Calculating Personal Injury Damages By Sean Burke on September 19, 2016

If you or a member of your family has been seriously injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, or if you have lost a member of your family in such an accident, you undoubtedly find yourself faced with overwhelming psychological, emotional, and financial burdens. While it is unfair that you must shoulder these psychological and emotional burdens, the American justice system does provide you with the opportunity to seek compensation for your financial losses and expenses. By filing a personal injury lawsuit, you may be able to obtain damages, or financial compensation, for losses and expenses related to your injuries.

In deciding upon a personal injury lawyer to represent your case, you obviously want to select an attorney with the skills, resources, experience, and tenacity to win cases such as yours. However, knowing how to collect evidence, prove liability, and win cases is only half of what makes a personal injury attorney worth his or her salt. Ultimately, a personal injury lawyer must also be able to identify and properly calculate damages, as well. An injured plaintiff gets only one bite at the apple, as the old legal adage goes; once a case has been settled or been tried to verdict, that plaintiff will never again have another chance to seek damages in a court of law. If he or she failed to seek sufficient damages to cover the expenses related to his or her injuries the first time around, there will be no second chances.

When it comes both to winning cases and calculating personal injury damages, Orange County, CA personal injury attorney Sean M. Burke is one of the most skilled lawyers in the nation. You can rest assured that he will present the strongest case possible on your behalf in order to obtain every cent to which you are entitled under the law.

If you or someone you love has been seriously harmed by someone else’s negligence, please contact the Law Offices of Sean M. Burke today to arrange for an evaluation of your case.

How Are Personal Injury Damages Calculated?

In calculating personal injury damages, there are basically three types of damages that Mr. Burke has to consider. The first of these are special compensatory damages, which involve losses and expenses with specific dollar values attached to them. These damages are relatively easy to calculate because they can be demonstrated with receipts, invoices, pay stubs, and other objective pieces of evidence. Special compensatory damages include compensation for medical bills, property damage, lost wages, and, in wrongful death cases, funeral costs and loss of future support, consortium, and benefits.

The second type of damages is general compensatory damages. These damages are more difficult to prove because they involve more abstract concepts, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and quality of life. These concepts obviously do not have exact dollar figures attached to them. Therefore, it takes a lawyer of particular experience and skill to quantify their worth properly and in a compelling manner.

The third type of damages, which is not applicable in every case, is punitive damages. These are damages awarded not to compensate the plaintiff, per se, but to punish the defendant for acts of negligence so egregious that they border on (or cross the border into) being deliberately malicious. Again, these damages are rarely awarded, but when they are, they are often significant in terms of their amounts.