§ 98.003.Damages

A damages provision, and the word that opens it matters.

A prevailing claimant shall be awarded: actual damages, including damages for mental anguish even if an injury other than mental anguish is not shown; court costs; and reasonable attorney's fees. In addition, a prevailing claimant may recover exemplary damages.

"Shall be awarded" makes the first three mandatory. A prevailing claimant is entitled to costs and fees as of right, not at the court's discretion.

The mental anguish clause removes the ordinary Texas obstacle. Mental anguish damages generally require an accompanying compensable injury or demanding independent proof. Trafficking harm is characteristically psychological, and the clause makes it recoverable on its own.

The same clause appears in the compelled prostitution chapter, and a version of it in the intimate visual material chapter and the sexual exploitation chapter — each addressing conduct whose principal harm is not physical.

The mandatory fee award is what makes these cases bringable. A trafficking victim rarely has resources, the defendants are often judgment-proof, and the litigation is difficult. A guaranteed fee recovery on success is the difference between a claim that exists on paper and one that is brought.

Exemplary damages remain permissive and subject to the damages chapter's standards, burden, unanimity requirement, and cap.