If you or a loved one has been the victim of a car accident, the Law Office of Constantine G. Anagnostis can help you get the compensation you deserve for your pain and suffering.
Compensation for Your Losses
The injured party in a motor vehicle accident may be able to recover damages from the party or parties who caused the accident. Damages are monetary compensation for the victim’s injuries or losses. Compensable injuries include physical injuries like broken bones, spinal cord injuries and head injuries; the pain and suffering caused by physical injuries may also be compensable.
Damages may also be sought to pay for the victim’s medical bills — bills that arose directly after the accident, in addition to reasonable future medical bills. If the victim requires rehabilitative services or accommodations, such as physical therapy or a ramp leading to the home, these costs may be recovered. The accident victim also may recover lost past and future wages. Compensation for damage to personal property may also be recoverable.
Other damages that are more difficult to quantify may also be sought. Mental pain and suffering may be compensable, as may permanent impairment or disfigurement. Loss of enjoyment of life is also compensable in certain situations.
If the injured person was already suffering from a previous injury, that does not necessarily bar monetary recovery. The accident may have aggravated or worsened the victim’s existing injury, and the new injury can be treated as a separate matter from the underlying injury.
If you have been injured in an auto accident, it is a good idea to keep a daily diary documenting how the injury is affecting you, both emotionally and physically. This can be of great assistance when it comes time to show the effects of the accident.
Spouse’s Damages: Loss of Consortium
Even if the husband or wife of the motor vehicle accident victim was not in the car at the time of the crash, he or she may also be experiencing a loss. Almost every state recognizes the claim of loss of consortium. Loss of consortium refers to the negative effect the accident has had on the marital relationship. The marital relationship generally comes with certain benefits, such as companionship, comfort, assistance, sexual relations and affection; the loss of consortium can be temporary or permanent.
Auto Insurance
It is most often the case that auto accident victims who recover in court or via a settlement are paid by the other driver’s insurance company. If the other driver is uninsured or underinsured, however, the accident victim must pursue other means of recovery.
The insurance policy of the victim may have an uninsured-motorist or underinsured-motorist provision that will compensate the victim. Other types of insurance policies, available through the victim’s spouse or employer, may also provide benefits. How significant a benefit and whether it is available depends, of course, on the specifics of the policy itself.
Amount of Financial Recovery
The level of damages to which the auto accident victim may be entitled depends on numerous factors. State law, the victim’s injuries, proving the facts of the case and even the victim’s own actions can come into play. So can the type and length of medical treatment, the insurance coverage of each party, the effect of the accident on the victim’s income and the permanence of the injuries. This is why an experienced attorney can be such a strong ally in planning the case and assessing damages.
Actual damages
Actual damages, also called compensatory damages are awarded to repair a wrong or to compensate for an injury. Actual damages are classified in two ways: economic and noneconomic.
Economic damages
Economic are damages intended to compensate a claimant for actual economic or pecuniary loss.
Noneconomic damages
Noneconomic are damages awarded to compensate the claimant for physical pain and suffering, mental or emotional pain or anguish, loss of consortium, disfigurement, physical impairment, loss of companionship and society, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, injury to reputation, and all other non pecuniary losses other than exemplary damages.
Nominal damages
Nominal damages are damages awarded when there has been a violation of a legal right, but the injured party has not sustained any actual loss or cannot prove the amount of the loss. (Breach of contract, defamation, assault)
Exemplary Damages
Exemplary damages or punitive damages are designed to penalize and deter conduct that is outrageous, malicious, or morally culpable. They are neither economic nor noneconomic.
Types of Personal Injury Damages
Physical Pain
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for past and future physical pain. It is within the jury’s discretion to decide whether pain and suffering occurred and how much compensation is appropriate. To prove past physical pain, the plaintiff can testify about the pain or introduce evidence of it. The law assumes that physical pain rests from a serious injury. To prove future physical pain, the evidence must show there is a reasonable probability the injury will continue to affect the plaintiff in the future. The mere probability of future pain is insufficient.
