When a personal injury happens as a result of a car accident, medical malpractice, or some other major incident, the law allows you to claim damages from the at-fault party. Economic damages are the most prevalent and obvious type of damages that can be recovered since they involve compensation for matters like lost wages, medical expenses, and property damage.
Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, may, nevertheless, be claimed. But what can be classified as pain and suffering? How much money can you claim if you are subject to pain and suffering? Experienced Louisiana personal injury attorneys at E Orum Young Law Personal Injury can help you better grasp what constitutes pain and suffering, how insurance companies and courts assess it, and what you may do to maximize your recovery.
While most insurance companies will settle for the smallest amount possible, if not deny your claim entirely, our Monroe personal injury attorney will never settle for less. Instead, our accident attorneys will fight for the life-improving result you so well deserve.
Invest in your future and elevate your quality of life. Join a group of clients who have received favorable motor vehicle accident compensation and favorable verdicts. File your personal injury lawsuit within the legally prescribed statute of limitations, seek compensation for your losses, and focus on your recovery.
Get started on the road to recovery. Call us now to schedule a free case review with one of our Monroe Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys!
Pain and Suffering In A Personal Injury Case: What Is It?
With most personal injury cases, claimants are entitled to compensation for both economic and non-economic losses (referred to as “damages” in legal jargon). Medical bills and lost income are examples of economic damages, while non-economic damages involve the less measurable and more personal impacts of the claimant’s accident and accompanying injuries. The most significant component of non-economic damages is generally recompense for the claimant’s “pain and suffering.”
In the field of personal injury law, there is no universal definition of “pain and suffering,” however the word often relates to:
- bodily injury caused by the accident
- physical pain caused by medically required treatment, and
- mental anguish, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, or other more psychological effects of the event and injuries.
The type of injury you sustained as well as the nature of your medical treatment are often the two primary indications of the severity of your pain and suffering to an insurance company or a jury.
If you are involved in a car accident that causes $5,000 in car damage and $15,000 in medical expenses, your “pain and suffering” damages will be substantial. However, if the same accident resulted in just $500 in medical bills for x-rays that come back negative of any serious debilitating injury, your “pain and suffering” damages will be minimal.
Examples of Pain and Suffering
Here are several instances of pain and suffering that may be relevant to your personal injury claim.
Physical Disability
One of the top evident and basic justifications for pursuing a personal injury case is physical disability.
Your life has not only been drastically disrupted, but evidence is difficult to refute, especially if that person is impaired in their capacity to move, to perform everyday duties, or do activities that would ordinarily be easy.
Physical Pain
Physical pain, while not as evident as a disability, could have a massive consequence on your everyday life. Even accident victims who have gotten their optimal medical progress may face daily debilitating pain.
Disfigurement
You may be left with lifetime physical reminders after an accident, such as scars, burns, and even missing limbs.
These types of claims, fortunately, are easy to substantiate, particularly with pictures and personal testimonies.
Decrease In Quality of Life
It is highly probable that your everyday life will alter dramatically after an accident. If your days are filled with medical appointments and rehab sessions, and your life is complicated by drug side effects, you may believe that the quality of your life has dramatically decreased.
Loss of Pleasure In Life
This is not a frivolous endeavor, particularly when a clear connection can be traced between a vehicle accident victim’s experience before and after the event. This is a type of loss where a victim can no longer engage in various hobbies or activities that they once enjoyed owing to a mental or physical ailment.
Grief
Losing a loved one can cause profound grief that impacts every part of your daily life.
And grief does not necessarily have to be the result of a fatality. You may also experience grief if, as a consequence of an accident, a loved one is no longer the same person.
Depression
Depression is more than just melancholy. Depression is an overpowering sensation that nothing matters. If the accident is severe enough, the subsequent emotional suffering may be crippling.
Anger
While an angry outburst is normal from time to time, constant anger affects not only the victim but also the people around them.
Anger problems may also be caused by PTSD or a traumatic brain injury.
Anxiety
Any additional fear, dread, or unease that the victim of an automobile accident did not have before the collision may support a legitimate claim of bodily injury.
Severe automobile accidents may cause a dread of driving or riding in a vehicle, as well as decreased reaction times, sleeplessness, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Inconvenience
In a personal injury case, “inconvenience” may seem like the essence of first-world concerns, but the problem is considerably more complex.
