A lawyer evaluates a personal injury case in large part to the severity of the injuries. Obviously, a minor injury does not have the same evaluation as a permanently disabling injury.
Primarily, there are three factors considered when coming to an evaluation.
Medical Bills – Medical bills may range from a few hundred dollars to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Wage Loss – Depending on the case, there may be no wage loss or someone may be out of work for the rest of their life.
Pain and Suffering – This is the third major element. This is the intangible mental anguish, physical pain, and emotional distress resulting from the injury. In a simple rear-end collision, that may be a neck sprain or a back sprain that resolves itself within a month or two. In a major impact rear-end collision, however, the consequences may results in paralysis, with someone unable to walk for the rest of their life. Obviously, that has a far different evaluation than a more minor accident.
When a plaintiff wins a personal injury case, they may receive punitive or exemplary damages to compensate for their pain and suffering caused by the defendant. These damages are generally a monetary amount awarded to the plaintiff on top of any cash amount given to compensate for property damage, wage loss, medical bills, and other damages.
In summary, these are the three main factors a lawyer looks at when evaluating a personal injury case.
• Medical bills, past and future
• Wage loss, past and future and
• Pain and suffering, the intangible that we talked about involving mental anguish, emotional distress, and physical pain.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident then contact us at (614) 545-3930 today for a free, confidential and no obligation review of your case.