Mental Anguish
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover for past and future mental anguish. A plaintiff can recover mental anguish damages is she was physically injured. Mental anguish damages are recoverable in almost all personal injury cases. Mental anguish damages are also recoverable for the aggravation of a preexisting medical conditions. A plaintiff can recover mental anguish damages even if she was not physically injured. In cases involving (1)intentional or malicious conduct (2) cases involving the breach of a duty arising from a special relationship, and (3) cases involving particularly disturbing events. a plaintiff can recover mental anguish damages even is she was not physically injured.
Past Mental Anguish
To recover damages for past mental anguish, the plaintiff must show (1) physical injury, or if no physical injury (2) direct evidence of the nature, duration, and severity of the plaintiff’s anguish, thus establishing a substantial disruption of the plaintiffs daily routine, or other evidence of a high degree of mental pain and stress that is more than worry, anxiety, vexation, embarrassment, or anger. Evidence of mental anguish can be the testimony of the plaintiff, third parties, or experts. However, the plaintiff’s testimony that she suffered mental anguish is conclusory and does not amount to direct evidence of the nature, duration, and severity of any mental anguish.
Future Mental Anguish
To recover damages for future mental anguish, the plaintiff must show there is a reasonable probability that mental anguish will be suffered in the future.
Disfigurement
In personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for past and future disfigurement. Disfigurement is recognized as a separate element of recovery from pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of earning capacity. The term disfigurement is defined as that with impairs or injures the beauty, symmetry, or appearance of a person or thing, or that which renders unsightly, misshapen, imperfect, or deformed in some manner. The amount of damages is measured from the date of the injury to the time the disfigurement is expected to end. Common disfigurements include scars, burns, and, amputations. There are a number of ways to prove past disfigurement. For one, the plaintiff may show the jury the disfigured port of the body or present photographs of the disfigured part. To make comparisons, the plaintiff may show photographs of the affected area before and after the injury. The plaintiff can also enlist the help of experts to discuss the disfigurement. Recovery for future disfigurement in speculative, so each case must be judged on its own facts, and considerable discretion is given to the jury. Recovery for future disfigurement does not red to be based solely on future scarring and deformity. Future disfigurement can be based on future embarrassment caused by the disfigurement.
Physical Impairment
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for past and future physical impairment. Physical impairment is defined as loss of enjoyment of life. Physical impairment encompasses the inability to participate in sports, hobbies, or other recreational activities. To be recoverable as damages, physical impairment must be substantial and extend beyond pain and suffering, mental anguish, or lost earning capacity.
To recover damages for past physical impairment as a separate clement of damages, the plaintiff must prove she suffered an additional loss beyond that of lost earning capacity and pain and suffering. The impairment must produce a separate and distinct loss of which the plaintiff should be compensated. Unless the separate and distinct loss is obvious, the plaintiff use bodice some evince showing the tasks or activities that she can no longer perform. Then plaintiff does not need to prove egregious injuries to recover for physical impairment. The plaintiff does not need to show that she is unable to perform an act that she was bale to perform before the injury.
Medical Expenses
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for past and future medical expenses. The plaintiff can recover these damages regardless of whether the jury awards the plaintiff damages for pain and suffering. Medial expenses can include costs of hospital care, doctor’s services, services of other health care providers, laboratory tests, and transportation. To recover for past medical expenses, a plaintiff must prove (1) the expenses were necessary to treat the injury and were reasonable in amount, and (2) the expenses were paid or incurred by or on behalf of the plaintiff. The plaintiff can prove her past medical expenses were reasonable and necessary either by expert testimony or by an affidavit of past expenses. Unless controverted, an affidavit will support findings of fact and bar conflicting evidence. A plaintiff’s recovery of medical expenses is limited to the expenses actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the plaintiff. To recover for future medical expenses, the plaintiff use show there is a reasonable probability that expenses resulting from the injury will be necessary in the future. To prove this, the plaintiff must provide evidence of two distinct elements: (1) a reasonable p probability the plaintiff will incur future medical expenses, and (2) the reasonably probable amount of the future medical expenses. The amount of future medical expenses is within the discretion of the jury. The plaintiff does not need to provide expert testimony to prove the amount of future medical expenses, although expert testimony is preferable.
