Personal Injury Damages

The most significant issue to most people involved in a personal injury claim is the issue of damages. When a judge or jury finds a defendant liable for wrongful conduct in a personal injury case, the issue then becomes what types of damages are due to the plaintiff, and in what amount.

If you suffer a personal injury you’ll likely require costly medical attention and possibly rehabilitation. You may lose income and/or use up available sick/vacation time because of the injury, and you may continue to lose income while treatment and recovery takes place. Your vehicle may have been damaged or totaled, or you may have incurred other property damage. Since you can’t drive your vehicle while it is being repaired, you may have to rent one all of these things are costing you time and money. You may also lose the ability to perform various activities of normal daily living, for a while or permanently, and endure significant pain and suffering.

The law permits you to seek recovery after an accident to “make you whole again.” The central concept is that you should be compensated in a way that places you in a state that as closely as possible matches your state of being before the accident. In most personal injury actions the plaintiff must have been injured in some way to be entitled to damages.

For example, in negligence cases, your attorney must prove that you suffered injury (some type of physical, emotional or monetary harm) for the defendant to be required to pay compensation to you. However, with some intentional torts (such as battery, assault or trespass) your attorney may only have to show that the defendant engaged in the some sort of unauthorized conduct, without proving that you suffered actual physical harm, in order to recover damages (though damages in these situations are often nominal absent serious injury). The three basic kinds of damages that are awarded in personal injury cases are compensatory damages, punitive damages and nominal damages.