Not all personal injuries warrant filing a lawsuit or claim, but if the accident would not have happened except for the negligence of another person, filing a claim could be the best way to recover compensation for your injuries. But, how do personal injury attorneys calculate how much your case is worth or what is fair settlement offer and what is not? Read below for the important steps to determine what your case is worth when handling personal injury case.
Step 1: Calculating “Specials” Damages
The first step is to calculate economic losses, which are known as special damages or “specials.” For these types of damages, money is the only substitute for what was lost.
Determining special damages for past economic losses is easy. Just keep complete records of all doctor and medical visits, and records of all medications you take for your injuries.
Determining future economic losses is more complicated, as they involve future medical expenses and lost earning capacity. Usually, you and your lawyer will work with a medical treatment expert to testify regarding your future medical costs. Your attorney will also will use an economics expert to do an economic damage analysis to assign a dollar amount to how much income and earning ability you stand to lose from your accident injuries.
Regarding your lost earning capacity, damages suffered are usually are measured by the difference in actual earnings and projected earnings, if the defendant had not caused the accident.
The first step in calculating these damages is to project how much money you would make based on your life expectancy and when you will retire. The economics expert will use several factors to determine this, such as your tax returns, W-2s, the state of the economy in the country, and the nature of the industry in which you work. He or she will also review the salaries of other people in the same field with the same education.
Step 2: Calculating General Damages
Next, you need to calculate general damages, which also are called non-economic losses for which money is only a partial substitute. These include:
Note that general damages are usually equal to 1.5 and up to 5 times special damages. This will depend upon the severity of your injuries.
Step 3: Adjusting the Value of the Claim
Now you need to adjust the amount calculated above to reflect these factors:
Step 4: Making Settlement Offer
Now you are ready to send in your settlement demand letter to the defendant and/or his insurance company. There may need to be a great deal of negotiation between you and the insurance company until you reach an agreement. Many plaintiffs who represent themselves in this situation often do not get as much compensation as they would have by using a personal injury attorney. Insurance companies are very skilled at getting the layman to accept a very low settlement offer. In the majority of accidents, except for very minor ones with minor injuries, you are usually better off being represented by an attorney.
At the end of the day, if you and the insurance company do not come to an agreement, you will have to go to trial, where the judge or jury will determine the amount of damages you should receive, if any.
If you have been injured as a result of the wrongdoing of another, you could be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact Herron Law 503-699-6496 24/7 today to set up a free consultation!
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