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In personal injury cases, victims sometimes suffer more than just financial losses. They may experience emotional disturbances as well.
While calculating compensation for medical bills and lost wages is rather simple, the same cannot be said for non-financial damages like pain and suffering and emotional anguish. These intangible losses are vital since they deal with the psychological and emotional effects of the damage, which can be life-altering.
Role of Personal Injury Lawyers
Personal injury lawyers are important in handling such claims since non-economic damages seek to give some sort of justice for these unseen wounds. They are aware of the challenges in estimating non-financial losses. A top personal injury attorney will, thus, employ several techniques to prepare a compensation amount that includes all losses, including non-economic ones.
Beyond medical bills and receipts, these attorneys compile thorough evidence to show the significant effect of the injury on the victim’s life. Their knowledge helps them to show the emotional toll in a way that appeals to juries and courts, ensuring the whole experience of the victim is considered.
Understanding Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are those non-tangible losses an injury causes to a person, such as:
- Pain and Suffering: These comprise the psychological and physical suffering the injury causes as well as the emotional one.
- Emotional Distress: Anxiety, depression, or other psychological reactions resulting from the trauma.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Loss of enjoyment of life is the inability to engage in activities that the victim used to enjoy before the accident.
- Loss of Consortium: This is when an injury strains relationships with a spouse or family member.
Since they lack a clear financial value, these damages are sometimes more difficult to prove than economic ones. For instance, although medical bills are easily computed, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for deciding how much emotional trauma is worth. This makes a knowledgeable personal injury attorney indispensable in negotiating this difficult field.
Compiling Evidence to Prove Non-Economic Damage
To support claims for non-economic damages, a personal injury attorney must compile compelling evidence. There are several places from which this evidence can originate, including:
- Medical Records: Psychological or psychiatric assessments noting the mental state of the victim form part of medical records.
- Testimonies: Statements from friends, relatives, and colleagues who have seen the changes in the victim’s emotional or physical well-being.
- Expert Witnesses: Medical professionals who can attest to the long-term effects of the injury on the victim’s life are known as expert witnesses.
- Journals: One very strong piece of evidence is a victim’s personal journal that records their emotional conflicts. Many attorneys counsel their clients to keep a notebook talking about their emotional challenges and suffering.
These techniques enable juries or insurance companies to better understand the whole degree of the victim’s suffering and emotional anguish, thereby guiding their decisions.
Elements Affecting Non-Economic Damage
A personal injury claim’s non-financial damages assessment depends on several elements, such as:
- Severity of the Injury: More severe or permanent injuries usually translate into larger non-economic damage claims.
- Impact on Daily Life: Should the damage significantly affect the victim’s capacity to enjoy life, the compensation for non-economic damages may rise.
- Duration of Recovery: The longer the recovery period, the higher the compensation the victim could get for suffering and pain.
- State Laws: Some states place caps on non-economic damages, restricting the possible compensation for a victim.
Understanding these elements helps personal injury attorneys create a stronger case that fairly depicts the degree of suffering the victim has gone through.
How to Calculate Non-Economic Damages
Two basic approaches are usually used to determine non-economic damages: the per diem method and the multiplier method. Let’s take a look at them.
- Multiplier Method: Depending on the degree of the harm, the multiplier approach involves multiplying the total amount of economic damages by a number between 1.5 and 5. For instance, you might get $300,000 in non-economic damages if your economic damages amount to $100,000 and a multiplier of 3 is used.
- Per Diem Method: The per diem approach rates daily pain and suffering brought on by an injury. The number of days you are supposed to live with the consequences of the damage is multiplied by this rate.
The particular situation of the case will determine both approaches; so, legal advice is necessary to guarantee a fair settlement.
This content is provided by an independent source for informational purposes only and does not contain legal advice. Consult an attorney or financial advisor when making decisions. This information is provided by legal writers and does not reflect the views or opinions of The Daily Sundial editorial staff.
