The damages you can recover in a personal injury lawsuit fall into two categories. The first is to compensate for your tangible economic losses such as medical bills and lost wages. The other covers your intangible non-economic injuries, such as your pain and suffering. Calculating the value of an injured party’s damages is in many ways quite subjective. Personal injury attorneys are best equipped to evaluate the full extent of your losses and make a reasonable demand for damages.
With dedication and more than 45 years’ experience representing accident victims throughout New York and New Jersey, Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman utilizes all available evidence to build a case that supports a fair award of damages. Unlike the insurance carriers who base their offers on generic formulas, our calculation of a fair award rests on the unique impact suffered by the individual victim.
Your tangible economic damages are shown by the actual expenses you incurred because of an accident
Your economic damages can include expenses such as your medical bills, costs for transportation to and from appointments, therapy, and lost wages due to time away from work while you recover. To calculate the sum of these damages, we rely on bills and invoices you receive from doctors, hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies, and therapists. Using your pay stubs to show earnings before and after you were injured, we can not only prove your actual wage losses, but we can also estimate the amount you will lose in the future. Any other receipts and statements showing your actual costs and losses will be added to your demand of economic damages.
Your intangible non-economic damages are shown by demonstrating how your injuries have impacted your life
Liability insurers may not take the time to evaluate the specifics of each accident claim. Instead, they might offer a settlement for pain and suffering, and other non-economic damages based on a low multiple of an average injured party’s economic losses. We challenge this formulaic approach with a narrative that emphasizes, for example:
- The pain of the actual injuries
- The pain associated with the treatment of those injuries
- The extent and seriousness of the victim’s injuries, including any permanent visible scarring or loss of bodily functions that the victim has experienced
- The impact of the victim’s injuries on their interactions with family and friends
- The psychological impact and resulting physical effects
- Other ways that the accident and the victim’s injuries have altered their lifestyle
Attorneys will also refer to statements from the injured party’s family and friends and direct testimony from the accident victim to illustrate the claim for non-economic damages.
Contact us for a free case evaluation
The Rockland and Bergen County personal injury lawyers of Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman represent parties in both New York and New Jersey car accident claims, slip-and-fall cases, and other litigation where a victim is left with serious injuries due to another party’s negligence. Call us for a free, no-obligation case evaluation and to discuss the damages you may be able to recover for your losses.