How does a judge calculate damages in a personal injury case?
All plaintiffs in personal injury cases whose injuries are the direct result of the defendant’s negligence, actions or inactions are entitled to compensation for damages arising from the incident. Damages are a monetary award that may be settled between the parties or decided upon by a judge. The factors and method used for calculating the amount of damages depends on the specifics of each case, and each judge calculates damages a little differently. Some cases where fault has been established through settlement still go to court because the parties cannot agree on the fair amount of compensation, often because of compensation claims being outrageous.
An experienced personal injury lawyer will place a value on a personal injury case after discovering all of the facts. This value is often an attempt to match what would be awarded by a judge should the case go trial. Of course, in some cases, the value given a case by an attorney may be initially overvalued to be used as a bargaining chip with the defendant.
While many types of personal injury cases seem to be exactly the same on the surface, the specific factors always prove otherwise. Each personal injury case is unique, even cases in which the injury is identical.
One broken arm due to an auto accident will not always be awarded the same compensation as the next.
The factors on which damages in personal injury cases are calculated come in two categories: general and specific. The general factors include the type and severity of injury, the permissible evidence, and the attitude of the judge.
Injury
The type of injury and severity is one of the primary factors on which compensation is based. The reason for this is that the type and severity of injury usually determines the amount of medical expenses and the time period in which normal activity is lost. If an injury is minor, easily treated and fully heals very quickly, damages will be lower than in cases where the injury requires extended treatment, severely limits normal activity and results in permanent disability.
The extent of the injury will affect some of the specific factors used in calculating damages in a personal injury case. Some of these specific factors include the effect of the injury on income, the disruption of personal and family life, and the effect of the injury on the plaintiff’s mental health.
Medical expenses usually provide a base upon which the final amount of compensation is calculated. This includes estimated future medical expenses. On top of this, the loss of property and lost income is added.
Not all of the effects of an injury are as black and white as medical charges. Many of the ills caused by injury are subjective and make up a large gray area. Some of the subjective elements that are taken into account are disfigurement, damage to existing relationships such as marriage, pain, suffering, mental anguish and physical impairment.
Evidence
The amount of damages allowed in some cases can be affected by the admissible evidence as allowed by the rules of the court. Not all persuasive evidence is permissible in court. The good Samaritan rule disallows out-of-court offers for compensation by the defendant to be submitted as proof of liability. The hearsay rule prevents most out-of-court statements from being admissible as evidence.
Attitudes
The attitude of the court can greatly affect the calculation of personal injury damages. Ultimately, all other evidence and calculations are filtered through the attitude of the judge. Some judges believe only in minimal compensation. Their personal feeling about the law causes them to award only the bare minimum required. Some judges do not believe in monetary compensation for the subjective harm of injuries. However, the opposite is also true. Some judges have an attitude that subjective harm has a high price tag and calculate the compensation accordingly.