When a person suffers an injury as the result of another person’s actions, a personal injury lawsuit can be filed to compensate the injured person for the harm that they suffered. These lawsuits often are the result of negligence, which occurs when a person fails to act as a reasonable person would act under a given set of circumstances. Some common personal injury lawsuits include car accidents and slip and falls. Under the law, the compensation for injuries is referred to as “damages.” Damages cover different types of harm and are broken into three main categories.
Special damages
Special damages cover specific expenses the injured person incurred as a result of the accident. This includes medical bills, property damage, and lost wages. In the case of very serious injuries, the cost of future medical care, or future caregivers that are necessary to help care for the injured individual will be in this category as well. While some of these costs can be proven to the cent with the use of past medical bills, it is often necessary to have experts come up with estimates for future medical costs.
General damage
While being reimbursed for direct costs can help an injured person recover from an accident, most injuries include more intangible costs. Damages cover things like pain and suffering, and mental distress that a person injured in an accident will also likely have experienced. These damages can be higher than special damages.
Punitive damages
Punitive damages are fundamentally different from the other two categories. While special and general damages are meant to compensate the injured person, punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer. Punitive damages are not always available. Instead, the defendant must be guilty of doing something extremely careless or reckless that led to the person’s injury. The law actually states that the defendant’s conduct must include malice, oppression or fraud in order for punitive damage to be awarded. Additionally, while proving a plaintiff’s case only requires the defendant is liable by the preponderance of the evidence, which means that there is a greater chance that the defendant is liable than that they are not, proving the case for punitive damages requires a higher burden of evidence. Plaintiffs must show by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s behavior showed malice, oppression or fraud. Because of the high burden and the strict requirements, punitive damages are not frequently awarded.
Sometimes the amount of punitive damages awarded might be intended to make the defendant feel the impact of the wrong they committed. For instance, if the defendant is a large company, the cost of special and general damages might not be enough to deter them from continuing careless practices, especially if those practices are saving the company money. By awarding a plaintiff with a large sum as punitive damages, the company will learn that cutting corners is only going to end up costing them more money when their actions lead to injuries.
At Saford A. Kassel, APLC, we know how important it is for our clients to receive the compensation they need in order to move on from their injuries. If you were injured due to another’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact our attorneys now for a free initial consultation.
