In personal injury cases, jurors use a number of factors to determine pain and suffering. While determining the value of economic damages like medical bills and lost wages is relatively straightforward, deciding how much someone’s pain and suffering are worth is often much more difficult. The United States’ legal system doesn’t provide benchmarks or standards for victim compensation for pain, but suffering and jurors are often directed to use one of two methods to calculate pain and suffering awards. Documenting evidence of pain and suffering can help ensure victims are appropriately compensated.
Putting Together a Personal Injury Case
An injury attorney typically estimates a personal injury case’s worth before opening statements are presented. The personal injury attorney researches and determines what a plaintiff’s case might be worth, based on the accident-related medical bills, lost wages and future earning ability, and pain and suffering.
Medical bills and lost wages are known as “special damages,” while pain and suffering are considered “general damages.” Other general damages related to pain and suffering include a lowered quality of life, loss of companionship, and mental anguish.
Defining Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering can be a hard element of a personal injury claim to quantify in a courtroom.
Pain and suffering damages are part of “making a victim whole” after an accident. The plaintiff has gone through many ordeals they wouldn’t have, if not for the severity of the injury.
In a personal injury case, pain and suffering most often refer to:
- Physical pain resulting from an injury
- Shortened lifespan
- Damage to the body (broken bones, etc.)
- Trauma or embarrassment from disfigurement
- Restrictions on the plaintiff’s normal activities
- Mental anguish
Establishing Pain and Suffering During a Trial
Once the plaintiff proves that the defendant is at fault for the injuries, he or she must prove the injury’s financial impact to the jury. Medical bills and lost wages are relatively easy to prove, but pain and suffering are subjective.
The plaintiff’s doctor or psychiatrist is an excellent resource to help prove pain and suffering to the jury in a personal injury case. A jury often considers medical records and expert testimony, the egregiousness of the defendant’s negligent behavior, the physical and mental pain typically suffered by victims with similar injuries, the impact the injuries have on a victim’s life, and the eventual prognosis of the injury when calculating pain and suffering.
Providing the court with documentation of medical visits, mental health therapy sessions, prescription medications, and a journal that describes pain scales and how the injury impacts the victim’s life can help substantiate pain and suffering claims.
Deciding on a Dollar Amount
In a jury trial, the fair value of compensation is determined by the jury, after they’ve heard all relevant facts in the case. The judge will provide some instruction to the jury, but ultimately the decision comes down to a few factors:
- Facts provided by the prosecuting attorney during the trial
- Consideration of the damages awarded in similar cases
- Estimates of damages from an insurance company
Methods Used to Calculate Pain and Suffering Awards
Two methods are commonly used when determining compensation in personal injury cases.
Pain and Suffering Multiplier Method: With this method, a number between 1.5 and 5 is multiplied by the economic cost of the injury. If the victim’s economic losses, for example, total $10,000 and the jury uses a multiplier of 3, pain and suffering damages would total $30,000. The jury considers the nature and severity of the injuries to determine which multiplier number to use.
Per Diem Method: Using this method, the jury assigns a monetary value to each day the victim suffers from the injuries, beginning with the day the accident occurred and continuing to the date of maximum medical improvement.
