West Virginia Code 47-18-9 – Damages; treble damage suits
Any person who shall be injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of the provisions of this article may bring an action therefor and shall recover threefold the damages sustained by him together with reasonable attorneys' fees, filing fees and reasonable costs of the action. Reasonable costs of the action may include, but shall not be limited to the expenses of discovery and document reproduction.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 47-18-9
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Person: shall mean any natural person or persons, or any corporation, partnership, company, trust or association of persons. See West Virginia Code 47-18-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
The state and any of its political subdivisions and public agencies shall be deemed a person within the meaning of this section. The Attorney General may bring an action on behalf of this state, or any of its public agencies, counties, municipalities or other political subdivisions to recover the damages provided for by this section or provision of federal law: Provided, That this shall not impair the authority of any such county, municipality or other political subdivision to bring such action on its own behalf.