Pain and Suffering

After an accident, the law only has one way to make up for your emotional losses: to give you compensation. Unfortunately, money can’t fully compensate for the physical and mental pain after an accident. It’s also hard to put a price on pain and suffering. In a personal injury case, a judge or jury will “price” your pain and suffering because the law has no other way to compensate you for your losses in this area.

No charts or rules tell us how to value pain and suffering. Instead, the judge or jury will look at the facts of your case and come up with a number that they think is fair and makes up for what you lost. 

A method commonly used to do this is called the multiplier method. Juries are typically asked to use the following to award damages for pain and suffering:

• Common Sense
• Their Unique Experiences
• Any Related Experiences
• General Expectations in the Community

Ultimately, juries try to award fair compensation based on the circumstances of the accident. They will often consider things like:

• Your explanation of the pain and suffering
• What type of treatment and how many treatments you require
• Whether you will have to manage any permanent problems, limits, or disfigurements
• How long the pain has lasted, or how long it’s expected to last
• Evidence of how you behaved before and after the accident, as seen by others

It is imperative to present relevant information to the jury so they can accurately value your case.