A potential client who has suffered a serious injury or catastrophic injuries as a result of a variety of negligent behaviours, such as an auto accident, bicycle accident, pedestrian accident, motorcycle accident, medical malpractice, a product defect, food poisoning, or a defect in or failure to maintain a commercial or residential property, frequently consults a personal injury lawyer. For more information on Decatur Injury Lawyer, visit our website.
The presentation of the damage case in every major injury case is difficult, even though "responsibility" in some circumstances may be straightforward, such as when the auto accident lawyers prove through witness testimony that the defendant motorist ran the red light. Personal injury attorneys may find it difficult to prove certain injuries suffered in car accidents or premises liability cases, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord injuries that cause paralysis, quadriplegia, or paraplegia and the ensuing loss of enjoyment of life, just as it may be difficult to prove Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) in a case involving food poisoning or cerebral palsy in a case involving obstetrical medical malpractice.
In addition, the personal injury attorneys must employ the proper techniques to explain to the settlement judge or jury the life effect of the serious injuries, speaking once more only in terms of the client's "general damages." Although many personal injury lawyers refer to "general damages" as "pain and suffering," the most convincing argument is frequently made using the phrase "loss of enjoyment of life." One way attorneys will show their clients general damages is by obtaining the client's testimony, that of his family, and that of his friends, as well as photos and home movies showing all the activities the client most enjoyed in his life prior to the accident, and contrasting them with a "Day in the Life" video produced by the personal injury attorney to show the client's bravery as he faces all of the difficulties and challenges that are presented to him.
The client's "special damages," which include past and future medical costs as well as past and future loss of income or earning capacity, must also be presented by the personal injury attorney. Past medical expenses are frequently simple to establish by simply compiling and adding up all medical bills accrued from the accident date through the settlement conference or trial date. The presentation of future medical costs by personal injury lawyers is typically far more difficult and calls for the testimony of numerous medical specialists, a life care planner, and a forensic economist. In order to determine the client's life expectancy and itemise all medical expenses, from additional surgeries to convalescent home or rehabilitation costs, to replacement prostheses or wheel chairs, to medical supplies, the life care planner consults with the treating physician and the medical experts hired by the serious injury attorneys. The "life care plan" will next be presented by the personal injury attorney to a forensic economist, who will use data on medical cost inflation to adjust each expense over time and then calculate the final cost as of the present.
The measure of past loss of wages may be reasonably simple to calculate in the most straightforward scenarios, such as those involving hourly wage earners, but the measure of future loss of earnings is almost always difficult. Once more, the personal injury attorney will need to consult with a number of experts, including medical professionals and—most crucially—a forensic economist and "expert in vocational rehabilitation." The vocational rehabilitation expert typically meets with the client, consults with the client's physicians and the medical experts chosen by the serious injury lawyer, reviews the client's transcripts from the schooling or advanced education he has received, and then provides a report to the lawyer outlining the occupations for which the client is, following the accident, is disqualified. Future loss of earnings or earning capacity is measured as the "net" loss. The client's "work life expectancy" before and after the event may have varied significantly, depending on the nature of their damage. The forensic economist uses wage rate increase statistics for the client's prior occupation and any industries in which he is still qualified to work, if any, as well as general inflation statistics to discount the gross total loss of future earnings to present value after receiving the vocational rehabilitation experts' report from the serious injury lawyers.
Please note that we have just covered the "simplest case" of the hourly pay earner in the discussion above by our California personal injury attorneys. In situations where the client was a business owner, for instance, presenting future loss earnings can be considerably more challenging. You are encouraged to read the following for a more thorough explanation of the presentation of damages in serious injury cases: How Catastrophic Injury Cases Are Damaged by Serious Injury Lawyers President We go into much more detail in that post on how serious injury lawyers present general damages and specific damages, including future medical costs and future loss of earnings. Want to know more about Personal Injury Attorney? Visit our website for more information.
It can be difficult for personal injury attorneys to effectively and sufficiently convey the damages case of a client who has suffered catastrophic injuries. It is a challenge that must be undertaken by lawyers who frequently prosecute complex cases, including medical malpractice, food poisoning, or pharmaceutical product liability lawsuits, as well as premises liability and auto accident lawyers. Whether the underlying culpability is a straightforward auto accident or a complicated instance of medical malpractice, the unique harm considerations, which are typically the most complex, are always present. In addition, the damage case demands equal consideration from the personal injury attorney who takes on any major injury case, regardless of the underlying responsibility.