The physical and mental ramifications of an accident may actively prevent you from performing daily activities ranging from work demands to social gatherings. Consider the negative consequences of combining medical bills with missed income.
Loss of dignity, Embarrassment, or Humiliation
Loss of dignity, embarrassment, and humiliation are all types of mental agony caused by an occurrence or injury that leaves a person feeling emotionally exposed or humiliated.
This can vary from feeling stupid after a slip and fall, to others mocking the victim, to overtly harsh remarks as a result of the accident.
Sexual Dysfunction
It may be awkward to discuss (even with an attorney), but it is a fact that a loss of physical pleasure, drive, arousal, or sexual function can have a detrimental impact on relationships and trigger other emotional problems.
Loss of Companionship
“Loss of companionship” does not just apply to couples who are married. One can also lose companionship, love, security, or basic care from a parent or a child. If an injured person has been in charge of caring for and financially supporting another person, the loss may be devastating. Furthermore, if it is a husband or a wife, the spouse may be able to file a claim separately.
How Do You Calculate Pain And Suffering In Louisiana?
Louisiana does not normally cap damages in personal injury lawsuits. So if you have been injured due to the carelessness of another person, you deserve fair and substantial recompense not just for your expenses, but also for the pain and suffering you have had to experience.
As you go further with your injury claim, you and your attorney can use a number of ways to calculate the value of your pain and suffering.
The following are the most prevalent ways for calculating the value of pain and suffering:
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The Multiplier Method
This method is a standard way for your attorney in calculating your pain and suffering. The Multiplier Method computes your pain and suffering through examining the monetary losses caused by your injury.
After your monetary losses have been appropriately adjusted and examined, your attorney will multiply the total by a certain rate to obtain the entire amount for your desired accident settlement.
However, this is not the only way for determining the amount of damages that a claimant is entitled to receive.
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The Per Diem Method
The Latin term “per diem” means “by the day.” This method measures pain and suffering using daily estimations of damages.
If, for example, you and your attorney agree that per diem damages be $100 each day and your injury occurs on January 1st, and you have a court date of July 1st, you will arrive at the amount of $18,100 — $100 for each day since the accident.
Louisiana judges who use this method almost never calculate a flat daily rate for an extended period of time. Most judges reduce the daily amount over time. Furthermore, rather than measuring pain and suffering on a daily basis, many judges do so on a monthly basis.
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The Jurisprudential Method
This method is a common legal approach in Louisiana accidents in which the judge or the jury searches for comparable cases in the past to serve as a foundation for your current case. If another person has been in an accident and had injuries similar to yours, we use that individual’s verdict to determine the worth of your case.
For example, in 2015 a jury granted $250,000 to a plaintiff for pain and suffering following a car accident that resulted in a back surgery. We will add $250,000 (with minimal inflation) to account for your “pain and suffering” if one of your injuries needed a similar back surgery.
The majority of cases include multiple injuries of varying degrees of severity. As a result, we often draw from various jurisprudential cases. We may combine many cases to provide a basis for your claim.
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Other Methods
The prior methods are only applicable to settlement discussions. When your case is heard in the courtroom, its value is solely determined by the judge or jury.
There are many strategies to employ when persuading a jury to assign a reasonable valuation. Each jury is unique, and juries are always unpredictable.
Contact A Monroe Personal Injury Attorney Right Now!
Because of common injuries such as fractured bones, concussions, brain injuries, and spine injuries, you may not get the full compensation you are entitled to. Not only will you need costly medical treatment in the long term, but you will also lose out on wages if you are injured in an automobile or heavy truck accident.
Our Monroe personal injury attorney ensures that you obtain all of the compensation you are entitled to for medical bills, lost earnings, damage to property, as well as emotional pain and suffering. Personal injuries can last much longer than the time immediately after an accident. With a determined attorney on your side, you may be able to recover from your accident debt-free.
For appointments, our personal injury law firm is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Northeast Louisiana Legal Services has given recognition to E. Orum Young three times as a community leader by honoring him with the Pro Bono Attorney award for his passion in serving his community. This is a personal injury law firm that cares about the community and gives back to it. Do not delay and contact us now!
