How do they determine damages in a personal injury case?

Compensatory damages can be categorized as “non-economic” or “economic.” Examples of non-economic damages include emotional anguish, reputational damages, worsening of prior injuries, pain, loss of enjoyment of daily activities, and emotional anguish. In some states, these damages are called “pain and suffering” damages. 

An example of this is that a person who led an active lifestyle full of long walks, playing sports, and/or dancing may not be able to do those activities anymore after being injured, or it may be much more difficult. This can make it harder for the victim to live their life to the fullest, and their lifestyle may be altered significantly. 

Medical expenses are often the main cause for people that were victims of a personal injury accident to seek fair compensation. Medical expenses arise from bills that the victim receives because of the injury treatment that they needed from the injuries they got in the accident. In many situations, an appellate court will review the total amount of medical expenses and figure out whether it is reasonable to have an overall award of damages. An example of this could be a situation where a jury admits some evidence that is less probative and more inflammatory. In this invented scenario, say that this results in the extreme verdict of one million dollars awarded for a soft tissue injury. The court might decide to look into the medical bills of the case to determine if rewarding that much money in damages was a reasonable verdict. 

Medical expense damages can also be awarded for bills that the victim will have to cover in the future. The plaintiff has to put forward sufficient evidence to prove that they will require further medical care in the future. Usually, this type of damage has to be proven through the professional testimony of the victim’s doctor.

Having to pay for household services is another type of damages that a victim of a personal injury accident may seek compensation for. The category of household services includes things such as having to hire somebody to look after the house and do tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and babysitting while the victim of the accident is recovering. An important factor of determining whether or not the claims for household services compensation are valid is to ask: would the victim have paid someone to do these services even if they had not been injured? If the answer is yes, the victim would have incurred these expenses regardless of injury, then it is unlikely that they will be able to receive money for it through the claims process. For example, if the plaintiff was already paying the wages of a housekeeper before they were injured, then it is unlikely that they will be able to recover those costs.