Compensation Available in a Personal Injury Case

If another person’s negligence caused your injuries, you may have the right to recover compensation for both financial losses and the personal impact the accident has had on your life. Some of the types of damages that might be recovered include the following:

Medical Expenses

Medical treatment is often the largest part of an injury claim. Compensation may include different forms of treatment like emergency room care, hospital stays, surgeries, and medical equipment. Serious injuries frequently require care that continues long after a claim begins, which is why future medical expenses are often an important part of settlement negotiations.

Lost Income

An injury can keep you away from work for days, weeks, or even months. For that reason, you have the opportunity to seek compensation for the income you lost while recovering. What’s more, you may also be entitled to damages based on your future lost income related to your injuries.

Pain and Suffering

Not every loss is easily tracked with a receipt or invoice. State law allows injured victims to pursue compensation for their physical and emotional pain, even though there is no objective way to measure these losses. Your attorney can show a judge or jury what your pain and suffering claim is worth by establishing how your life has been impacted.

Property Damage

Many accidents result in damage to personal property in addition to physical injuries. Depending on the circumstances, compensation may be available for vehicle repairs, replacement costs, and other damaged belongings.

How Comparative Fault Can Affect Your Compensation

Many injury victims worry that they cannot recover compensation if they were partially responsible for an accident. California follows a pure comparative fault system, which means you can still pursue a monetary award even if you shared some responsibility for what happened.

Under comparative fault rules, the amount of your compensation is reduced by your percentage of blame. For example, if a jury determines that an injured driver suffered $100,000 in damages but was 20 percent responsible for the crash, the recovery would be reduced to $80,000.

How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?

Many people hesitate to contact an attorney because they assume legal representation is too expensive. In reality, most injury attorneys are affordable and only seek payment when they are successful.

With a contingency fee arrangement, you do not pay attorney fees at the beginning of your case. Instead, the lawyer’s fee comes from a percentage of the settlement or verdict obtained on your behalf. If there is no recovery, attorney fees generally are not owed.

This arrangement allows injured people to obtain legal representation regardless of their financial situation. After a serious accident, most families already face medical bills, lost income, and financial uncertainty. Paying hourly legal fees is often unrealistic.

Of course, there are other costs related to personal injury cases outside of legal fees. You can expect to pay filing fees upfront, and there could be expenses related to the hiring of expert witnesses. It is important to discuss these specifics with an attorney before hiring them.