In the context of a personal injury lawsuit, “special damages” refer to those with a readily identifiable financial value. When asking What are special damages in a personal injury lawsuit?, your attorney will typically calculate their total value. Medical bills and lost earnings are two common examples of special damages found in many personal injury suits. The other common type of damages in personal injury lawsuits are called “general damages.” These damages can be quantified, but not as easily as special damages can be. Pain and suffering are the most frequent examples of special damages among plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits.
What Special (Economic) Damages Might Be Included in My Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Personal injury cases arise from many different types of events, from car accidents to physical assaults, medical malpractice events, boat collisions, slips and falls, and exposure to dangerous products. With a broad range of potential reasons to bring a slip and fall case, each plaintiff has a unique damage profile.
That being said, some of the special damages (also known as economic damages) that often emerge in personal injury cases are:
Healthcare Costs
Medical expenses in a personal injury case can relate to acute injuries, disabling injuries, chronic pain, illness, and other ailments. Some services that you might face bills for are:
- Ambulance transport
- Emergency department care
- CT scans, X-rays, and other medical images
- Diagnostic tests
- Surgeries
- Physical therapy and other types of rehabilitation
- Specialist’ care
The majority of clients who hire personal injury lawyers are dealing with some kind of health-related challenge. Lawyers are well acquainted with the medical system. Your legal team will learn about your injuries, document those injuries (and all care for those injuries), and seek compensation covering all medical services.
Lost Earnings
Professional damages are often included in personal injury cases, with some common examples including:
- Lost earnings (which can affect both hourly and salaried workers)
- Diminished earning capacity
- Benefits lost if you have to retire or take a long leave of absence
- Missed chances for bonuses
- Inability to earn promotions and secure other career-advancement opportunities
Each client has unique professional circumstances. These differences are why effective lawyers take a personal interest in each client. Your legal team will document the professional harm you’re facing because of the at-fault party’s negligence.
Permanent Loss of Income
If you suffer a disabling injury such as severe brain trauma, a spinal cord injury, or pain and suffering that impairs your ability to function, you might be unable to work. This devastating outcome may prevent you from earning a living again, or at least for the foreseeable future.
If a long-term disability is a possibility or certainty in your case, your lawyer will account for the realities of being disabled—including severe professional losses.
Property Expenses
Many personal injury case types, including car accident cases, involve property damage. It might include damages to:
- The exterior, engine, and interior of a motor vehicle
- Clothing
- Valuable accessories, such as watches or jewelry
- Personal property inside the vehicle at the time of an accident
Your personal injury lawyer will determine the cost of repairing or replacing your damaged property if you have any. You might also deserve compensation for temporary transportation, medical equipment (like a wheelchair), ramps, other additions to your residence, and other purchases you must make because of someone else’s negligence.
What Kinds of General (Non-Economic) Damages Might Be in My Personal Injury Suit?
Most clients do not suffer either special damages or general damages. Many clients have both. Your personal injury lawyer will be equally concerned with documenting economic and non-economic damages, so they will certainly determine the cost of your pain and suffering.
Some examples of pain and suffering are:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Lost quality of life
- Scarring
- Amputation injuries
- Other types of disfigurement
- Sleep disturbance
- Thoughts of self-harm
- Substance abuse problems (particularly if they’re the result of physical pain, trauma, or other challenges caused by the at-fault party)
The intersection of physical pain, injuries, disfigurement, mental health challenges, and quality of life is complicated. Your attorney will tie each of your forms of pain and suffering to the at-fault party’s negligence. This will prove that liable parties owe you compensation for your pain and suffering.
Your lawyer will also seek compensation for the cost of any treatment for your pain and suffering.
How Your Attorney May Determine the Value of Your Non-Economic Damages
How do you know how much your physical pain costs you? You ask a personal injury attorney.
Your lawyer will use one or more methods to calculate the financial value of your pain and suffering. The two most common ways of calculating these general damages are:
- The per diem method, in which your lawyer assigns a per-day value to your pain and suffering, then determines the number of days for which you’ll be dealing with the pain and suffering
- The multiplier method, in which your lawyer calculates your pain and suffering in relation to the cost of your economic (or special) damages through multiplication
You might hire an attorney so you don’t have to deal with these complicated details. Allow a professional to document your special and general damages, determine who caused these damages, figure out who must pay for the damages, and fight for fair compensation.
Why Damages Are The Most Important Feature of Your Personal Injury Case
In a personal injury case, few topics are more important than your damages because:
- Damages from negligence can be truly life-changing, and you must get fair compensation for your damages so your quality of life does not suffer unnecessarily.
- Many victims of negligence accept lowball settlements because they do not understand their damages—and quickly regret not giving more thought to their damages before accepting the deal.
- You can only expect to recover fully if you have the compensation to cover your damages, including medical care and rehabilitation costs.
