New Hampshire Revised Statutes 507-B:4 – Limit of Liability
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I. Liability of a governmental unit for bodily injury, personal injury or property damage sustained by any one person in actions brought under this chapter is limited to $325,000. Such limit applies in the aggregate to any and all actions to recover for bodily injury, personal injury or property damage sustained by one person in a single incident or occurrence. Liability of a governmental unit for bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage sustained by any number of persons in a single incident or occurrence is limited to $1,000,000. The limits applicable to any action shall be the limits in effect at the time of the judgment or settlement.
II. The court shall award no punitive damages against a governmental unit for bodily injury, personal injury or property damage.
III. The jury shall not be informed of the limits in paragraph I but the court shall abate any verdict to the extent it exceeds the limits prescribed in this section. In actions consolidated under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 507-B:3, in the event the verdicts exceed the limits prescribed in this section, the verdicts shall be abated pro rata. Interest and costs may be recovered as in any civil action, in addition to the limits prescribed in this section.
IV. If any claim is made or any civil action is commenced against a present or former employee, trustee, or official of a governmental unit seeking equitable relief or claiming damages, the liability of said employee or official shall be governed by the same principles and provisions of law and shall be subject to the same limits as those which govern governmental unit liability, so long as said employee or official was acting within the scope of his or her office and reasonably believed in the legality of his or her actions.
II. The court shall award no punitive damages against a governmental unit for bodily injury, personal injury or property damage.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 507-B:4
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies corporate and politic as well as to individuals. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:9
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
III. The jury shall not be informed of the limits in paragraph I but the court shall abate any verdict to the extent it exceeds the limits prescribed in this section. In actions consolidated under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 507-B:3, in the event the verdicts exceed the limits prescribed in this section, the verdicts shall be abated pro rata. Interest and costs may be recovered as in any civil action, in addition to the limits prescribed in this section.
IV. If any claim is made or any civil action is commenced against a present or former employee, trustee, or official of a governmental unit seeking equitable relief or claiming damages, the liability of said employee or official shall be governed by the same principles and provisions of law and shall be subject to the same limits as those which govern governmental unit liability, so long as said employee or official was acting within the scope of his or her office and reasonably believed in the legality of his or her actions.