Understanding Pain and Suffering: Non-Economic Losses in Personal Injury
There are two main classes of recoverable damages in a personal injury lawsuit: compensatory and punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded in rare circumstances as punishment to the defendant for gross negligence and intentional tort.
In most cases, claimants will recover compensatory damages, compensating for the losses suffered and encompass economic and non-economic damages. Connecticut personal injury attorney Russell Berkowitz is the go-to guy if you want to calculate non-economic losses. This guide delves into pain and suffering as part of non-economic damages, so keep reading to learn more.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
Pain and suffering, as used in Connecticut tort law, refers to the physical pain suffered by a victim as a result of an injury. While not a concrete monetary loss, the victim can claim compensation for the undue pain they had to endure as a result of the defendant’s negligence. Psychological pain, emotional distress, etc., can also fall under the category of pain and suffering.
Pain and suffering fall under the umbrella of non-economic damages, which encompasses intangible losses. In other words, some losses do not have a definite monetary value attached to them.
Non-economic damages are not limited to pain and suffering. They also include other damages such as disfigurement, disability, loss of life’s enjoyment, loss of consortium, and more.
Pain and Suffering Valuation
As mentioned earlier, pain and suffering are part of non-economic damages, so they are valued alongside other non-economic damages. For non-economic damages, lawyers and insurance adjusters rely on special formulas to arrive at the proper valuation.
In most cases, they will use the multiplier option, which involves using a multiplier against the economic damages. The multiplier can be any figure between 1.5 and five. If evidence shows that the pain and suffering suffered by a claimant is significant, the multiplier will be higher.
The other option is the “per diem” formula, which involves assigning a monetary figure for every day of suffering.
Proving Pain and Suffering
It is difficult to explain how much pain you have suffered in a way that will make sense to evaluators of the jury, so, like with other damages. You have to prove your case using evidence. Doing this by yourself can be troublesome, especially if you’re not well-versed in the legal aspects of things. That’s where lawyers come in. They have methods in place to determine compensation for non-economic losses.
Applicable evidence for proving pain and suffering include your medical records, doctor’s notes, the types of pain medication taken during treatment, your personal journal, and expert witness testimonies.
The testimonies of people close to you throughout the journey, such as your caretaker, can also be admissible as evidence for pain and suffering and anything else your personal injury lawyer may feel is essential.
Maximizing Your Compensation
The goal after a personal injury is to get as close to your pre-injury state as you can, although no amount of compensation can take away everything you have had to endure as a result of your injuries.
That being said, you should still seek to achieve as much compensation as possible relative to losses incurred. The first thing you will need to maximize your compensation is to gather as much high-quality evidence as possible.
Seek medical attention. It is almost impossible to succeed in proving pain and suffering if you do not have medical records. Lastly, get legal representation. While a lawyer will take a fraction of your payout, the difference they make in the outcomes makes every cost they incur worth it. You stand to earn much more with a lawyer than you would without one.
Conclusion
Pain and suffering, a significant aspect of non-economic damages, compensates victims for the physical and emotional toll of personal injuries. Proving such losses requires solid evidence like medical records and expert testimony. While intangible, their impact is substantial. Partnering with an experienced lawyer enhances your claim’s strength, helping you achieve the compensation necessary to rebuild your life after an injury.
