How Personal Injury Attorneys & Serious Injury Lawyers Present Damages in Catastrophic Injury Cases

Personal injury lawyers commonly are consulted by awho will increase the individual costs over the time
potential client who has been seriously injured or whoperiod using medical cost inflation statistics and then
has suffered catastrophic injuries as the result of thereduce the total to present value.
breadth of negligent conduct, from an auto accidentIn the simplest of cases, involving the hourly wage
or bicycle or pedestrian or motorcycle accident toearner, for example, the measure of past loss of
medical malpractice, a product defect, food poisoning,earnings might be relatively easy to calculate, but the
or a defect or failure to maintain commercial ormeasure of future loss of earning is always complex.
residential premises.Again it requires the personal injury lawyer to engage
While "liability" in some cases may be simple, such asa number of experts, including medical experts, and
the auto accident lawyers establishing throughmost importantly a "vocational rehabilitation expert"
witness testimony that the defendant driver ran theand forensic economist. The measure of future loss
red light, the presentation of the damage case inof earnings or earning capacity is the "net" loss, and
every serious injury case is complex. Specific injuriesso the vocational rehabilitation expert generally meets
sustained in auto accidents or premises liability cases,with the client, speaks with the clients physicians and
such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cordthe medical experts selected by the serious injury
injuries resulting in paralysis, quadriplegia or paraplegia,lawyer, reviews the clients transcripts from the
and the resulting loss of enjoyment of life, can be asschooling or advanced education he has received, and
complex to present by personal injury lawyers as thethen provides a report to the lawyer describing the
evidence of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome HUS in aoccupations for which the client is, subsequent to the
food poisoning case, or cerebral palsy in an obstetricalaccident, is disqualified to participate in, and the
medical malpractice case.occupations for which he remains qualified. Depending
Furthermore, speaking again just in terms of theon the client's injury, there may also be a substantial
client's "general damages," the personal injury lawyersdifference between the client's "work life
must use appropriate strategies to convey to theexpectancy" before and after the accident. The
settlement judge or jury the life consequence of theserious injury lawyers then provide the vocational
serious injuries. Many personal injury attorneys referrehabilitation experts report to the forensic
to "general damages" as "pain and suffering," buteconomist, who in turn employs wage rate increase
often the most persuasive strategy can be framed instatistics, for the client's occupation before the
terms of "loss of enjoyment of life." One way thataccident, and in those industries for which he is still
lawyers will present their clients general damages isqualified to be employed, if any, and applies general
by eliciting the testimony of the client, his family andinflation statistics to the gross total loss of future
friends, as well as photographs and home moviesearnings to discount to present value.
demonstrating all the activities that the client enjoyedPlease understand that above our California personal
most in his life before the accident, juxtaposedinjury lawyers have discussed only the "simplest
against a "Day in the Life" film, commissioned by thecase" of the hourly wage earner. Presenting future
personal injury lawyer to demonstrate the courageloss earnings, for example, can be much more
of the seriously injured client as he confronts all ofcomplicated, for example, in cases in which the client
the obstacles and challenges presented by his dailywas a business owner. For a more complete
life.discussion of the presentation of damages in serious
The personal injury lawyer must also present theinjury cases, you are invited to consider How Serious
client's "special damages" including his past and futureInjury Lawyers President Damages in Catastrophic
medical expenses and past and future loss ofInjury Cases In that article we go into much more
earnings or earning capacity. Past medical expensesdepth in explaining how serious injury attorneys
are often easy to prove, simply gathering andpresent general damages and special damages,
summing all medical bills accumulated from the dateincluding in particular, future medical expenses and
of the accident through the date of the settlementfuture loss of earnings.
conference or trial. Future medical expenses areIt is a challenge for personal injury lawyers to
much more complicated for personal injury attorneysproperly and adequately present the damage case of
to present, usually requiring the testimony of athe seriously injury client. It is a challenge that must
number of medical experts, a life care planner and abe accepted by attorneys who regularly prosecute
forensic economist. Very briefly, the life care plannercomplex cases, such as medical malpractice, food
consults with the treating and the medical expertspoisoning or pharmaceutical product liability cases, as
hired by the serious injury attorneys to arrive at thewell as auto accident lawyers and premises liability
client's life expectancy and itemize all of the medicalattorneys alike. The special damage issues, which are
expense, from additional surgeries to convalescentthe commonly the most complex, are the regardless
home or rehabilitation expense, to replacementwhether the underlying liability is a simple auto
prostheses or wheel chairs to medical supplies thataccident or complex medical malpractice case. And
the client will require over the course of his lifethe damage case requires equal attention, regardless
expectancy. The personal injury lawyer will theof the underlying liability, by the personal injury
present the "life care plan" to a forensic economistlawyer who undertakes any serious injury case.