Personal injury and wrongful death claims are valued based on several different variables and factors. For exampleo ne of the variables to take into consideration is obviously the financial impact for the plaintiff. In other words the impact of the injury or wrongful death will have a profound economic damage and this type of claim is also sometimes referred to as special damages.
Some of the things that get included in the special damages category include items such as if there are medical bills, any and all lost wages or other forms of earnings and monetary losses or deficits that are directly related to the accident.
Usually when you can substantiate monetary damages such as discussed in the special damages category there is little challenge in proving this loss because it is fairly easy to prove with the documentation..
The damages that are very real, but harder to document therefore harder to prove are the damages that fall into the non-economic realm which is also known as the general damages. In contrast non-economic damages sometimes referred to as general damages. This arena requires a knowledgeable and skilled legal professional to navigate the general damages if you want to get the maximum results you are looking for in terms of a claim. The reason once again this area is harder to prove is because the lack of tangible documentation.
When you hear the phrase “General damages” it usually includes damages for things such as physical or emotional pain and suffering. There is a value assigned to suffering, but once again without documentation how do you decide what the amount should be? The same goes for losses such as the emotional stress and strain for things like loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss or impairment of mental or physical capacity and the overall dramatic impact of the loss of quality or loss of enjoyment of life.
Due to a number of factors there have been several jurisdictions that have enacted elements of what has been termed “reform” or tort reform which basically puts a limit or a cap on the amount of damages that a plaintiff may recover for non-economic damages.
The rational for the tort reform was supposed to help reduce the insurance premiums being paid by the public because the money to pay the claims simply gets reflected in the amount of money that the general public has to pay for their insurance premiums. In other words, the large claims that get paid out by insurance companies simply get paid for by insurance companies raising premiums. So the logic of tort reform was that the cap would allow insurance companies to not have to continually raise rates as a direct result of the large settlements.
This makes sense in theory, but has not proven to be successful.
Even though this reform has not proven to be too successful in accomplishing what it was intended to do still there are a number of states that have chosen to adopt such caps, and this is simply more of a reason that you will definitely need to select an experienced attorney if you hope to get what you deserve in terms of a maximized non-economic damages settlement.
There are some rare cases the court may find a defendent liable for what is called punitvie damages.Punitive damages are generally not awarded to compensate for injury, but to punish the actions of the defendant.
If this type of damage comes into play then the claimant must prove that the underlying injury or event on which the request for exemplary/punitive damages is based results from fraud, malice, or gross negligence (1) or is based on a separate statutory provision that both establishes a cause of action and authorizes the recovery of exemplary/punitive damages (2). When punitive damages are sought in medical malpractice claims, they are most frequently based on allegations of malice and/or gross neglect.
So the bottom line is this, when you consider the intricate and most definitely complex aspects and overall general nature of what is called a personal injury or wrongful death claims you or your loved one quite frankly will usually find it a smart idea to consult with a local, caring and qualified legal professional.