How Much is my Personal Injury Case Worth?

Suffering a personal injury can be a terrible burden. Depending on your injury you may be forced to endure months or even years of medical treatment. Once you complete your medical treatment, there is no guarantee that you will fully recover to your pre-injury state and may instead be permanently disabled. The last thing people should be worrying about when they need to get better is money. However, the recovery process is expensive. Pursuing a personal injury claim against the party that caused your injury can be an effective way to alleviate the financial burden a personal injury causes.

Liability

The first significant factor in assessing the worth of a personal injury case is the Defendant’s liability. Liability is the extent of a person’s responsibility for causing an event. In personal injury, the more clearly the Defendant caused the Plaintiff’s injury, the more significant the Defendant’s liability. Liability is very important for valuing a case because, in New Hampshire, any compensation a Plaintiff might receive from an injury may be reduced by the amount they are at fault. This practice of shifting fault is known as comparative negligence. Say, for example, you were in a car crash. The court may find that you were 30% at fault for driving too fast, and the Defendant was 70% at fault for texting while driving. The court will reduce your final compensation by 30% to factor in your share of the fault. The parties in a personal injury suit often argue about how the liability should be distributed.

Damages

Not all personal injury claims are created equal. The amount of compensation that you can potentially obtain from a personal injury lawsuit depends on the specific facts surrounding your injury. The second significant factor is damages. Damages are the amount of money a person is awarded for incurring an injury, loss, or legal wrong. Common personal injury damages include compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, physical impairment/disability, and lost wages. You are not automatically entitled to each of these damages if you suffer a personal injury. You must prove what damages you are entitled to as a result of your injury.

Proving Damages

Each category of damages requires its own showing of proof. Your total damages will be the sum of all damages categories you are able to prove.

• For medical expenses, you must provide documentation of the medical bills relating to your injury. These are typically the cost of any surgeries, doctors visits, and treatments. The final number for this category of damages should be a straightforward process of adding up all of your bills.
• For pain and suffering, you typically provide testimony to explain the hardships you endured due to the pain and symptoms of your injury. If you had an arm injury then you could describe how your arm feels on a daily basis including flare ups of pain and what causes them. Because of how subjective pain and suffering is, the total amount of damages in this category is highly variable.
• For physical impairment/disability, you must provide medical documentation and testimony from your doctor attesting to the extent and permanent nature of your injury. Calculating the exact number for damages in this category is more subjective like with pain and suffering.
• For loss of enjoyment of life, you typically provide testimony to explain what aspects of your life you had to give up because of your injury. You may have had to give up hobbies like tennis or gardening if you suffered a back injury. The loss of enjoyment damages number can be highly variable depending on your personal activities. This category also requires you to provide medical testimony from your doctor that states your injury is permanent.
• For lostwages, you submit to the court records of your salary and the typical hours you worked before the injury. You apply your salary to the hours you would have worked if you were not out due to your injury to arrive at this category’s final damages number. If you do not get paid through a traditional salary scheme, you can also prove lost wages by showing records of income from your taxes or invoices of work performed.

Putting It All Together

Just because you suffered a personal injury, does not mean you are automatically entitled to damages. For instance, you would not be eligible for lost wages if you continued to work normal hours after your injury. If you cannot get a doctor’s testimony stating that your injury is permanent, you would not be eligible for physical impairment/disability or loss of enjoyment of life damages. You may not be eligible for any damages if the court found that your comparative fault for the incident was 100%. Needless to say, the Defendant will dispute as much of your damages as they can. Thankfully, you can call us! The experienced attorneys at Ward Law Group, PLLC, have proven experience not just accurately assessing personal injury liability and damages but also winning them for their clients. We handle the arduous process of sifting through medical records, interfacing with Defendants, and petitioning the court while you can focus on what matters, getting better. Reach out to our office today and ensure that you get the compensation you deserve.