How Are Damages Calculated in a Personal Injury Case?
July 15, 2024
In California, personal injury is a legal term that refers to any physical, emotional, or psychological harm caused to a person by the actions of another party. Personal injury can be caused by another party’s negligence, international acts, or failure to act. Personal injury can involve a car accident, a dog bite, injury sustained due to a slip and fall, traumatic brain injury from a bicycle accident, or a workplace accident.
To prove a personal injury in California, you must show:
- Someone owed you a legal duty,
- The legal duty was breached, and
- You suffered compensable damages from that breach.
Often, the first hurdle is figuring out the right party to sue. For example, let’s say you were injured while on someone else’s property. It could be your neighbor’s front steps or in the aisle of your local supermarket. If you’re not trespassing, the property owner has a duty to keep the premises free from hazards or at least to alert you to the hazards. So, in all probability, your lawyer will suggest that you sue the property owner. But what if there was a property manager who created the hazard? What about a situation where a contractor caused the injury by, for example, leaving his tools and ladders on the premises?
Another hurdle is figuring out where to sue. This is called “venue.” Your Santa Ana personal injury lawyer will help you figure out the proper venue, but typically it’s where the injury occurred or where the defendant lives or does business.
Another issue to overcome is whether you meet the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the period of time within which you must bring a lawsuit or be forever barred from doing so. Different causes of action have different statutes of limitations. However, in the event of a personal injury in California, in most cases, you have two years to file a lawsuit. There are exceptions for minors, sexual assault, and cases where the injury was not discovered right away. There are also rules if you are suing the government. In this case, the statute of limitations is six months.
Before we discuss how to calculate damages in a winning personal injury lawsuit, it’s important to note that if you have insurance, one of the first things you should do after suffering a personal injury is to be in touch with your insurance company and find out what they suggest you do. It’s possible your insurance company will cover all or some of your costs, and you won’t need to proceed with a lawsuit, or you will only need to sue for the amount of your deductible or whatever your insurance will not cover.
Calculating Damages in a Personal Injury Case
Now let’s assume that you’ve sued the right party or parties; proven that they had a duty to you and that they breached that duty; and you’ve filed suit in the right venue within the right period of time. Now, we can start calculating damages.
There are three broad categories of damages in most states, including California. These are:
- Economic damages
- Non-economic damages
- Punitive damages
Economic damages are damages that cover your out-of-pocket costs. These typically include medical expenses such as doctors’ bills, rehabilitation costs, pharmaceuticals and medicines, durable medical equipment and the like. Economic damages also include lost wages and other direct, out-of-pocket charges. These damages are fairly easy to calculate because they represent actual money spent or lost due to the injury.
Non-economic damages cover losses that are more intangible. They are subjective and difficult to value. These include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of enjoyment of a spouse
- Partial or permanent disability
- Injury to reputation
- Humiliation
The amount awarded for non-economic damages depends on several factors, such as how strong the evidence is and the long-term impacts and effects of the injury. In California, there are generally no limits on the amount of non-economic damages that can be awarded in personal injury cases. There is no fixed formula, and the jury must calculate a reasonable sum.
If your case does not go to court and the parties are attempting to negotiate a settlement, the “multiplier method” is sometimes used to calculate non-economic damages. In this calculation, a multiplier of between 1 and 5 is chosen based on the severity of a victim’s suffering. The more extreme the victim’s emotional distress and suffering, the higher the multiplier.
So, for example, the total disfigurement of the plaintiff could result in a multiplier of 5. Then, the amount of economic damages is multiplied by 5 to achieve the non-economic damage calculation. So if the economic damages add up to $100,000, the non-economic damages would be $500,000.
Sometimes, the parties agree to use the daily rate method. In this case, the parties determine a fair “daily rate” for living with the injuries suffered. The rate is then multiplied by the number of days spent recovering from the injury.
The third category of damages is known as punitive damages. These damages seek to deter the kind of behavior that the defendant engaged in. However, they are rare. The Consumer Attorneys of California, citing a U.S. Justice Department study, report that only 5% of plaintiffs are awarded punitive damages, and the median punitive damages award is only $64,000.
Contact a Santa Ana Personal Injury Lawyer
Serious accidents can literally turn your life upside down. They can impact your physical well-being, your emotional health, and often your financial situation. If you’ve suffered a personal injury, you need the best representation possible.
At the Law Offices of Benjamin Arsenian, we care about you and your family and know how to get you the compensation you deserve. We know how to evaluate your economic and non-economic damages, and we understand whether you’re also likely to be awarded punitive damages. Contact us for a complimentary consultation today.