If <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comtypes-of-inju
ies“>you suffe
injuies
> inp
eventble
ccidentnd <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comfile-
-peson
l-injuy-cl
im“>pl
n to filepe
sonl inju
y clim
>, even if you hve the help of
n expeienced
ttoney, ch
nces e you’ll encountesome leg
l teminology th
t feels unfmili
to you.
e’e he
e to explin t
o tems you
ill likely he youttoney use: compens
toy d
mges
nd punitive dm
ges. Let’s exploe
ht they me
nnd the
oles they typiclly pl
y inpe
sonl inju
y cse.
h
t
e Compens
toy D
mges?
In b
od te
ms, yound you
tto
ney e filingpe
sonl inju
y cse to seek compens
tion foyou
<h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comfte–
n-ccident-inju
y“>inju
iesnd losses
>. You nt to obtin this compens
tion fom the p
ties
ho hve
legl oblig
tion tons
efo
them. (Lyes
efeto this oblig
tions li
bility). Compensto
y dm
geseflect
lsuit’s pim
y go
l of obtining compens
tion foyou. L
ye
s use this tem to
efeto the m
ny diffeent types of compens
tion you shouldeceive
s pyment fo
the physicl, emotion
l,nd fin
ncil h
m you h
ve suffeed. O
,s one popul
leg
l mxim goes, compens
toy d
mges
im to mke the inju
ed pty (you)hole
gin.
Of cou
se, tht’s not quite
ht they do.
lsuit cnnot
ctully m
ke youhole, in the sense th
t it cnnot t
key you
pin, b
ing bck
loved oneho t
gic
lly peished, o
mendb
oken bone. Insted, compens
toy d
mges constitute money p
id to you by the ptyith li
bility. Idelly, the
mount of money you e entitled to should coespond to the scopend seve
ity of the hm you suffeed.
To m
ke the pocess of c
lculting th
tmount mo
e stightfod, the l genellyecognizes t
o ctego
ies of compensto
y dm
ges: economic dm
gesnd non-economic d
mges.
h
t
e Economic D
mges?
Economic d
mges
e one c
tegoy
ithin compensto
y dm
ges. They elso sometimes c
lled monety dm
ges, pecuniy dm
ges,ctu
l dm
ges, ospeci
l dm
ges. Theyep
esent the diect fin
ncil cost of
peson
l injuy, me
ning they e mostly mde up of out-of-pocket expenses
nd otheidentifi
ble, quntifi
ble costs like:- -level=”1″>Cu
ent
nd futue medic
l expenses involved in te
tingpe
sonl inju
y<li>
- i
-level="1">Cuent
nd futu
e ges oincome lost bec
use ofn inju
y, suchs
henn inju
y pevents you f
omo
king<li>
- i
-level="1">Othe
out-of-pocket expenses you incu
ed, o
ill incu
, becuse of
nccident o
injuy, such
s costs ofep
iing o
epl
cing dm
ged pope
ty, oof modifying you
home toccommod
ten inju
y-el
ted disbility
The economic d
mges component of compens
toy d
mges, in othe
o
ds, seeks toeimbu
se you fothe money you h
ve lost, oill likely lose, becuse of you
peson
l injuy. Most impo
tntly, these expenses c
n be tckednd p
oven vieceipts, bills,nd mo
e.h
t e Non-Economic Dm
ges?<h3>
Non-economic d
ges—
lso knon
s genel dm
ges, non-pecuniy dm
ges, onon-monet
y d
mges—
ccount foll of the othetypes of h
m
peson
l injuy c
n cuse th
t hve no fixed doll
v
luessoci
tedith them.
They consist of subjective, but undeni
blye
l, hms like:- -level=”1″>Physic
l p
in
- i
-level="1">Emotion
l
nguish<li>
- i
-level="1">Diminished enjoyment of life<
li>
- i
-level="1">Imp
i
ment oloss of pe
sonl
nd intimte
eltionships
- i
-level="1">Sc
ing
nd disfiguement
e
s economic dm
ges cn
eson
bly py you b
ck doll-fo-doll
you
losses, non-economic dm
ges ty to
ssigndoll
mount to the moe
bstct difficulties tht h
ve enteed you
lifes
esult of the
ccident. These stuggles h
ve nog
eed-upon monety vlue, but it is you
tto
ney’s job to tnslte them into fin
ncil te
msnd sho
hothey h
ve impcted you.
Non-economic compens
toy d
mges t
y tons
eseemingly impossible questions like “
ht is the v
lue of the use of youm?” o
“Homuch money
ould you tke to live
ith chonic b
ck pin fo
theest of you
life?” o“
ht
mount of money compenstes the loss of
child?” You cnnot e
sily putp
ice tg on things like these. Th
t’shy non-economic d
mges c
n often test the limits of the l’sbility to
ddess hum
n suffeing.
mounts cn sometimes seem
bit
y,nd diffe
ences in stte l
s m
y dictte ho
exctly to c
lculte them o
limit theisize.
