How Much is my Personal Injury Case Worth?

It’s one of the first questions that comes to mind when somebody considers bringing a personal injury claim. How much is my case worth? Mostly, it’s not about greed, but rather, getting compensation for the expenses, both financial and not, that can add up when someone is involved in an accident.

Calculating the value of a personal injury case is much more art than science. While it may seem simple to add together all the damages to come up with a number, often the most substantial part of a settlement or verdict is comprised of non-economic damages like pain and suffering. These damages cannot be quantified easily like the damage that occurs to your car after a car accident.

Compensation for Economic Damages

This is the easier part. Economic damages are comprised of those expenses that can be calculated directly. Some examples of economic damages:

• Property Damage
• Medical Bills
• Lost Income
• Future Medical Expenses
• Future Lost Earning Ability

These types of damages are fairly easily calculated and added up to come up with a dollar amount. In many cases handled without an attorney, that’s where it ends. Unfortunately for many injured people, there is much more recoverable in the form of non-economic damages.

Calculating Non-Economic Damages

Placing a dollar amount on the pain and suffering caused by serious accident injuries requires both knowledge of related cases, and a aptitude for negotiation and presentation. Often times, an experienced attorney will be able to get at least three times the amount of money for pain and suffering as all economic damages combined. For injured clients, this often allows them to regain some measure of comfort while living with potentially permanent pain.

When to Talk to an Attorney

Hopefully, hiring an attorney seems to make more sense when you consider the value they can bring to an injury case. While money won’t undue the accident, it certainly help bring a level of comfort back to a life that was seriously impacted by a severe accident injury.

Whenever an accident involves a serious injury, it’s always in the best interest of the injured party to talk to an experienced injury attorney to get legal advice, and find out what value they can bring to your case.

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