Main Elements of Damages

Damages – While there are differences in what is compensable, depending on the way you suffered an injury, there are two main components of damages in every personal injury case; and as the injury or loss becomes more profound, the numbers rapidly multiply when considering the reasonable amount of time over which those damages need to be compensated:

• Economic Damages –These are the damages we can put on a blackboard with exacting detail, such as past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages lost or diminished earning capacity, funeral expenses, and property damage.
• Non-Economic Damages – These damages are often more significant than the economic damages people suffer. They include the following damages suffered in the past or to be suffered in the future:
  • Pain –This is very difficult to convey to insurance adjusters or juries. We all know what pain is, but when we don’t have it, it is hard to step into the shoes of the person who is experiencing it. This is why it is in your best interest to trust your case to a trial attorney who can marshal the types of evidence which will convey your pain to a jury. You may not be able to see the pain, but through the use of the Florida Rules of Evidence, you can show the devastating effects pain takes on a person’s life. In this skeptical, litigation environment, we recognize the need to assemble the right kind of evidence that will show a jury that you are, have been, and will be in pain, and place it in the perspective of what healthy people value doing.
  • Disability –Before we are hurt, we are able to do all of those things that are necessary for survival and those things at which we are skilled or have practiced. We don’t award damages based on what part of your body was injured. Instead, we look at each case individually and evaluate the loss your injury has caused you! For example, the loss of a pinky finger on one’s non-dominant hand may have no effect on a teacher’s ability to earn money, but it would have a career ending effect on a concert pianist. Other disabilities have profound effects on one’s life, and it is your attorney’s job to marshal the evidence needed to show a jury how that disability affects you in all of the aspects of your life. Compensable disabilities include traumatic brain injuries which can be proven through state of the art diagnostic testing.
  • Mental Anguish –Florida recognizes your ability to make a monetary recovery for the emotional disturbance suffered as a result of another’s negligent conduct. Anxiety, nightmares, sleep disturbances, and depression are not uncommon effects from physical injuries. When we are hired, we immediately start to marshal the evidence which will enable you to convincingly present these damages at trial.
  • Lost Capacity for the Enjoyment of Life –When you are no longer able to do the things you once enjoyed, or can’t do them as well or as frequently, Florida law requires juries to consider such damages when determining the appropriate amount of compensation you are entitled to receive as a result of someone else’s negligence. It is one thing to say, “I can’t do what I used to anymore,” and quite another to convey the layers of detail behind such a statement in a compelling, logical presentation. Whether making that presentation to a jury or trying to convince an insurance adjuster that your case is worthy of a significant recovery, our skill in presenting these types of damages is why we have successfully represented and made recoveries for our injured clients and their families.
  • Damages Occasioned by Injuries to Your Spouse – Several different types of damages are suffered by the family members of those who are injured. Each family is unique but these are the most common:
    • Family members often take on laborious responsibilities within their family, and the injury to or the loss of a family member can require that outside help get hired to fulfill the duties that can no longer be performed. Similarly, when a family member is no longer able to care for themselves to the full extent of their pre-injury condition, family members often have to step in and perform those personal duties, including, but not limited to driving, cleaning, cooking, and personal care;
    • Lost enjoyment of what you used to do together;
    • Lost services of your spouse;
    • Lost physicality and sexuality; and
    • Lost socialization with friends.
  • Wrongful Death Damages – When a loved-one is lost due to the negligence of another, there are heightened damages the family suffers.
    • Emotional distress can be the most profound, and spouses automatically qualify for those damages. Children receiving support from their loved-one also qualify.
    • Lost Support compensates the survivors with the amount they would have been receiving from their loved-one had they not passed.
    • Lost Services of a deceased family member can be calculated and compensated.
    • Net Residual Value – In a wrongful death case, we calculate what amount the survivors would have received had their loved-one not passed, and, on behalf of their Estate, we calculate what the value of the estate would have been had your loved-one lived through to their natural life expectancy. We call that the “net residual estate” and it considers what your loved one would have saved during their forecasted, natural life expectancy.