When you file a personal injury lawsuit, it’s vital to understand how much you will part with as compensation. Sadly, these lawsuits differ in scope and nature, so determining the exact compensation for certain injuries may be daunting.
At Pinsker Law, we are a team of dedicated personal injury lawyers with the experience you need to win your case. One of our veterans, Matt Pinsker, will take you through factors determining compensations and the amount to expect.
The Severity of Your Injury
Personal injury lawsuits account for three types of pain and suffering:
- Physical pain like bruises
- Emotional pain like stress and mental anguish
- Other related physical injuries suffered later, especially when getting medical attention.
The attorney will determine the severity of your injury by summing up all the types of pain as they appear on your medical report. Further, the court will use a “simple multiplier” or the “per diem” to calculate compensation.
However, according to Matt Pinsker, these two methods may be inadequate if you suffer permanent injuries like spinal cord damage or paralysis. Instead, you’ll get compensated for the cost associated with that specific injury.
Lost Wages
Lost wages are salaries, tips, gratuities, overtime, or bonuses missed because of your injury. To calculate lost wages:
- The attorney will determine how much you make per week by referencing their pay history
- Next, the attorney will determine how many weeks you will miss work before they can return to work.
Once you have these two numbers, the court will multiply or add them up to come up with an estimate. The court will then subtract any insurance benefits to generate the final compensation.
Incurred Medical Bill
You need to determine how much money was spent on your medical treatment. You can call the hospital, doctors, and other healthcare providers where you were treated. You should ask them for copies of bills and receipts.
You can then use these items along with your medical records to compute the amount of compensation you are entitled to. In most cases, the insurance policy limits will be used as the basis for the computation of the compensation amount. However, if extra costs or expenses were incurred on your behalf, such as ambulance rides and recovery time from work, those would be considered additional damages/costs that can be considered in computing the compensation amount.
Shared Damages
The legal term “Shared Damages” refers to the damages awarded to multiple plaintiffs in a personal injury claim. The shared damages are calculated by multiplying the number of claimants by their percentage of fault. Each plaintiff must be assigned a certain amount of fault or percentage of responsibility. This figure is then divided by the total number of plaintiffs to determine their respective percentages.
For example, if five plaintiffs in a personal injury case and three were involved in an accident that caused $100,000 worth of damage, each plaintiff would receive $25,000 from their share of the settlement.
Getting To The Final Figure
To get to the final figure, the court will:
- Account for how much your health insurance has paid out on your behalf and amounts awarded by a previous judgment or settlement;
- Add any sums awarded by the court as compensation for pain and suffering;
- Add any sums awarded by the court as an award of exemplary damages to punish the defendant and;
- Subtract the amount incurred in the form of shared damage if there exists any
Hire a Professional Lawyer in Central Virginia
Don’t navigate this tedious process alone. At Pinsker Law, we will take the whole litigation process and ensure it runs smoothly to get maximum compensation. Contact Matt Pinsker at (804) 690-1228 or visit Pinsker Law headquarters in Richmond, VA, for a free consultation.