If you have been injured in the state of California and the injury was the result of an accident someone else was reasonable for, then you may have the grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. At Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas we have provided the basics of the types of damages you can receive and we also welcome you to contact us at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
In most cases, there are three types of personal injury damages: Economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
Economic damages
Economic damages are those that are meant to compensate the victim for the expenses they either have incurred or are likely to incur as a result of the injury they sustained. These are objective costs and are easy to find and measure. They include things like lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, property damage, the cost of replacing property, past medical bills, and estimated future medical bills.
Non-economic damages
These are damages that can be subjective because they take into account a person’s emotional and psychological injuries, along with pain and suffering. It may not be easy to measure these damages but an experienced personal injury attorney will know how to do so. In most cases, the economic damages are first tallied and are then multiplied by a factor that’s determined by how serious the injuries were.
Numerous factors come into consideration when finding non-economic damages, including emotional distress (including anxiety, anger, grief, etc.) physical pain, suffering, disability, quality of life, impairment of quality of life, and loss of companionship.
Punitive damages
The purpose of punitive damages is not tied to compensating the victim but is rather designed to punish the person or entity at fault for the accident. Most personal injury cases won’t include punitive damages but those with very high monetary rewards may. When they are included, they’re determined by adding up the economic and non-economic damages and then multiplying by a number the court decides on.
There are often limitations on damages
It depends on the specific type of personal injury claim you have, but in some cases the total damages may have a limit. For example, medical malpractice is capped at $250,000 in the case of negligence. There are limits on car accident awards with uninsured drivers, even when the uninsured driver is not the person at fault. Federal law caps punitive damages at nine times the economic damages and non-economic damages combined.
It’s easy to find out if you may have a personal injury case
If you have been injured in an accident and you are not sure if you have grounds for a person injury case then you will appreciate that it is easy to find out: Just contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707. Your initial consultation is entirely free so there is nothing to lose. Call us today to work on getting your future back on track.
