Clients often ask us what their case is worth.  Sometimes the answer is not simple to supply.  The answer depends upon three factors.  First, what type of personal injury case you have.  Second, the nature of the losses you have suffered.  And third, factors unique to your own injuries and damages.

Personal injury cases are diverse and so are the injuries that such a claim can cause.  Personal injury claims include cases such as:

               Automobile or other motor vehicle accidents, including Driving Under the Influence (DUI) cases;

               Workplace injuries;

               Wrongful death of the victim caused by another's negligence;

               Medical malpractice claims caused by medical treatment errors, diagnostic mistakes, prescription errors, or harm caused by faulty medical devices or inappropriate drugs;

               Dog bite cases; or

               Slip and fall accidents

Compensatory Damages

Personal injury damages fall into two general categories – compensatory damages and punitive damages.  Compensatory damages are designed to restore you to the financial position you were in before you were harmed.  These can be mathematically calculated.  Thus, if your luxury car was totaled in an accident, you will be compensated for the value of that car, factoring in its resale value, age, and mileage. 

Punitive Damages

If the negligent or reckless conduct by the defendant has been egregious, a jury or the court may also award the plaintiff “punitive” damages.  These are multipliers designed to punish the wrongdoer for his or her misconduct.

Losses Unique to You

Once we have properly categorized your case and assessed if it warrants punitive as well as compensatory damages, we analyze the damages unique to your situation.  For instance, if you lost your right hand in a workplace injury, and you are right-handed, you will have more substantial damages than if you lost your left, or non-dominant, hand in the accident.  Similarly, if one element of damages includes loss of wages, the damages claimed will be greater for a certified public account than for a farm laborer, given their respective actual wages lost.

Types of Damages You Sustained

Damages vary from claim to claim.  For instance, damages can include some or many of the following:

• Physical injury to your body;
• Damage to your vehicle or other property;
• Medical expenses;
• Costs associated with having to live with a disability;
• Amounts to compensate you for the emotional trauma caused by the claim;
• Loss of a loved one;
• Loss of income you have sustained due to the accident or during a protracted recovery;
• Lifelong losses such as not being able to do the same or similar work due to permanent injuries

Call us to learn more about just what your damages may be.  We are here to help, and we have decades of experience estimating both compensatory and punitive damages.  We will make sure you recover the full extent of the losses due you so that you can restore your life and that of your family to the way it was before the claim.  Call today, 215-576-5150.  We are happy to help!