8 November, 2021
One of the most challenging parts of being a lawyer is calculating an appropriate damages figure to enter into a demand letter. You know your client is deserving of as much as it takes to solve their situation, but the calculation process is multi-faceted. Before you draft your next demand letter, take a moment to consider whether your figures account for the following information:
Medical Costs
You can learn more here about medical costs, including who pays them, but it’s important to note that they generally make up a significant part of a personal injury claim. Your client may have experienced severe injuries in their accident or incident, and these can come with a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars.
Don’t forget to calculate not only those immediate emergency room costs but expenses relating to specialist visits, ongoing treatment, medication, medical equipment, and more. Your client can likely provide you with receipts and medical reports as proof of these economic costs.
Repair Bills
In vehicle accidents, vehicles can take on significant damage or be total losses. Insurance companies generally cover the costs, but they likely want to be reimbursed. Ask your client for repair bills or information detailing that the vehicle will need to be replaced.
Lost Wages
After a severe accident, it’s not uncommon for victims to require time off work to recover and attend appointments. Some people may even spend several months off work or may never be able to work again.
Using the legal resources you have available to you and the information supplied by your client, you can calculate a figure that ensures your client isn’t financially disadvantaged by their accident. Typically, this figure considers the wages they’ve already lost and what they are likely to lose in the future.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages can be far more challenging to calculate than economic ones such as those mentioned above. Generally, they incorporate pain and suffering, emotional trauma, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and more.
Depending on which is the most appropriate for your unique situation, you can use one of two calculation methods. The multiplication method involves tallying the economic damages and multiplying them by a number between 1.5 and 5. The higher the number, the more severe the incident was.
Otherwise, a daily calculation method may be suitable. You can set a dollar figure representing each day you’ve had to live with accident-related pain. Start with your client’s actual daily earnings as a benchmark figure and multiply it by the number of days you’ve been injured.
If your client’s case is being presented before the court, you may also have the option of leaving non-economic figure damages to a jury to decide. Using before and after stories allows a jury to put a price tag on your client’s suffering.
Punitive Damages
If you’ve managed to prove that negligence or malicious intent led to your client’s accident, you may be able to recover punitive damages. The Supreme Court provides guidelines for how to calculate punitive damages, and there is no maximum sum. Generally, the court considers the defendant’s actions and similar cases to determine if these damages should be awarded.
The more experience you get in the legal field, the easier the damages calculation process can be. In the meantime, consider these circumstances above to help guide your decision for the benefit of your client.