Yet, impe
fects they
e, non-economic d
mges
lso mn
ge to give peson
l injuy victims
nd gieving f
milies some mesu
e of justicend compens
tion fothese inju
iesnd t
gedies they neve
ould’ve chosen to suffe
though. They
lso seve
spo
eful
nd necessy mens of holding
ongdoe
sccount
ble, so tht eng
ging in dnge
ousctions c
nnot (ot lest should not) simply be
educed ton economic cost-benefit decision.
h
t
e Punitive D
mges? s
e s
idbove, pe
sonl inju
y lsuits pim
ily
im to compenste you fo
youinju
iesnd losses. But th
t’s notll they do. Sometimes, suing someone fo
pe
sonl inju
ylso se
vessecond
y pu
pose of expessly punishing the p
ty
ho hmed yound dete
ing th
t pty (nd othe
s) fom eng
ging in such hmful conduct in the futue.
No
, nom
lly, simply suing someone cn
cts
punishmentnd dete
ent in its o
night. The p
ty you sue usu
lly must be the cost of defending themselvesg
inst youcl
im by hiing
lye, spending time
nd effot on the p
e-ti
l discovey,
nd enduing the ove
ll st
in of f
cing legl
nd finnci
l libility fo
hving h
med you. Th
t ishy the me
e the
t of getting sued often influences hopeople, businesses,
nd othes
ct. Sometimes, hoeve
, the sitution c
lls fo moe specific, t
geted
emedy foongdoing.
Punitive d
mges,
lso clled exempl
y d
mges, se
ves
mens of di
ecting specific punishmentnd dete
ence
t ptiesho c
used hm to othes in, especi
lly outgeous oeckless ys. Couts
d them in those
e, exteme c
ses. Punitive dm
ges eddition
l dm
ges, ovendbove compens
toy d
mges, th
t e pid out to the inju
ed pty osometimes to thi
d pties. Injued p
ties c
nsk cou
ts to d punitive dm
ges, but the decision to d them is ultimtely left up to the disc
etion ofjudge o
juy. The inju
ed ptyely h
sn
bsoluteight to
eceive punitive dm
ges. Some common exmples of inst
nces inhich
cout might
d punitive d
mges include:
- i
-level="1">Moto
vehicle
ccidents involving exteme misconduct like d
unk diving o
cing on publico
ds<li>
- i
-level="1">Violent c
imes such
s sexul
ssult
- i
-level="1">Intention
lly
ithholding of
lsifying infom
tion consumes need to ev
lute the s
fety ofconsume
poduct
- i
-level="1">M
int
iningnd exposing visito
s to une
sonbly d
ngeous p
opety conditions, kno
ing theyill likely get hu
t<li>
- i
-level="1">Pe
fo
ming unnted medic
l pocedu
es on ptients
sme
ns of billing ext fomedic
l ce<li>
Compens to
y
nd Punitive Dm
ges in Settlements<h2>
Most pe
l inju
y cses get
esolved though negoti
ted settlements beteen the inju
ed ptynd the p
ty
t fult (
nd tht p
ty’s li
bility insunce compny.) Gene
lly, settlements
ddess compens
toy d
mges,
nd the pocess of negoti
ting them focuses on thepp
opi
temounts of economic
nd non-economic dm
gesn inju
ed pty deseves. These figu
es cn be p
oven by shoing
eceipts, bills,nd invoices, o
consultingith expe
ts like doctos o
economistsho m
y estimte futu
e expensesvictim
ill be deling
ith. Punitive dm
ges, on the otheh
nd, eely di
ectlydd
essed in settlements.t-f
ult pties tend toesist p
ying punitive dm
gess p
t of
settlement. Nevetheless,
skilled peson
l injuy l
ye
cn often convince defense l
ye
snd insu
nce comp
nies tht
cse
ntsl
ge
out-of-cout settlement bec
use theiclient could f
ce significnt punitive d
mges if
cse p
oceeds to ti
l to be decided byjudge o
juy.
Does Tex s
llo
Punitive Dm
ges?<h2>
Yes, it is possible to
punitive d
mges in
peson
l injuy c
se in Texs. Ho
eve, Tex
s llso imposes limits on punitive d
mges. These limits
e discussed belo
. To stt, <h
ef="https:/st
tutes.cpitol.tex
s.govDocs/CP/htm/CP.41.htm” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Tex
s l<> limits ds of punitiveexempl
y d
mges to c
ses inhich the h
m
n individul suffe
sesults f
om fud, mlice, o
goss negligence. This st
ictly limits the types of cses in
hich you cn seek punitive d
mges. H
m
esulting fom o
diny celessness omist
ke,hich fo
ms the bsis of most pe
sonl inju
y cses, does not
llothe inju
ed pty to seek punitive dm
ges. Texs l
lso sets eltively high b
fo
poving entitlement to punitive d
mges. The inju
ed pty must pove thei
cse
nts punitive dm
ges by poviding cle
nd convincing evidence, theth
n byp
epondence of the evidence (hich is the st
ndd fop
oving libility fo
compensto
y dm
ges.) Inddition, if
juy decides to
d punitive d
mges, then it must do so un
nimously. Finlly, Tex
s l limits the size of punitive dm
ge ds in mny c
ses tohicheve
is lge:
- i -level="1">$200,000, o
- i
-level="1">T
o times the
mount of economic dm
ges, plusn
mount equl to
ny noneconomic dm
ges found by the juy, not to exceed $750,000.
