31 Aug How are Damages Assessed in Personal Injury Cases?
Have you ever wondered how a court assesses damages in a personal injury case? This might be relevant if you have had an accident and are considering suing an employer, property owner, or whomever may have caused it. Gruenberg Kelly Della, Attorneys & Counselors at Law, can help you gain recompense in personal injury cases, and we’d like to show you a broad overview of how to value your case.
Factors that Influence Compensatory Damages
The greatest factors that determine your potential for damages include the injury severity, how long you take to recover, and the type of accident. We sponsor clients in dozens of different injury scenarios, so there is some complexity to it.
Of course, not every case goes to court. Sometimes the other party may reach a settlement without a lawsuit. Whether it goes to court, a successful case will require the defendant (the other party) to pay damages in either a lump sum or through installments.
Five Types of Damages
General Damages
These are the damages that don’t have an obvious or intrinsic dollar value and are at a judge’s discretion. They usually relate to quality-of-life losses and are common in workplace accidents and premises liability.
Pain & Suffering
This refers to the physical, mental, or emotional trauma you may experience after an accident. These also do not have an objective monetary value since they involve problems like long-term disability, loss of opportunity, and disfigurement.
Medical Damages
If your case involves medical expenses or even medical malpractice, then there’s a great potential for collecting damages. It’s easier to determine the value of a case when there are tangible medical bills. Most personal injury cases have some sort of medical costs, which can serve as a starting point for evaluating damage recovery.
Property Loss
Have you been in a vehicular accident that wasn’t your fault and lost your car as a result? This is another thing that’s easy to calculate. You can show the bills you paid for repairs or property replacement to one of our lawyers. Then they can use those figures to help recover damages for you.
Punitive Damages
We don’t see punitive damages as often in personal injury law unless there’s evidence of severe neglect, sometimes during wrongful death scenarios. These usually serve to deter others from committing similar offenses.
Hopefully, this gives you a better understanding of how damage assessment works. It’s impossible to give specific dollar amounts without reviewing the circumstances of a specific case.
We can, however, do this for you if you reach out to us for a free consultation with Gruenberg Kelly Della. We’re more than happy to help you determine the viability of your case for recompense. You can contact us anytime to learn more at franchise business.