When you’re severely injured due to an unexpected catastrophic accident, the physical and emotional recovery process can take months and sometimes years. Depending on the injuries you’ve experienced, you may be out of work without the ability to earn a steady income.
The accumulation of medical expenses will begin to pile up over time, and if you know someone else was at fault for causing your accident, seeking compensation for your damages may be the only way to recover without added financial stress.
The legal process is foreign to most, and filing a claim can seem intimidating. A personal injury attorney from Spencer Calahan Injury Lawyers can help you calculate your overall claim value and put a dollar amount to the multiple damages you’ve suffered.
Comparative Negligence
When trying to understand damages in Louisiana personal injury claims, the first thing to take into consideration is the law of comparative negligence. You might initially be worried about filing a claim against the liable party in your accident because you know you were partially at fault for the accident as well. But, within the comparative negligence law, you can still receive compensation.
This law allows anyone who was partially at fault for an accident to file a claim against the opposing party. Once the percentage of fault is determined, that percentage will be deducted from the overall settlement amount. For example, if you’re found to be 20 percent at fault for your accident and your settlement results in a $100,000 payout, you’ll receive $80,000.
Economic and Non-Economic Damages
Once comparative fault percentages are considered, compensatory damages will be the ultimate way the settlement value is calculated. Compensatory damages are made up of economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include the ways in which the accident or injury has financially affected your life, such as medical expenses, loss of earning ability, and property damages.
Non-economic damages will include ways in which the accident or injury has affected your lifestyle, such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, scarring and disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.
All of these factors will be examined closely by your personal injury attorney and translated into dollar amounts using specific formulas that include time, severity, age, and more.
Punitive Damages
Occasionally, punitive damages are also factored into the settlement amount. Punitive damages can only be awarded by a judge, and these damages are used as a financial punishment when the liable party is proven to have acted out of willful negligence. Punitive damages may also be used to set an example for other potential offenders in the future.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer
No one deserves to be injured in an accident because of someone else’s negligence, but when it happens, having a personal injury attorney who understands how to maximize your settlement is key. The attorneys from Spencer Calahan Injury Lawyers will examine all of the damages in your case and fight on your behalf to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
For a free consultation to discuss your case in greater detail, you can contact us today by filling out the contact form below or by calling us at 225-387-2323.
