What Is an Injury Settlement?

A settlement agreement is a legal contract between the defendant and plaintiff to settle the case outside of court. It can be a successful method to obtain the money you need quickly.

As opposed to special damages, which can be easily calculated, non-economic damages are harder to define in a dollar amount. These include things like suffering and pain.

Medical expenses

Medical expenses can constitute a significant portion of a settlement, contingent on the severity of the accident. These can include doctor's visits and medications, surgeries, and other procedures. The majority of these costs are not covered by health insurance, and can be very expensive. In addition, in many instances there are ancillary expenses associated with injuries, such as home healthcare, adaptive devices transporting patients to medical appointments, and so on.

Medical bills are typically paid by your private health insurance plan, Medicare, Medicaid or PIP. If you receive a settlement with medical bills unpaid, the funds from the settlement will be used to pay them. Your attorney can work to negotiate with the billing companies and attempt to reduce the amount due.

Your lawyer can also decide the proper amount to cover any other losses that aren't medically related. This includes the loss of future earnings as well as pain and suffering, and other non-economic damage. In order to claim these damages, your attorney will need to submit documentation and injury attorney expert testimony on these other damages.

Loss of wages

In addition to compensation for medical expenses the injured victim may also be entitled to lost wage. The amount of damages is based on the amount of time the person was absent from work because of their injuries. A skilled personal injury attorney can help their clients recover lost wages as compensation in a personal injury case.

A traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury for example, could cause you to miss significant amounts of work. You must prove that your accident caused you to miss work. It is important to include all income sources when proving your loss of wages. This includes regular wages such as overtime, bonuses, bonuses and commissions. You can also include unused vacation or sick days.

If your doctor has decided that you are able to return to work with certain restrictions the employer has to follow these limitations. This could mean changing your job or supplying you with the necessary equipment.

A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer will help you collect all the data needed to support a wage claim. They can also aid in situations where the person who is injured is self-employed, or receiving a variable wage. In these instances the insurance company has to examine the individual's past and future earnings and provide a reasonable estimate of future lost wages. This will likely require a thorough financial statement from the plaintiff's accountant or financial professional.

Non-economic damages

When people think about personal injury damages, they usually consider the amount of money lost due to medical expenses and lost wages. But, there are other costs that are associated with injuries that are difficult to quantify in dollar amounts. These are known as non-economic damages. These damages are based on the intangible consequences of an injury to a person, such as suffering, pain, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Pay stubs, bills and other documents can be used to prove damages for economic reasons for courts and juries. Non-economic damages on the other hand are more difficult to calculate and may be based upon subjective factors like suffering, pain, or emotional distress.

Pain and suffering can refer to any mental, physical or emotional pain that results from the accident. This could include the inability of someone to participate in their usual social or leisure activities. The jury will take into consideration the extent to which the injury has affected the victim's way of life.

Other non-economic damages include disfigurement loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment of life. A person may suffer disfigurement following an accident which permanently alters their appearance. While this isn't an expense it is painful to endure marks and other permanent injuries.

Damages for pain and suffering

Pain and suffering are non-economic damages that provide you with compensation for the physical and emotional trauma caused by your accident. These are subjective damages, which must be decided by the jury, unlike medical bills or auto repairs. They also do not include lost wages. Each juror has their own opinion about how much compensation for pain and suffering is appropriate for your case.

One method to help a jury recognize the extent of your injuries is through documentation. Your attorney can gather the medical records of your doctor which detail the severity of your injuries, with video footage and photographs. Testimonies from family and friends can be equally convincing. These testimonies may help build sympathy with jurors and show how your injury law firm has impacted aspects of your life, like hobbies and family activities.

The extent of your injury could affect the amount of compensation you receive for suffering and pain. The amount of pain and suffering awarded is generally higher for serious and disabling injuries than injuries that heal more quickly.

Injuries can cause a lot of emotional and psychological trauma, and a successful claim for injury should reflect the severity of the injury. Your personal injury attorney will help you build an impressive case, and negotiate a fair compensation for all of your injuries. If you have questions about a possible injury settlement contact Adam S. Kutner & Associates to schedule a consultation.