Although no two accident cases are alike, all of them do have one thing in common. The anticipated value of each of them does reflect the full extent of the victim’s costs. The most visible cost emerges in the form of injuries. The process followed by the personal injury lawyer in Sault Ste. Marie provides for a fair evaluation of such injuries. The evaluation determines the size of the damage award
Timeline for process in which lawyer might participate
Both parties agree to any damage award after the settlement has been completed, in those cases where there is no trial. That fact underlines one of the reasons that insurers like to settle, instead of fighting a claimant in court. In a courtroom setting, a judge and jury can offer to make the awarding of damages a portion of what gets handed to the plaintiff.
Damages of primary interest
A claim’s value gets determined by what lawyers refer to as the plaintiff’s compensatory damages. Some of those have a clear and unmistakable value. For instance, it would be difficult to question the value of lost property, lost days of working for a salary and money that had to be spent on medical bills. On the other hand, certain additional losses become harder to evaluate.
Depending on the severity of the victim’s injuries, it might be necessary to calculate what lawyers call the anticipated loss of future income. Such a calculation would prove necessary, if the victim had suffered a long-term disability. That example illustrates the extent to which a claim’s value rests largely on the cost of the victim’s injuries.
What amount of money can compensate a victim for his or her emotional distress? Such distress results largely from the victim’s need to deal with pain and suffering, along with other unanticipated changes. Those additional changes could include things like the inability to enjoy a favored hobby or perhaps major lifestyle changes. Any possible lifestyle changes would reflect the existence of the victim’s new physical limitations, limitations imposed by accident-related injuries.
Other damages that might be considered
Those would be punitive damages. Understand, though, that not every victim can expect to seek punitive damages. Those get awarded to a plaintiff if a defendant’s conduct has been viewed as actions that could be described as egregious or exceedingly careless.
Typically, victims seek punitive damages by presenting their argument during a court trial. The jury does not have to demand proof of egregious conduct that wipes from their minds any shadow of a doubt. The jury just needs to see that a preponderance of the evidence supports this statement: It was more likely than not that the defendant’s actions fell into the category of egregious and careless conduct.