The most significant issue to most people involved in a personal injury claim is the issue of damages. Obtaining fair and just compensation for injuries you have sustained is the primary concern at McPhillips Fitzgerald & Cullum. By using our experience and the extensive resources available to us on your behalf, we focus on achieving the highest possible monetary recovery for you.
When a judge or jury finds the defendant liable for wrongful conduct in a personal injury case, the judge or jury then determines what types of damages are due to the plaintiff, and in what amount. As you know, if you suffer a personal injury you’ll likely require medical attention and may need rehabilitation, all of which costs substantial sums of money. You may lose income (and/or have to use up “sick time”) because of the injury, and you may continue to lose income while treatment and recovery takes place. You may have sustained property damage to your car and other property. Since you can’t drive your vehicle while it is being repaired, you may have to rent one, and car repairs and rentals can cost money. You may also lose the ability to perform various activities of normal daily living, for a while or permanently. You may also endure significant pain and suffering, which may be ongoing as well.
The law permits you to seek recovery after an accident to “make you whole again.” The central concept is that you should be compensated in a manner that, as best as the law can arrange, places you back in the same position as you were in before the accident. In most personal injury actions, the plaintiff must have been injured in some way to be entitled to damages. For example, in negligence cases, we must prove that you suffered injury (some type of physical, emotional or monetary harm) for the defendant to be required to pay compensation to you. However, with some intentional torts (such as battery, assault or trespass) we may only have to show that the defendant engaged in the unauthorized conduct, without proving that you suffered actual physical harm, in order to recover damages (though damages in these situations are often nominal absent serious injury).
Three basic kinds of damages are awarded in personal injury cases are:
- Compensatory damages
- Punitive damages
- Nominal damages