What Is an Injury Settlement?
A settlement agreement is a legal contract between the defendant and plaintiff to settle the dispute outside of court. This is a quick and efficient way to get compensation.
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify in dollar amounts. This includes things like pain and discomfort.
Medical expenses
Medical expenses can comprise large portions of a settlement, based on the severity of the accident. These could include doctor's appointments, medications, surgery, and other procedures. These costs are typically not covered by insurance and may be expensive. In injury attorney lewisville of cases, there are also additional costs that are associated with the injury such as home health care such as adaptive devices, transportation to medical appointments, and many more.
Medical bills are usually paid by your private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or PIP. If you get a settlement with unpaid medical bills the money from the settlement will be used to pay these. Your lawyer can negotiate with the billing companies and attempt to reduce the amount due.
Your attorney can also determine the proper amount to cover any other losses that aren't medically related. This includes the loss of future earnings along with pain and suffering and other non-economic losses. In order to claim these damages, your attorney will need to present evidence and expert testimony regarding these additional damages.
Lost wages
In addition to the compensation for medical costs, injured victims may also be entitled to compensation for lost wages. These damages are calculated by the amount of time the person was absent from work due to their injuries. An experienced personal injury attorney can help their clients recover the compensation for lost wages in a personal injury claim.
A traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, for example, could cause you to miss a significant amount of work. You will need to prove that the accident caused you to miss work. When proving that you lost wages, you need to include all sources of income. This includes regular wages overtime, bonuses, and commissions. You can also include unused vacation or sick days.
If your doctor concludes that you're able to return work under certain work restrictions, your employer must follow these limitations. This could mean changing your job or supplying you with useful equipment.
A personal injury lawyer who is experienced can assist you with gathering the evidence needed to prove your claim for lost wages. They can also assist in cases where the person injured is self-employed or receives an undetermined amount of money. In these situations the insurance company has to review the person's past and future earnings and provide a reasonable estimate of the future loss of wages. This will likely require a detailed financial statement from the plaintiff's accountant or financial professional.
Non-economic damage
When people think of personal injury damages they usually think of money lost due to medical expenses and lost wages. However, there are many other costs that are associated with injuries that are difficult to quantify in dollar amounts. These are known as non-economic damages. They cover the more intangible results of injuries sustained by a victim, like suffering and suffering, as well as loss of enjoyment of life.
Economic damages are easy for juries and courts to calculate because they can be documented with bills and pay stubs. Non-economic damages on the other hand, are more difficult to calculate and can be based on subjective factors like suffering, pain, or emotional distress.
The suffering and pain can be physical, mental or emotional trauma caused by the accident. It could also be an individual's inability at their normal social or recreational activities. A jury will look at the effects of the injury on the victim's life.
Other non-economic damages include disfigurement, loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment life. For example one could be suffering from a disfigurement as a result of an accident that permanently alters their appearance. While this isn't necessarily an expense it is painful to bear scratches and other injuries that will last forever.
Damages for suffering and pain
Pain and suffering are not economic damages which compensate you for the physical and mental stress caused by your accident. Contrary to medical bills and auto repair costs and lost wages and other more subjective damages that must be determined by a jury. Every juror will have a different opinions on how much pain and suffering compensation is appropriate for your situation.
Documentation is a way to help jurors understand the severity of an injury. Your lawyer can collect written records from your doctors that describe the severity of your injuries along with photographs and video footage. Testimonies from relatives and friends can be equally convincing. These testimony can help inspire sympathy from the jury and also show how your accident has impacted aspects of your life, like hobbies and family activities.
The length of your injuries can affect the amount of your pain and suffering settlement. Injuries that are severe and disabling typically result in higher pain and suffering awards than injuries that heal faster.
Injuries can cause a lot of emotional trauma and stress and a successful injury claim should reflect the severity of the injury. A personal injury lawyer can assist you in building a strong case, and ensure fair settlement for all of your injuries. If you have any questions about a possible injury settlement you can call Adam S. Kutner & Associates for a consultation.