What types of damages are generally available in personal injury cases?
If you have experienced an injury, helpful lawyers can help prove the costs of medical services, estimate the prices of medical devices that can improve function, and estimate the costs that you will incur from not being able to work. Personal injury attorneys can also help you receive compensation for pain and suffering, mental anguish, and long-term physical impairment associated with your injuries.
Receiving Compensation for Medical Services
When an injured client hires an attorney, the attorney will examine the medical records that document the injuries you were diagnosed with as well as the limitations that your injuries have caused you. The attorney will then break your medical bills down into bills for medical care that you have already received and bills for medical care that you may receive in the future. For past bills, the attorneys collect your bills in the form of affidavits that may be submitted to the court and will secure expert testimony to prove the bills as being reasonable and necessary for your care if needed.
A claim for future medical treatment is based upon your doctors’ opinions as to what your medical outlook will be moving forward. If your records do not show what long-term effects your injuries will have, an injury attorney may help secure additional documentation for you, either from your treating doctors or from retained medical experts. Once the attorney knows the long-term effects of your injuries they may use experts to help calculate the cost of future medical care that may be needed such as surgeries, physical therapy, medications, or in-home nursing care. Insurance companies rarely consider long-term care without an estimate of what these services cost that is backed up by evidence from experts.
If a doctor recommends a surgery, a lawyer may help a client to receive full compensation for the procedure. Additionally, the attorney can effectively estimate costs that are associated with recovery. When determining the compensation that a client may receive, the lawyer may also examine the surgery’s likelihood of success in resolving the symptoms you have and the side effects that may be caused by the surgeries.
Devices That Can Improve Function
When a lawyer is examining the compensation that an injured person can receive, the attorney may be able to secure estimates for the costs of medical devices that may be needed to improve function to your body that was lost due to your injuries. These types of damages are typically available in catastrophic injury cases involving long-term physical impairment. These devices could include wheelchairs, scooter, and prosthetic limbs.
Determining the Cumulative Worth of Lost Wages
If a severe injury reduces an individual’s earnings, experienced attorneys can effectively prove the value of the lost wages that you have already lost due to your injuries, and sometimes, the lawyers may be able to secure an estimate for wages that a client would have received in the future had the client not been injured. Generally, a settlement will offer compensation for lost wages, and the duration of the recovery period could substantially affect the reimbursement that an injured individual can receive.
Understanding the Effects of Mental Anguish and Emotional Distress
Various studies have shown that more than 60 percent of injured individuals experience chronic stress, and the emotional distress may decrease energy, influence numerous relationships and affect an individual’s health. When an attorney is assessing case value, the lawyer may consider the monetary value of the emotional distress. Throughout a trial, the attorney can offer various types of evidence that may definitively indicate the effects of the emotional distress.
Pain and Suffering
Almost every injury results in some form of pain that the injured person experiences. The value of pain and suffering is highly variable and largely dependent on the type of injury the individual has received and the intensity, duration, and frequency of the pain that the individual experiences. Personal injury attorneys are familiar with the values that juries in your area award for similar injuries which helps determine the values to factor into settlement discussions. Please be aware that there are several variables that may significantly increase or decrease the value of pain and suffering in any given case.
Physical Impairment
According to one survey, more than 30 percent of injuries can consistently prevent individuals from enjoying numerous activities. During a trial, an attorney may describe a client’s hobbies, regular activities that improve well-being and frequent routines. If an injured person is not able to enjoy various hobbies, or not able to perform them as well, then an attorney can help recover for this type of loss.