If you’re wondering how to calculate pain and suffering damages, you’re in the right place. The Lee Steinberg Law Firm has helped thousands of Detroit-area clients successfully secure valuable pain and suffering damages after personal injuries.
There’s no one-size fits all approach to adding up the value of pain and suffering settlements. Every situation is unique. However, there are certain factors you shouldn’t overlook. Below are tips for giving your considerable pain and suffering the correct value.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
The term “pain and suffering” refers to a person’s physical and emotional struggles that arise after being injured. Pain and suffering damages are compensable noneconomic damages under Michigan’s car accident and personal injury laws.
A pain and suffering settlement helps an injured person cope with the fallout from a significant injury. This could include things like aches, pains, anguish, daily frustrations, loss of life enjoyment, emotional trauma, depression, and the potential shortening of the person’s lifespan due to the impact of their injuries.
Can I Sue for Pain and Suffering?
When you are involved in an accident that results in serious injury, doctors’ visits, hospital stays, surgeries, and rehabilitation costs are expensive and add up quickly. The settlement amount from an at-fault party’s insurance company may cover these expenses, but barely. And what about the other costs? Loss of income and enjoyment of life, your pain and suffering have value beyond your medical bills.
Hiring an attorney like those at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm is your best choice for guaranteeing that you can receive monetary compensation beyond your medical bills. An attorney can exhaust any and all resources to find additional funds to get you the help that you deserve. An attorney will also be up to date on Michigan laws regarding pain and suffering damage caps. These change annually so it is vital that the information is current and correct in these cases.
How to Calculate Pain and Suffering Value
The total value of pain and suffering damages can be calculated based on the evidence of the injury’s far-ranging impacts on your life. This is why personal injury lawyers often recommend keeping a journal to capture the daily struggles and frustrations of living with a personal injury.
Online, you’ll find hundreds of pain and suffering calculators that claim to deliver a sum of your potential monetary award. Be cautious about trusting any type of simplistic calculator like this because it can’t possibly account for the extensive details of your particular legal situation.
A car accident is different from a slip and fall accident, for example, and a medical malpractice claim is nothing like a dog attack case. You may also have aspects of your pain and suffering that are unique to your type of injury, the location where the accident occurred, your lifestyle, and so forth.
How To Determine a Monetary Amount for Pain and Suffering
There are two ways commonly used to calculate damages for pain and suffering.
Adding up monetary damages and multiplying by a number between 1 and 5
- Monetary damages such as medical bills, property replacement, attorney fees, etc. are added up and documented.
- The total in damages is then multiplied by a number between 1 and 5. This number is determined by a number of factors including:
- The seriousness and extent of your injuries
- The probability of you making a full recovery
- How your daily life has been affected by your injuries
- The amount of pain you have endured
- The total in damages is then multiplied by a number between 1 and 5. This number is determined by a number of factors including:
Designating a per diem calculation
- An amount is designated as a daily fee for your pain and suffering.
- You will be paid that daily rate until you experience a full recovery.
Can I Get Damages for Future Pain and Suffering?
Michigan law allows for judgment in favor of pain and suffering damages for the duration of an injured person’s life. A person can be injured in many ways that they will never fully recover from. A life expectancy calculator is used to estimate how long the person will live. A monetary value is then assessed and spread out over the rest of the person’s life. This number is completely discretionary and can vary greatly. A Detroit personal injury lawyer can help you with this part of your case to get the highest amount possible.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
Your best bet is to request a free consultation about your accident and the potential value of your pain and suffering compensation. At The Lee Steinberg Law Firm, we offer these free consultations as a courtesy to injured Detroit and Michigan people who are looking for answers.
A personal injury lawyer helps you examine the evidence of your pain and suffering, plus they help you build your case to make it as strong as possible. Documentation like your health records, medical bills, and the police report from your accident will help build the foundation of your case.
From there, your case is further strengthened by adding photos of your injuries, videos from the accident scene, doctors’ opinions about your status, and possibly other expert testimony that supports your pain and suffering claims. It’s important to show the full scope of the vast suffering and life-changing pain that you’ve experienced since the accident.
When You’ve Suffered So Much, We’re Here to Help
Remember, your pain and suffering have value. You don’t have to suffer alone. Under Michigan law, you’re entitled to seek compensation from the person who hurt you, and personal injury lawyers are in the business of helping injured people just like you.
Here at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm, our goal is to help you move past your pain and suffering so you can plan for a better future. Please contact the Lee Steinberg Law Firm today at 1-800-LEE-FREE or use our free online consultation form to get in touch with a qualified, experienced lawyer nearest to you in Michigan.
You’ll receive an evaluation of your case entirely free of charge. We’re here to help you!
Get a free case consultation today.
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