for Statutory Damages Cap

• Jurisdiction: United States

10-7 Pleading Requirements for Statutory Damages Cap

Generally, statutory damage caps are to applied irrespective of whether the defendant has pleaded them as the cap is not a factual issue to be decided by the jury but rather a legally mandated limitation to be applied by the Court. The cap on exemplary damages set forth in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 41.008(b) applies without any proof burden on the defendant; it is not "an avoidance or affirmative defense" pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P. 94.³⁶ On the other hand, an opposing party is charged with knowledge of the statutory cap, including the necessity of pleading and proving any "cap-busting conduct."³⁷

Presumably, the same reasoning applies to other forms of statutory caps on damages.

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Notes:

^[36] Zorrilla v. Aypco Constr. II, LLC, 469 S.W.3d 143, 155-58 (Tex. 2015).

^[37] Zorrilla v. Aypco Constr. II, LLC, 469 S.W.3d...