mitigation of damages

1. In law, a successful plaintiff 's obligation to make an effort to minimize further damages. For example, a homeowner whose home suffered damage from a tree limb dropped by a tree service is obligated to take reasonable actions to reduce further damage from water and wind.
2. A defense utilized to reduce a damages award in a liability case. Defendants involved in securities litigation often bring up mitigation of damages as part of their defense. In these cases it is argued that the plaintiffs could, but didn't, take action to reduce the amount of damages.