Money Damages
We are here to make sure you receive as much money as possible for your injuries. In awarding money, lawyers use the term damages. There are economic damages such as money for medical bills and loss wages and there are non-economic damages which are damages for pain and suffering. Economic damages are proven by submitting medical bills or presenting testimony that there were loss of earnings for being out work. There are many different ways to quantify and calculate non-economic damages for pain and suffering from being injured. One way to calculate what losses you incurred as a result of your injuries sustained due to someone else’s negligence is the use of a damage chart.
We will explain to the insurance company and/or the jury the following regarding damages, which is the amount of money that the injured party is requesting :
The medical bills that you have incurred
The medical bills that you will incur in the future
Your past loss of earnings.
Your future loss of earnings.
Most importantly we will explain what your damages are for pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is a vague term that the court will explain to the jury.
All of the above damages are explained to the jury through a process called jury instructions. The standard jury instructions on damages reads as follows:
a. Injury, pain, disability, disfigurement, loss of capacity for enjoyment of life:
Any bodily injury sustained by JANE DOE and any resulting pain and suffering, disability, physical impairment disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future. There is no exact standard for measuring such damage. The amount should be fair and just in light of the evidence.
b. Medical expenses :
Care and treatment of claimant:
The reasonable value or expense of hospitalization and medical and nursing care and treatment necessarily or reasonably obtained by JANE DOE in the past or to be so obtained in the future.
c. Lost earnings, lost time, lost earning capacity:
Any earnings lost in the past and any loss of ability to earn money in the future.
It is up to the jury to decide what all of the amounts above are and what your past pain and suffering amount to and what your future pain and suffering amount to. It is very difficult for a jury to put a dollar number on this and we at Kreutzer Law Offices do our best to make this figure consistent with the seriousness of your injuries and the severity of your mental and physical pain and suffering. The damage chart is one way to explain what pain and suffering damages should be.
We at Kreutzer Law Office make sure that you, the client, receive copies of all emails, letters, and court documents and we make sure you are fully informed at all times. Furthermore, you can contact us at any time and our cell phone number is always available for emergencies.
