Injury Lawyers - Settlement - Plaintiff's Personal Damages
The amount of damages recovered by personal injury lawyers for claimants and plaintiffs depends upon
proof of a causal link between wrongful conduct, harm, and amounts claimed as damages. In the most basic
sense, the wrongful conduct (i.e. negligence, recklessness, violation of a statute, etc.) must be a
significant contributing cause to foreseeable harm. Once the full extent of harm is ascertained, damages may
be estimated based on several distinctly different theories of recovery.
Measures of damage used by personal injury lawyers
For bodily harm, the measure of actual damages is ordinarily measured as medical expenses, lost income,
and other out-of-pocket expenses. Recovery of fees paid to a personal injury lawyer may or may not be
considered an out-of-pocket expense. Consequential damages which naturally occur because of a wrongful act -
the domino effect of injuries sustained - include physical pain, mental suffering, and other measurable harm
and/or losses which compromise quality of life.
In addition to physical and emotional damages, economic harm (i.e. estimated future lost income and
opportunity) are recoverable. States vary authorizing punitive damages for negligence causes of action.
Ordinarily, when negligence rises to the level of gross recklessness or wanton disregard for the safety of
others, courts may allow additional damages intended to deter a defendant and society in general from future
disregard of the law.
For more information, see:
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