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What Is an Injury Settlement?

An injury settlement is a deal between the plaintiff and defendant to settle a dispute outside of court. It can be a successful method to obtain quick compensation.

As opposed to special damages, which can be easily calculated but non-economic damages are difficult to define in a dollar amount. This includes things like pain and discomfort.

Medical expenses

Medical expenses can constitute an important portion of a settlement, contingent on the severity of the accident. This could include doctor's visits, medications, surgery, and other procedures. These expenses are usually not covered by insurance and can be expensive. In many instances, there are ancillary expenses due to the injury such as home health treatment or adaptive devices, transportation to medical appointments, and many more.

Medical bills are typically covered by a private health insurance provider or the government's Medicare or Medicaid or PIP coverage. If you get a settlement with unpaid medical balances, these must be paid with the settlement funds. Your attorney can work to negotiate with the billing companies and attempt to reduce the balances.

Your lawyer can also determine the proper amount to cover any other losses that are not medically related. This includes the loss of future earnings or pain and suffering as well as other non-economic damages. In order to claim these damages your attorney will have to submit documentation and expert testimony of these other damages.

Lost wages

In addition to compensation for medical expenses, injured victims may also be entitled to compensation for lost wages. These damages are calculated based on the amount of time the victim was off work due to their injuries. A seasoned personal injury lawyer can assist their clients in recovering lost wages as compensation in a personal injury case.

You may have to miss a significant amount work if you suffer a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or both. You must prove that the accident caused you to miss work. When proving lost wages, you need to include any and all sources of income. This includes regular earnings, overtime, bonuses and commissions. You can also include unused vacation or sick days.

If your doctor has determined that you can return back to work with certain restrictions the employer has to respect these limitations. This could mean changing some aspects of your work or providing necessary equipment.

A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can help you collect all the data needed to support a wage claim. They can also help with a case where the person who is injured is self-employed or has an undetermined salary. In these instances, an insurance company has to look at the past and future earnings of the victim and provide an accurate estimate of the loss of future wages. This will likely require a detailed financial statement from the plaintiff's accountant, or a financial professional.

Non-economic damage

When people think about personal injury damages, the first thing that comes to mind is the amount of money lost due to medical expenses and lost wage. But, there are other costs associated with injury that are hard to quantify in dollar amounts. These are called non-economic damages. They are the more tangible consequences of injuries sustained by a victim, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.

Economic damages are easy for juries and courts to calculate because they are documented in invoices and pay stubs. However, non-economic damages are much more difficult to determine and may be dependent on subjective factors like the pain and suffering as well as the emotional distress caused by the injury.

The pain and suffering could include any mental, injury settlement physical or emotional trauma caused by the accident. This could include the inability of someone to take part in their normal social or leisure activities. A jury will consider the effects of the injury lawyers on the victim's life.

Other non-economic damages include disfigurement, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life. For instance an individual may suffer from disfigurement due to an accident that permanently alters their appearance. Although this isn't an expense it is painful to live with scars and other permanent injuries.

Damages for suffering and pain

Pain and suffering are non-economic damages that pay for the emotional and physical distress caused by your accident. These are subjective damages which are determined by the jury, not unlike medical bills, auto repairs and lost wages. Every juror has a different opinion on how much compensation for pain and suffering is appropriate in your case.

One way to help a jury understand the extent of your injuries is by providing documentation. Attorneys can gather the doctor's written notes that detail the extent and severity of your injuries. You can also gather photographs and video footage. The testimony of family members and friends can be persuasive. These testimonies may help create feelings of sympathy among jurors and show how your injury affected your hobbies and family activities.

The duration of your injuries could also affect the amount of your settlement for pain and suffering. Pain and suffering awards are generally higher for serious injuries that are disabling, as opposed to injuries that heal quickly.

Damage claims should be able to reflect the emotional and psychological trauma that is caused by an accident. A personal injury lawyer can assist you in constructing a strong case and work towards an equitable settlement for all of your injuries. If you have questions about a possible injury settlement make a call to Adam S. Kutner & Associates for a free consultation.