Compensation for Catastrophic Injuries
The amount of compensation, also known as damages, for catastrophic injuries is not set in stone. Instead, it is calculated primarily by measuring the actual losses the injured person has incurred and will incur. This makes every claim different, and, particularly for catastrophic injuries, calculating compensation involves determining the costs the injured person will have to pay related to the injury in the future. A catastrophic injury attorney in Los Angeles could work with medical providers and other experts to help calculate a fair amount of damages to pursue.
An injured person’s damages may include the cost of any emergency transportation, immediate medical attention, or surgery they received after the accident. They also may include ongoing medical care such as follow-up appointments or long-term rehabilitative or palliative care.
The amount of damages may also include some items intended to compensate the injured person for the experience they were forced to go through, not just the bills they had to pay. This could include things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, or mental anguish.
Additionally, in some situations, an injured person may be able to receive punitive damages. These damages are not tied to something specific the injured person experienced or had to pay. Instead, they are intended to serve as a penalty to the person responsible for the injury if their conduct was particularly egregious, reckless, or malicious.
Calculating the Impact of Catastrophic Injuries on Family Dynamics
Often, the effects of catastrophic injuries go well beyond the suffering experienced by the accident victim. In framing damages claims, knowledgeable Los Angeles attorneys will include the impact of catastrophic injuries on the victim’s family, which can include:
- Loss of consortium, reflecting the impact of catastrophic injuries on victims and their spouses or partners, to enjoy each other’s love and affection
- Costs and expenses for in-home caregivers when a family is not equipped to care for a victim’s injuries
- Emotional distress experienced by family members who witness a catastrophic accident
- The reduction in value of future financial inheritances by a victim’s offspring.
Attorneys who have experience representing catastrophic injury victims, including the catastrophic personal injury team at LNN, will structure damages arguments to account for these and other adverse financial effects that the victim’s family is experiencing.
The Claims Process to Recover Catastrophic Injury Damages
The first step that a Los Angeles catastrophic accident victim should take to make a damages claim is to retain an attorney who has experience in representing individuals who have experienced devastating harm and losses. State law requires victims to file personal injury lawsuits no later than two years after the date of the accident, but attorneys will always be better able to develop strong claims for larger damages awards when they are hired promptly after the catastrophic event.
Our lawyers will then:
- Identify all parties who may be liable to reimburse the victim for losses and injuries
- Collect and secure evidence showing how the accident happened and the financial impact of injuries on the victim and their family
- Initiate and manage communications with liability insurers
- Prepare and file a lawsuit in a court that has jurisdiction over the matter, and preferably where juries will be sympathetic to the victim’s plight
- Negotiate settlements or prepare the case for trial.
Throughout this process, accident victims should keep all invoices and receipts reflecting their financial losses, including medical bills, wage statements and pay stubs showing a loss of income, and receipts for expenses associated with injuries. These materials will be critical evidence to show objective economic damages that are fully reimbursable in the claims process. They can also play a significant role in demonstrating the value of non-economic damages, such as the victim’s pain and suffering.
Given that invoices or receipts cannot show pain and suffering and similar losses, California courts frequently default to using formulas for non-economic damages. For personal injury cases involving catastrophic injuries, a court might calculate non-economic damages as a multiple of the victim’s economic losses. For example, where a catastrophic accident victim has $250,000 in economic losses, a court might set non-economic damages as one to five times that amount. Alternatively, a court can establish a per diem non-economic damages formula, where the victim is awarded a set amount for every day until they have achieved their maximum medical improvement from their injuries.
Throughout the claims process, a skillful attorney will present a catastrophic accident client’s case in ways that maximize the multiplier or the daily reimbursement rate and duration of reimbursements. If you are in need of a lawyer, our firm can optimize your damages recovery in this manner.
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