What Are Damages in a Personal Injury Case? Attorney Discusses
The potential value of any Texas personal injury case or lawsuit is ultimately based on the number of damages that the plaintiff has amassed. In legal terms, the word “damages” refers to money claimed by or ordered to be paid to a person as compensation for injury or loss. The state of Texas recognizes two distinct types of damages in a personal injury case: General Damages and Special damages.
General Damages, otherwise referred to as non-economic damages, are any type of damages that do not have a tangible value associated with them. General damages are much more subjective and vary from situation to situation in the way that they are quantified.
Some examples of General Damages are:
Pain and Suffering
Mental Anguish
Physical Impairment
Loss of Consortium
Emotional Suffering
Inconvenience
Injury to Reputation
Disfigurement
For an example of the subjectivity of general damages, imagine that an industrial accident has occurred, whereby a factory exploded. In this explosion, there were two victims, both of which were badly burned in the ensuing fire. Plaintiff 1 was knocked unconscious in the blast, and although he suffered significant burns, he was not awake and alert to experience the pain. However, plaintiff 2 was just as badly burned, but was fully alert and experienced the full and terrible pain associated with the burn.
While both of these victims may end up with similar medical expenses and so forth, they each experienced a different amount of pain and suffering, and the damages they are entitled to would be different.
Furthermore, general damages are subjective in the sense that every person experiences and is affected differently by the above-mentioned damages. For example, an 18-year-old cheerleader who has a small scar on her face as a result of an injury may be considerably more affected by the disfigurement than a 30-year-old firefighter may be. Some people do not care what others think, and some people depend largely on their reputation, which would make damage to that reputation a significant event.
Special Damages, otherwise known as economic damages, are any variety of damages that have an explicitly quantifiable dollar amount.
Some examples of Special Damages are:
Lost Wages
Medical Expenses both past and future
Property Damage
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Court Costs
Loss of Earning Capacity
For an example of special damages, imagine that a plaintiff who worked as an electrician or lineman making $60,000, yet he lost his ability to work after an 18-wheeler accident caused the loss of one of his legs. Naturally, he can no longer continue his work climbing electrical poles, and as such, he would lose his income over his remaining 20 years of expected employment. Therefore, he has at least $1.2 million in damages as a result of his loss of earning capacity, not to mention his other damages such as medical expenses and so forth.
One of the defining characteristics of a good personal injury or wrongful death attorney is that attorney’s ability to properly account for, and quantify ALL of, the damages that you are entitled to be compensated for. Our Texas personal injury attorneys thoroughly evaluate every case in order to maximize the case’s potential value.
