Calculating Pain & Suffering For Better Compensation
The number of injury claims in the United States can be an eye-opener. After an accident, the victims and their family members almost always face pain and suffering. Lawyers can calculate a monetary value for this pain and suffering after considering all of the evidence. When you decide to file a lawsuit and seek compensation for your loss and damages, calculating pain and suffering properly is crucial.
Evidence Play Crucial Role
To calculate pain and suffering, injury lawyers first need to know the extent of your injuries. This means gathering as much documentation and evidence as possible. Photographs of the injuries, medical records, and witness statements are all important pieces of evidence that can help lawyers understand the full extent of your losses.
To accurately quantify pain and suffering damages, it’s best to connect with a reputed San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer. An attorney can ensure that you receive the maximum monetary compensation for your pain and suffering. You can also discuss any doubts you may have about the calculation process.
Types of Loss & Damages
Most non-economic damages like discomfort, emotional distress, inconvenience, and many more can be counted under pain and suffering. Aside from pain and suffering, victims of an injury may also suffer certain economic losses. These losses can arise from slip and fall accidents, road accidents, or any other mishap. The losses may include:
- Treatment cost – Every kind of medical cost, including medicine, pathology lab tests, therapies, emergency room visits, hospitalization charges, etc., can be considered recoverable damages.
- Lost income – If you missed any work due to your injuries, loss of wages could also be included.
- Property damage costs- If your home, shop, vehicle, or other property got damaged in an accident, and you paid to get it repaired, those costs can be recovered from the responsible party.
- Emotional trauma – Any severe emotional distress caused by an accident is also calculated while evaluating overall loss.
- Pain and Suffering – Long-term injuries can cause a lot of emotional hassle, inconvenience, pain, and suffering.
- Loss of consortium – If you lost the ability to enjoy normalcy in your relationship with your spouse or partner due to the injuries, you could be compensated for that as well.
No matter the type of accident, if you want to recover damages and get sufficient compensation, professional help is always recommended.
Evaluating and Calculating the Final Settlement Amount
After taking into account all of the factors, a lawyer will be able to provide you with an estimation of the amount that you could potentially receive for pain and suffering. This number is usually based on past cases and settlements that the lawyer has won. However, it’s important to keep in mind that each situation is unique and the final amount may vary.
Here are some steps that a legal professional will take to calculate the settlement amount for every loss, including pain and suffering:
- Gather medical evidence to prove the injuries sustained and the amount of medical expenses. They will consider past, present, and future medical costs in consideration. Bone fractures, spine injury, head and brain injury, etc. can cause a substantial loss.
- They will find out the eyewitnesses of the accident. They may contact them and talk about crash details, the surroundings, and everything else they saw at the crash site.
- If the victim is employed, they will try to find out how much work was missed and how much income was lost.
Types Of Evidence That Plays Crucial Role In This Process
Once an attorney compiles all this evidence, they will analyze, evaluate, and calculate the past, present, and future losses. Finally, they will determine the value for all the loss, damages, pain, and suffering.
- They will first access the police report from the accident to learn the complete legal details, including the witnesses, faulty party, etc.
- Medical records are vital to determine the injuries the victim suffered and how they affected them after the crash.
- Testimony from medical experts can explain how much the victim will likely suffer from your injuries throughout their life.
- If the client lost a loved one in an accident, then the attorney will investigate and gather relevant evidence to prove that the loved one’s death was caused by the accident.
- Suffering due to emotional and mental trauma can also be included in the settlement amount. This kind of suffering can last longer, and for a lifetime in some cases.
- Statements from your family and friends about your pain and suffering due to the accident will also be considered as evidence.
- They will collect relevant videos, photos, and other documents to access the accident details.
- Documents to support losses like lost wages, loss of working ability, etc.
- In some cases, the victim’s journal may also be used as evidence.
Accidents can cause tremendous pain and suffering for the victim and their family. When you’re ready to seek compensation, make sure you work with a lawyer who can help you calculate pain and suffering damages.
If you have suffered a loss due to a personal injury, call us today for a free case evaluation. Our team has years of experience in handling injury claims and getting a fair outcome.