What Are You Looking For In An Injury Settlement?
When you talk with a personal injury lawyer about a potential settlement, it can feel like a lot of numbers are being thrown around. For a lot of clients, this leaves them wondering what exactly they're looking for in a settlement. These 5 areas of concern are ones every personal injury attorney wants to address with a claim.
Paying Off Outstanding Medical Bills from the Incident
The absolute baseline for a claim is to try to get as close to paying off your medical bills from the incident as possible. Injury law exists in large part to correct the damages that have come from certain wrongs, whether they arise from accidental, reckless, or malicious behavior. To get anywhere close to making up for what happened, the financial damages caused by paying medical bills have to be addressed.
Continuing Care
Folks who may require lifelong or long-term care deserve compensation. This may include covering the costs of things like physical therapy, nursing care, and medical devices. Additional surgeries you may require down the road could also be covered as part of your personal injury settlement.
Pain and Suffering
Non-financial damages are just as important. While the damage to your quality of life can never be perfectly quantified, the reality is that most victims in injury cases deserve something to show for their pain and suffering.
Wages, Salary, and Future Earning Potential
Another big hit that a client often takes following an injury is losing out on the money they would have made from their jobs. This includes the immediate losses that come from losing hours of work they were already scheduled for and the losses that stem from work they'd have otherwise performed. Your long-term earning potential, especially if you'll never be able to work again, is something you deserve to be compensated for.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
Non-economic damages can also arise from the decline in your ability to simply enjoy your life. If you have a hobby you can no longer engage in, there's value in that. A similar kind of logic, often referred to as loss of consortium, applies to your relationship with your spouse. In some states, dependent children can also claim damages for the loss of parenting ability. Remember, it's your life, and if the incident you've suffered through has deprived you of the ability to enjoy it as well as you might otherwise have, you could be compensated for that.
If you need more information about personal injury cases, contact an attorney like Kenneth P Hicks in your area.