When you hire your personal injury attorney, they will be fixated on your damages. They know how vital your damages are to your case’s success and your long-term well-being. Your attorney will be certain to:
- Identify every single special and general damage you deserve compensation for
- Calculate the value of each of your damages and do so accurately
- Document each of your special and general damages in as much detail as possible
- Seek a sum of money that will cover all of your damages
Calculating damages can be a complicated, long-term process. Your lawyer may need you to recover so they have a firm grasp of what your future symptoms, medical care, and financial burdens might look like. Even then, your legal team may need to project the cost of damages you might suffer in the future.
Leave this high-stakes, consequential, and complicated process to a professional. Focus on healing while your attorney seeks fair compensation for your damages.
When You Have Damages, You Deserve a Lawyer Who Understands Their Gravity (and Their Financial Value)
Hire an attorney at the first sign you’ve suffered harm. Signs of harm might include:
- Physical pain (including symptoms as simple as a headache or soreness)
- Visible injuries
- Being emotionally rattled
- Being psychologically compromised (your memory, ability to process information, and mood may tip you off to trauma)
Immediately get medical attention if anything seems off after an accident or other harmful event. You may also find a mental health professional to evaluate and treat you. Then, hire your personal injury attorney. A lawyer will:
- Know exactly what to do—and explain what you should do.
- Inform insurance companies that you have representation, which should compel the insurance companies to take your claim seriously (and deal with you in good faith).
- Understand the enormous responsibility of securing the compensation you deserve, as the quality of your present and future life will depend on it.
- Be able to overcome any challenges that your case presents them.
Your attorney will get started immediately. You deserve an expedient resolution to your case because you deserve to move on from this chapter in your life.
How Your Personal Injury Lawyer Will Pursue Fair Compensation for Your Special and General Damages
Everything about a personal injury case is personal. Your lawyer will personally discuss your case with you, determine the harm you’ve suffered, and pursue a settlement or verdict that will put you on solid ground moving forward.
Your lawyer’s duties will include:
Documenting Your Special and General Damages
Doctors, economists, mental health experts, and other professionals may help your lawyer document your special and general damages. Some of the tangible documentation that may prove your damages include:
- Financial records, which can show lost earnings, property costs, and other expenses and losses
- Detailed diagnoses of physical injuries and mental health conditions
- Medical bills
- Your statements about how you’ve suffered pain, emotional and psychological hardship, and other forms of harm because of someone else’s negligence
- Witness statements about how you’ve suffered
Attorneys are always looking forward. An experienced lawyer will expect liable parties to underplay, deny, and contest your damages in other ways. Irrefutable documentation of your losses may be pivotal to your case’s success.
Proving Negligence
Proving negligence is the precursor to winning a personal injury case. Attorneys typically prove negligence by:
- Establishing that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care
- Proving that the at-fault party violated their duty of care
- Proving that the at-fault party’s violation of the duty of care caused you harm
- Documenting the damages you’ve suffered because of the at-fault party
This is the blueprint for proving negligence. Your lawyer may supplement this blueprint with video footage, eyewitness statements, expert testimony, and other relevant evidence supporting their case.
Demanding a Settlement
In most cases, personal injury lawyers can negotiate settlements for their clients. Your attorney will have a specific target when they enter negotiations, and they should never encourage you to accept a settlement unless that settlement leaves you in an improved financial position.
Going to Trial (This Step Is Not Always Necessary, But Can Be)
A personal injury case can be an insurance claim. Your case can also become a lawsuit. If you and your attorney take legal action, going to trial is a possibility.
Your lawyer will handle the legal process on your behalf, which may include:
- Filing a legal complaint on your behalf
- Drafting all paperwork related to a lawsuit
- Completing any necessary depositions, hearings, and other pre-trial procedures
- Arguing for a jury to award you a fair sum of money for your special and general damages
To navigate trials effectively, it is immensely helpful to have experience. It’s just as important to know the law and legal procedures. Hiring a lawyer makes so much sense for those who deserve compensation for others’ negligence.
Managing Every Other Aspect of Your Personal Injury Case
Personal injury cases come with plenty of uncertainty. Your lawyer will not know what your case requires until they get into the thick of it. No matter what comes, your lawyer will manage every case-related demand on your behalf.
What to Do While Your Lawyer Leads Your Personal Injury Case
Find your personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Attorneys have staff on standby, ready to speak with prospective clients. There is no cost to complete consultations with law firms, so don’t wait to contact attorneys serving your area.
Once you retain your lawyer and they start working on your case, you will only need to:
- Continue getting treatment for any injuries or other health conditions
- Continue seeking assistance for any psychological or emotional challenges you’re still dealing with
- Be aware that your lawyer will contact you throughout your case, and be ready to answer their calls
- Contact your attorney whenever you need advice or an answer
If you have suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence, a lawyer’s job is to help. Your only duty is to accept that help as soon as possible. Don’t wait to unleash your lawyer, take action now. A personal injury attorney will assess all your damages and aggressively fight for everything you deserve.