Recovery for Pain and Suffering: Your Time to Act is Limited
Laws that recently took effect in Georgia affect personal injury cases in important ways. One issue lawmakers address is the amount that can be awarded for pain, suffering, and other non-economic losses. While victims can still seek damages for these effects, lawmakers have significantly restricted how information on the subject can be introduced in court, making it much more difficult to secure a full award.
It becomes more important than ever to work with an attorney who understands how to present arguments and evidence effectively in court. If the new rules are not taken into consideration during every step of the case, you may lose out on receiving full and fair compensation for the losses you’ve experienced.
What are Noneconomic Damages?
When you’ve been injured in a car crash, truck accident, or other situation where someone’s irresponsible acts caused harm, then once your legal team establishes liability, you should be able to receive compensation for the different impacts the injuries have had on your life.
Economic Losses
Some of these impacts have a direct monetary value. For instance, if you missed two years of work because you were unable to perform your job, then you should receive compensation to make up for two years of lost wages. If your bills from the hospital, doctor, and rehab facilities totaled $60,000, then you should receive funds to cover those costs plus amounts to pay for additional treatment your injuries require in the future. Those are known as economic damages because they cover your economic losses—the impacts that have a calculable economic cost.
Non-economic Losses
Noneconomic damages cover the impacts that do not have a monetary value but that have a “real life” value because of the effect they have on your life. One of the most obvious noneconomic losses you can endure is pain. People who have not been through what you’ve experienced have no idea what it is like to face unrelenting pain. Although you can’t put a dollar value on a life free from pain, we all know that it is worth a lot.
Personal injuries reduce the quality of your life in numerous ways. You may suffer serious anxiety and PTSD. You miss out on life events. You are prevented from enjoying the activities that were such an important part of your life before the accident. All of these things have tremendous value, but they are hard to calculate mathematically. These are noneconomic damages. They often amount to much more than the economic damages in a personal injury case.
Is There a Limit on Amounts Awarded for Pain and Suffering?
Several states have placed a cap on the amount that an accident victim can receive for pain and suffering after a slip and fall, truck accident, motorcycle crash, or other incident. This is often called a cap on this type of damage award, and it may affect all types of non-economic damages. In many states, this limitation only applies to medical malpractice cases.
Georgia law does not place a limit on the amounts that a judge or jury can award for noneconomic losses such as pain and suffering. However, recent legal updates have introduced new restrictions on how these damages are presented in court. You can learn more about these changes in our article on recovery for pain and suffering in Georgia, which explains how timing and evidence rules now affect compensation.
Insurance Companies Often Try to Use a Formula
When calculating what they will offer for pain and suffering after an accident, insurance companies in Georgia often use a couple of different formulas. To them, this provides a “fair” way of setting a value on an accident victim’s misery. However, it is important to remember that insurers are always trying to pay as little as possible for a claim, so if you accept what they offer before receiving advice from an attorney, you are likely to get far less than you deserve.
The Multiplier Method
One of the most common formulas insurers try to use is the “multiplier method.” They take the value of economic losses such as lost wages and medical expenses and multiply that by a certain predetermined figure to put a value on pain and suffering.
The number used as the multiplying factor varies depending on the insurance company and what they expect to get away with. It often ranges between 1.5 and 5. If the insurance company uses 2.5, for instance, and you had $10,000 in expenses and lost wages, then you would be offered $25,000 to offset pain and suffering that could last for the rest of your life.
The Per Diem Method
Another formula used in Georgia is the “per diem” method. The insurer assigns a daily rate to compensate you for suffering and then applies it to the days your pain is expected to last. This number is a guess unless you have completely healed. And the value assigned for a day of suffering has no relation to what you have experienced. When you are in pain, think how much you would give for just a few moments of relief—it’s often far more than they are willing to offer.
How Attorneys Set a Value on Noneconomic Damages
So, how do you put a price on pain and suffering? It isn’t easy. The value is supposed to be determined by its effect on the victim, not by its effect on the average person.
The standard generally used is somewhat vague. It specifies that the amount should be reasonable and based on an impartial judgment of an enlightened jury. As explained in our guide on how pain and suffering is calculated in Georgia, insurers often try to rely on formulas, but these do not always reflect the true impact of your injuries.
Some of the factors that may impact the size of an award for non-economic damages include:
- The severity of the injury
- How long it takes to recover
- Whether the victim is expected to make a full recovery
- The effects of the injury (short- and long-term)
- The pain associated with medical procedures needed in the future
- The consequences for the victim’s family
A personal injury attorney will often introduce evidence from a variety of sources to demonstrate the impact the injuries have had on the victim’s life. This could include medical records, the opinions of medical experts, and testimony from family and friends who have witnessed the change. It can be very helpful to have a journal created by the victim that shows the impact of the injuries on a daily basis.
New Restrictions on Evidence Regarding Pain and Suffering
Recent changes in Georgia law restrict how attorneys may seek damages for pain, suffering, and other non-economic losses. Before the change, personal injury lawyers could raise the issue of the value of pain and suffering at any point in the proceedings that was reasonably related to the evidence. Now, under the revised version of Section 9-10-184 of the Georgia Code, the value can only be discussed after the parties have finished presenting evidence.
Additionally, their arguments must be “rationally related” to the evidence of non-economic losses. In the past, attorneys have often used comparative monetary figures from other aspects of life to put the suffering into perspective. There is no guideline on when a figure should be considered “rationally related” to the evidence, so defense teams will certainly take advantage of the opportunity to argue that any amount suggested fails to meet the standard.
Finally, the changes in the statute also essentially specify the time at which the arguments about the value of non-economic damages must be introduced in the attorney’s statements. All in all, the changes severely limit the ability to argue the issue effectively, so attorneys need to be prepared to introduce appropriate evidence and make their strongest arguments at the precise time required by law, or they may prevent their clients from receiving the full amounts they should receive for their losses.
Work with a Legal Team That is Prepared to Work Effectively to Secure Maximum Compensation for Pain and Suffering
At Michael M. Day Law Firm, we anticipated these changes before they took effect, and we’ve consistently ensured that our strategies take full advantage of every opportunity to obtain a full and fair recovery for every loss our clients have experienced. But not every law firm is prepared to fight effectively in litigation. Often, there is pressure to settle cases quickly to handle a large volume of clients, rather than to work intensively to secure the best recovery for each individual client. We limit the number of clients we take on to devote our efforts to obtaining maximum compensation through litigation, if necessary. If you were hurt in a car accident or other incident that may have been caused by another person’s negligent conduct, call us or contact us online for a free case evaluation to learn more about your possible recovery.
