What Is an Injury Settlement?
An injury settlement is a contract between the plaintiff and the defendant to settle a case outside of court. This is a great way to get an amount of money quickly.
Contrary to special damages that can be easily calculated however, non-economic damages are more difficult to pinpoint in a specific dollar amount. This includes things like pain and suffering.
Medical expenses
Depending on the severity of an injury, medical costs can make up a large portion of the settlement. These may include doctor's visits, medications, surgery, and other procedures. The majority of these costs are not covered by health insurance and are often very costly. In addition, in a lot of cases there are ancillary costs associated to the injuries, including home healthcare, adaptive devices transporting patients to medical appointments, and more.
Medical bills are typically paid by your private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or PIP. If you receive a settlement with unpaid medical bills and the money received from the settlement will be used to pay them. Your lawyer can bargain with the billing companies and attempt to reduce the amount due.
Your attorney will also be able determine the proper amount of damages that will pay for your other non-medical loss. This includes loss of future earnings, pain and suffering and other damages that are not economic. Your attorney must present expert testimony and proof of these damages in order to be able to claim the proper amount.
Loss of wages
In addition to a reimbursement for medical costs, injured victims may be entitled to lost wage. These damages are calculated by the amount of time that the person was absent from work due to injuries. A personal injury lawyer can assist their client recover the compensation for lost wages in a personal injury claim.
A traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury for instance, could cause you to miss significant amounts of work. You will need to prove that the accident caused you to be absent from work. When proving that you lost wages, it is important to include all sources of income. This includes regular pay overtime, bonuses, and commissions. You can also include unused vacation or sick days.
If your doctor determines that you're able to return work in a certain way, but with specific limitations, the employer has to follow these limitations. This could mean changing some aspects of your job, or even providing beneficial equipment.
A seasoned personal injury lawyer can assist you to collect all the evidence needed to support a wage claim. They can also aid in situations where the person injured is self-employed, or receives a variable salary. In these cases, the insurance company will need to analyze the person's past and future earnings and provide an accurate estimate of the future loss of wages. This may require a detailed financial report from the plaintiff's accountant or financial expert.
Economic damages
When people think about personal injury claims, the first thing they consider is the money lost through medical expenses and lost wage. There are other costs that are difficult to quantify in dollars. These are referred to as non-economic damages. They cover the more intangible results of a person's injuries, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Bills and pay stubs can be used to prove economic damages for courts and juries. However non-economic damages are more difficult to determine and may be determined by subjective factors like pain and suffering and the emotional trauma caused by the injury.
The pain and suffering could be physical, mental or emotional pain caused by the accident. It could be the inability of someone to take part in their normal social or leisure activities. injury law firm roanoke will evaluate the effects of the injury on the victim's life.
Other non-economic damages include disfigurement, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life. For example, a person may be suffering from a disfigurement as a result of an accident that permanently alters their appearance. While this isn't an economic loss however, it can be extremely painful to endure scratches and other injuries that will last forever.
Damages for pain and suffering
Pain and suffering is one of the categories of non-economic damages for emotional and physical suffering you've endured as a result of your accident. These are subjective damages which are determined by the jury, and not medical bills or auto repairs, as well as lost wages. Each juror will have a different views about how much pain and suffering compensation is appropriate to your case.
Documentation can assist jurors in understanding the seriousness of an injury. Your lawyer can collect documents from your doctor that detail the extent of your injuries along with video and photographs. Testimonies from family members and friends can also be compelling. These testimonies can help to create sympathy with the jury and explain how your injury has impacted aspects of your life, such as hobbies and family activities.
The severity of your injury can also affect the amount you receive for pain and suffering. Injuries that are severe and disabling typically require higher pain and suffering settlements than injuries that heal more quickly.
Injuries claims should reflect the emotional and psychological trauma that is caused by an accident. Your personal injury lawyer will help you construct solid evidence and negotiate a fair settlement for all of your injuries. Adam S. Kutner and Associates can offer you the opportunity to meet with us in case you have questions about a possible settlement to an injury.