Personal Injury Compensation

Hi, my name is Lee Pearlman and I’m a partner and Tampa personal injury attorney at the law firm of Denmon Pearlman. In this video, I will be answering the question: what kind of personal injury damages can I seek in a personal injury case such as a car accident or slip and fall, things of that nature?

The success of any legal matter depends on the unique circumstances of each case, therefore, we cannot guarantee particular results for future clients.
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Personal Injury Damages: Out Of Pocket Expenses

Now, generally, the first aspect of personal injury damages that we will always attempt to seek and recover for are out-of-pocket expenses such as medical expenses, lost wages, things of that nature. These are things that are very concrete, very easy to show that.

In other words, if you went to a chiropractor or an orthopedic surgeon or a general practitioner or emergency care clinic or anything of that nature, they will bill you.

As sure as the sun will rise in the east, they will bill you. And what matters in that circumstance is how much.

As you go along with treatment, obviously the bill will increase. That is the first known quantity that we will always be able to say okay, unquestionably these are the damages we’re dealing with. That’s something we will always attempt to recover.

Personal Injury Damages: Lost Wages

With lost wages, the question we want to ask is how much work have you missed? What is your normal salary? Whereas your normal hourly wage, things of that nature, and how much have you lost as a result.

These are things that are relatively easy to quantify. So those types of things we will seek.

Personal Injury Damages: Pain And Suffering

There’s also something called pain and suffering.

Pain and suffering are harder to quantify but you can use our pain and suffering calculator for estimateates. It generally must occur or accompany a permanent injury, such as a herniation, broken bones, torn rotator cuffs, things of that nature that will have the permanency to them.

Generally, an injury of that level must be sustained to be able to move into a pain and suffering claim.

Pain and suffering, again, is harder to quantify because we don’t have a bill for it, right? It’s the value of living with that pain for the rest of your life and what does that mean? There are ways that we try to assess these to determine personal injury damages.

There are also ways that we try to look at that type of claim and the ability to recover for it when we’re actually moving forward with the case. And it’s something that we will build into our overall demand from the at-fault party.

Quantifiables Vs Non-Quantifiables

Whether it be an insurance company or a business or an individual who has assets that are able to be collected, these are things that we discuss with our clients to determine truly how much pain, how much suffering have they gone through as well.

So again, we have the quantifiables to determine personal injury damages.

We have the things that we know such as the medical bills for treatment, the out-of-pocket expenses that you have to pay as well for medication, lost wages, things of that nature.

Then there’s the non-quantifiable such as the pain and suffering. These are generally what is going to be used when we’re trying to make a determination and recover whatever the value is from the party that caused the injuries.

Conclusion

So essentially that is, the overview that we want to look at when determining personal injury damages.

What is the toll that it’s taken on your life? And what is the value of that?

So that I hope answered the question at least somewhat. Again, everyone’s case is unique and different and something that has to be evaluated individually.

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