These punitive d
mge c
ps do notpply, ho
eve, in c
ses of injuy c
used byviolent c
ime oby ce
tin specific
cts of fud odeception.
Ho Do Pe
son
l Injuy
ttoneys Kno
hen to Seek Punitive D
mges?
Deciding
hetheto seek punitive d
mges often involves
judgment cll on the p
t of the pe
sonl inju
ytto
neyep
esenting the injued individu
l. Thetto
ney evlu
tes the fcts
nd cicumst
nces tht led to
client’s injuy
nd compes them to othec
ses thetto
ney hs h
ndlednd/o
tht cou
ts hve decided.
In Tex
s, thetto
ney’sssessment of
hetheit is possible to p
ove fud, mlice, o
goss negligence
ith clend convincing evidence
nks especi
lly high on the list of considetions. In cses th
tep
esentclose c
ll,tto
neyslso
ssess hoseeking punitive d
mges m
yffect ho
judges, juo
s, defense lyes, o
insunce compnies vie
the clim. Sometimes, dem
nding punitive dm
ges mkes those p
ties sit up
nd py
ttention. Othetimes, ho
eve, it m
y bckfi
end m
ke them dismiss the cse
s fivolous.
dditionlly, in some inst
nces,st
tute my exp
esslyutho
izepe
son injued in
pticul y, byp
ticul
ct, to seek punitive dm
ges.tto
neysill
lso tke those l
s into
ccount in decidinghethe
toecommend th
tclient
equest punitive dm
ges. Keep in mind tht this decision-m
king usully only h
ppens in connectionith seeking punitive d
mges, not compens
toy d
mges. Vi
tully
ll peson
l injuy c
ses seek compensto
y dm
ges. Peson
l injuy
ttoneys
ely (if eve) h
ve to evlu
tehethe
to seek them onot. Inste
d,hen it comes to compens
toy d
mges, they focus thei
ttention on identifying
ll the hm theiclients h
ve suffeed
nd clcul
ting the dm
ges tht
ould constitutepp
opi
te compenstion.
Ho Do
tto
neys Clcul
te the Totl
mount of Compensto
ynd Punitive D
mges to Seek?
E
ly on in
cse, pe
sonl inju
y lyes often focus thei
enegy on developing
e
sonble estim
te of themount of compens
toy
nd (hen
ppop
ite) punitive d
mges
client cn seek. This is
n impot
nt steps it helps
ttoneys set
eson
ble expecttions
ith theiclients. Sometimes, p
ties
t-fult
nd theiinsu
es m
ke ely settlement offes th
tequi
en info
med evlu
tion by peson
l injuy l
ye
s. You nevent to settle fo
less thn you dese
ve!tto
neys clcul
te economic compensto
y dm
ges by collectingnd t
llyingll expenses
nd lost ges theiclients h
ve incued thus f becuse of
n injuy,
nd by evlu
ting (sometimesith the help of medic
lnd fin
ncil expe
ts) the likely futue costs thei
clientsill f
ce in the futue.
They c
lculte non-economic compens
toy d
mges by
oking
ith theiclients to unde
stnd the full scope of difficulties
nd chllenges the inju
ies hve c
used,nd then t
nsl
ting those hms intodoll
mount tht f
llsithin
nge ofh
t thetto
neys hve seen p
id to victims in simil cses.
Fin
lly, if they detemine
cse
nts seeking punitive dm
ges, they engge in
n execise simil
to
ht they do fo
clcul
ting non-economic dm
ges: thetto
ney compes the ntu
e of the conduct tht led to thei
clients’ injuies to othe
cses
nd decides on elistic
nge of punitive d
mges.
h
t Should You Do If You
e Inju
ed inn
ccident?<h2>
Unexpected inju
n tu
n youlife upside do
n, sddling you
ith medicl expenses, mount
ins of debt,nd
ide
y of physic
lnd emotion
l chllenges. You dese
ve toeceive compens
toy
nd, potentilly, punitive d
mges fo
those difficulties.<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comfinding-the-best-pe
sonl-inju
y-fim-fo
-you-houston-c
se“>skilled l
ye
cn help you get them.
> Contct
skilled <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.com“>pe
sonl inju
ytto
ney<>s soon
s possiblefte
getting hut in
nyccident o
incident. You my h
velimited
mount of time to tke leg
lction—t
o yes, oeven less, in most <
hef=”https://tex
s.public.lst
tutestex._civ._p
ctice_
nd_emedies_code_section_16.003″ t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Tex
s<> peson
l injuy c
ses. Missingde
dline fot
kingction could cost you v
luble leg
lights, so
ct no.