When another party causes you to be injured, you can seek compensation for your losses and harm under Wisconsin tort laws. A tort is conduct that causes an injury or harm to another person.
Tort claims include personal injury cases involving negligence, intentional acts, and other wrongdoing. Examples include car accidents, dog bites, slip and fall accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents.
Our Madison personal injury attorneys explain that damages compensate an injured party after an accident or injury. Economic damages reimburse you for monetary losses, including lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, and medical bills. Non-economic damages represent the pain and suffering you experienced because of the accident and injury.
Non-economic damages include physical and emotional suffering and pain. A claim for non-economic damages includes:
An accident victim may experience one or more psychological conditions because of an accident and injury. The accident and its resulting injuries, and medical treatment can cause PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), anxiety, and depression.
The physical symptoms of emotional distress can be overwhelming. A victim may experience things like severe and debilitating flashbacks, paranoia, eating disorders, insomnia, and headaches.
Injuries can cause chronic physical pain. Some victims may suffer from debilitating pain. Even minor injuries and the medical treatments you receive can cause intense physical pain. Physical pain can make it challenging to function in everyday life.
Injuries may result in amputations, loss of limbs, and scarring. A victim may sustain catastrophic injuries that result in lifelong disabilities and impairments. Examples of injuries that could result in impairments include internal organ damage, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and broken bones.
Loss of enjoyment of life and quality of life may be temporary. You may experience this loss while you heal from your injuries. However, victims who sustain permanent impairments and disfigurement may experience a long-term decrease in quality of life.
Insurance companies, attorneys, and courts generally use one of two methods for calculating pain and suffering damages. Both methods require the parties to assign a value to the person’s suffering. Because there is no standard formula for assigning a value to pain and suffering, we analyze the factors of the case to determine its value.
Factors considered to value pain and suffering include:
In a personal injury lawsuit that goes all the way to trial, the jurors are left to determine how the above factors impact pain and suffering. When parties settle a claim outside of court (or even after a lawsuit has been filed, but before trial), they negotiate the value themselves.
The multiplier method is a common method used for calculating pain and suffering damages. We use the factors above to assign a multiplier between 1.5 and 5, with five being the most severe pain and suffering. The number is multiplied by the economic damages to calculate pain and suffering.
For example, if the victim sustains a spinal cord injury that results in partial paralysis, the jurors may assign a multiplier of four or five. However, if a victim sustains whiplash that heals within a few weeks with no lasting impairments, the multiplier might be one and one-half or two.
The per diem method uses a daily amount to determine the value of pain and suffering. The daily amount is based on factors like those above.
You multiply the number of days of the person’s recovery period by the per diem to calculate pain and suffering damages. Therefore, if a person has a per diem of $500 and spent 180 days recovering from their injuries, the value of pain and suffering damages would be $90,000.
The per diem method is generally used in cases that do not involve permanent impairments. The per diem ends on the last day of the victim’s recovery. Therefore, it does not consider future damages caused by permanent impairments.
Pain and suffering damages are not capped in most personal injury cases. However, the law caps pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases at $750,000.
The state also places a cap on pain and suffering damages in cases involving government entities. Pain and suffering damages are capped at $250,000 for claims against the state and $50,000 for claims against local municipalities.
You deserve to be compensated for all damages caused by a negligent party. The insurance company will likely downplay your pain and suffering and try to get you to accept a lowball offer. Contact our law office at Eisenberg Law Offices S.C. for help with a personal injury claim. Your initial consultation with a Madison personal injury attorney is free at (608) 256-8356.
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