Although non-economic damages are recoverable in personal injury lawsuits, most plaintiffs don’t know how pain and suffering is calculated. We work hard to accurately calculate and recover all intangible damages you incur, so tell us exactly how your quality of life has decreased because of an injury.
There are two methods for calculating non-economic damages: the multiplier method and the per diem method. Our attorneys are very familiar with both and can use them to help you get the deserved compensation for pain and suffering. You can help us calculate non-economic damages by being candid about your emotional distress, and you can prove your non-economic damages by testifying about your pain and suffering during a trial.
For a free case review from our Las Vegas, NV personal injury lawyers, call Mitchell Rogers Injury Law at (702) 702-2622.
How Do You Calculate Pain and Suffering in Nevada?
It’s not easy to calculate pain and suffering in personal injury claims, so let our lawyers handle this part of your lawsuit.
Multiplier Method
When using the multiplier method, we start by picking an appropriate multiplier. The range is generally between 1.5 and 5. If your injuries are life-altering or permanent, we may choose 5 as our multiplier.
Then, our Boulder City, NV personal injury lawyers apply the multiplier to your economic damages. To determine your economic damages, we will add up all medical bills, lost wages, and any other out-of-pocket expenses. Once we complete this equation, we will know your deserved non-economic damages.
Per Diem Method
The other common method for calculating pain and suffering is the per diem method. First, we will determine the number of days you will experience non-economic damages. Next, we will multiply that number by a daily pain and suffering rate. We base this rate on several factors, like your pre-accident income and the seriousness of your injury.
What Helps Our Lawyers Calculate Pain and Suffering?
Because pain and suffering are subjective damages, we need to know as much as possible about the physical pain you experience and changes to your quality of life to calculate them.
Keep a Journal
Victims keeping journals helps us and them better understand their pain and suffering. You can log the different changes to your life, describe the isolation or depression you feel, and note any other intangible harms you suffer each day.
Keeping a journal helps us appreciate the daily struggles you are dealing with because of an accident, so we often encourage victims to do this.
Be Candid
Be honest with our lawyers about the many ways the defendant’s negligence has hindered you. Tell us if you can no longer take your dog on walks, go jogging, or even play with your children in the same manner as before. The more we know about your pain and suffering, the more accurate our calculations may be.
Don’t downplay your mental anguish or the chronic pain you experience, and be as candid as possible.
Provide Medical Records
Though medical records prove your injuries, they also help shed light on non-economic damages. Records proving compound fractures suggest a significant level of physical pain. Records describing disfiguring injuries help jurors appreciate a plaintiff’s embarrassment or emotional distress.
Give us any medical records you have. You can also inform us about where you received treatment, and we can obtain your medical records on your behalf.
What Evidence Proves Pain and Suffering?
In addition to calculating pain and suffering, we must prove non-economic damages. Your testimony is perhaps the best evidence to accomplish this, though statements from mental health experts who have treated you also help.
Victim Testimony
You are intimately familiar with the physical pain and mental suffering the defendant’s negligence has caused you. That is why your testimony is such important evidence.
We understand that testifying can be overwhelming and intimidating for plaintiffs, and we aim to make the experience as easy as possible. Not only will we review the questions our attorneys plan to ask, but we can also anticipate and prepare you for some of the questions the defense may ask.
Expert Witness Testimony
Many victims seek help from mental health experts after suffering devastating injuries. Developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression is common, and a therapist can help you work through your trauma.
Additionally, these therapists can testify about your pain and suffering if your case goes to trial. They can discuss any mental health diagnoses and anything else that is relevant to your recovery of non-economic damages.
How Much Compensation Can You Get for Pain and Suffering in Nevada?
You can recover large amounts for pain and suffering in a Nevada personal injury lawsuit. Damages are unlimited in general personal injury claims, but are capped in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Even if non-economic damages are uncapped in your lawsuit, they are not promised. We must prove non-economic damages and support our calculations. Don’t assume compensation for pain and suffering is guaranteed, as that might put your recovery in serious jeopardy.
Nevada doesn’t impose statutory caps on economic damages in personal injury lawsuits either. You should receive full compensation for all financial expenses resulting from negligence, and our lawyers can substantiate these damages with bills and other concrete evidence.
Can You Get Pain and Suffering from a Settlement in Nevada?
You may receive non-economic damages from a personal injury settlement, but likely only after our lawyers negotiate to get better offers. Defendants often intentionally exclude non-economic damages from most initial settlement offers, so don’t sign a settlement agreement until our lawyers have reviewed it.
Defendants who realize they will be found liable at trial may offer bigger out-of-court settlements. Defendants may also offer more compensation for pain and suffering if they are at risk of being found liable for punitive damages as well.
We can gauge whether you may receive more compensation for pain and suffering through a settlement or a trial, and assist you in maximizing your recovery.
Call Our Nevada Lawyers About Your Injury Case Today
For a free case evaluation from Mitchell Rogers Injury Law, you can call our Henderson, NV personal injury lawyers at (702) 702-2622.