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In a personal injury case, damages refer to the monetary compensation the injured party (called the plaintiff) may be paid by the at-fault party (the defendant). If the plaintiff and their West Palm Beach personal injury lawyer can prove that the defendant’s negligence caused the plaintiff physical injury and financial losses, damages are awarded to the plaintiff. The defendant is responsible for paying them.
There are three potential types of damages you may be eligible for. Which apply in your case?
Special compensatory damages
Special damages, also referred to as economic damages, in a personal injury lawsuit are meant to compensate the injured person for their material losses stemming from the incident. These financial losses can include out-of-pocket costs such as medical bills, lost wages from time missed at work, modifications to your home or vehicle to accommodate a new disability, property damage, the cost of post-accident physical therapy, and any other expenses incurred due to the accident.
Calculating special, or economic, damages is fairly straightforward: Your lawyer tabulates the entirety of your expenses and lists these in the initial lawsuit and Demand Letter sent to the defendant.
General compensatory damages
General damages are the non-material, yet still valuable, losses of the plaintiff. Sometimes referred to as pain and suffering damages, these include pain in the aftermath of the accident, as well as loss of consortium and companionship (in spousal relations), loss of guidance (as a parent to a child), and loss of enjoyment of life.
It’s harder to assign a monetary value to non-material damages. Usually, they’re calculated as a function of the plaintiff’s economic damages, using:
The Multiplier Method: The total economic damages are multiplied by a factor of one to five (or incrementally, such as by 2.5) to arrive at a fair amount for non-material losses. The more serious and permanent the plaintiff’s injuries are, the higher the multiplier. A plaintiff who is seriously permanently disabled and unable to work or care for themselves independently would typically have their economic damages multiplied by 4, 4.5, or 5, while someone anticipated to make a full physical recovery may only be entitled to non-economic damages multiplied by a factor of one.
The Per Diem Method: In this method, each day the plaintiff experiences pain is assigned a dollar amount; damages are calculated based on the number of days the plaintiff suffers physical pain and loss of enjoyment of life.
Punitive damages
Punitive damages are far less common in personal injury claims, but plaintiffs are entitled to seek them. Usually, these are awarded when the defendant’s behavior was particularly harmful or as a deterrent.
Punitive damages are also referred to as exemplary damages, as they’re often awarded to the plaintiff in cases involving a corporation or other entity to serve as an example to similar types of enterprises that may be tempted to cut corners or engage in negligence similar to that the defendant exhibited.
Experienced personal injury attorneys increase your likelihood of full compensation
The purpose of a personal injury claim is to provide injured victims with the means to cover all expenses incurred in the accident, plus provide fair financial compensation for the effect that the accident and their injuries have had on their quality of life and ability to support themselves and their family.
At Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath, we have a strong track record of securing high-value settlements and jury awards for our personal injury claims. We help you obtain full and fair compensation for both economic and non-economic damages, plus punitive damages as appropriate. We invite you to contact us at (561) 655-1990 for a complimentary case review.