Loss of Earning Capacity
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for loss of earning capacity. The plaintiff’s recovery can include damages for loss of earning capacity both in the past and future. Loss of earning capacity is the plaintiff’s diminished ability to earn a living, not the loss of actual income because of the inability to perform a certain job that the person held before the injury. Loss of earning capacity is the plaintiff’s diminished capacity to earn a living during the period between the injury and the date of trial. The central questions are (1) what was the plaintiff’s capacity to earn, and (2) to what extent was the capacity impaired by the injury. Loss of future earning capacity is the plaintiff’s diminished capacity to earn a living after the trial. Because the amount of money a plaintiff might earn in the future. To support an award of damages for loss of earning capacity, the plaintiff must introduce evidence sufficient to allow the jury to reasonably measure her earning capacity before the injury in monetary terms. The plaintiff should introduce evidence of past earnings, time missed from work, and any other factors that illustrate the plaintiff’s reduced ability to perform work in the past. To support an award of damages for loss of future earning capacity, the plaintiff must introduce evidence sufficient to allow the jury to reasonably measure earning capacity in monetary terms. To support an award of loss of earning capacity, the plaintiff must introduce evidence of the loss in the form of a net loss after reduction for income tax payments or unpaid tax liability under federal income tax law.
Loss of Consortium
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for loss of consortium. Then plaintiff’s recovery can include damages for loss of consortium both in the past and future. Loss of consortium is based on loss of love, affection, protection, emotional support, companionship, care, and society that can occur when a family member is injured. Consortium can be recovered only when the injured claimant incurred physical injury; the injured claimant’s mental anguish is not sufficient. A spouse can recover for loss of consortium when the other spouse’s injury was caused by the negligence or intentional tort of a third party. Spousal loss of consortium concerns the emotional and intangible elements of the marriage, including, affection, solace, comfort, companionship, society, assistance, and sexual relations. A child can recover for loss of consortium when the parent suffered a serious, permanent, and disabling injury or death. In determining the amount of damages, the jury may consider (1) the severity of the injury to the parent and its effect on the parent-child relationship, (2) the child’s age and emotional and physical characteristics, and (3) whether other consortium giving relationships are available to the child.
Loss of Services
In a personal injury case, a plaintiff can recover damages for loss of services of the injured person. Service refers to the performance of household and domestic duties. The following people can recover for loss of services:
Spouse
When claiming loss of services of a spouse, the plaintiff must offer evidence of the services the injured spouse can no longer perform.
Parents
When claiming loss of services of a child, the plaintiff must prove the child is incapable of performing household services. If there is no evidence of the child’s services or skills because of the child’s youth, the jury may infer the value of the loss from evidence of the child’s personality and family relationships.
To support an award for loss of services, the plaintiff must introduce evidence of the loss in the form of a net loss after reduction for income tax payments or unpaid tax liability under federal income tax law.
Exemplary Damages
Exemplary damages are designed to penalize a defendant for outrageous, malicious, or otherwise morally culpable conduct and to deter such conduct in the future.
Contact
At the Law Offices of Constantine G. Anagnostis, our focus in on people and their problems. Whether it is a case involving personal injury, products liability, wrongful death, or business disputes, at the Law Offices of Constantine G. Anagnostis, we provide the knowledge and emotional support necessary to best ensure our clients a favorable outcome and peace of mind. Mr. Anagnostis provides the utmost personal dedication to each and ever case, and truly cares about his clients. At the Law Office of Constantine G. Anagnostis, we look forward to helping you. If you would like any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.