In personal injury cases, one vital aspect that will influence your total compensation amount is pain and suffering, a non-economic type of damage. Through a personal injury legal consultation, you can find out how much your case is worth and what are your chances of winning.
How do lawyers calculate compensation for pain and suffering in the state of Illinois? As it turns out, there are different methods. Let’s dig deeper to learn more.
Calculating Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is an intangible damage that can be awarded to personal injury victims who suffer severe injuries and have to live with some repercussions. At the same time, it is associated with the pain and suffering a victim goes through while recovering.
With a good lawyer by your side, you can sue the at-fault party and claim damage compensation for your injuries, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and more. Once you have a lawyer on your side, they might use different methods to calculate your non-economic damages. However, remember that these types of damages aren’t as straightforward to estimate as economic damages, which are tangible damages that you can use by looking at the bills or receipts to set them out.
Multiplier Method
In non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, your lawyer might use the multiplier method to calculate your compensation amount. In Illinois, it is among the most commonly used techniques, and it implies gathering the total sum of your economic damages and multiplying it with a number that ranges from 2 to 5.
So, for example, let’s say you are a car accident victim, and your economic damages are worth $100,000. If your personal injury attorney uses the 3 multiplier method, then your non-economic damages equal $300,000. What number your lawyer ends up using in your case strictly depends on your situation and the circumstances surrounding your case.
Per Diem Method
The second most common method of calculating pain and suffering or other non-economic damages in Illinois is the “per diem method.” In this method, your lawyer will assign a dollar value for every day a personal injury victim is expected to go through pain and suffering due to their injuries.
For example, if it’s decided that your pain and suffering is worth $300 a day, and you are expected to endure this pain and suffering for two years, which is 730 days, then this means that the total amount of your pain and suffering would equal $219,000.
It’s simply a matter of calculating the amount assigned to a day and multiplying it by the expected recovery days. Of course, there might be other factors to take into consideration, such as other non-economic damages that can influence the final amount.
In the end, it all depends on your case, the losses you have suffered, and the skill of your lawyer. You should determine your true losses and their value in personal injury cases by working with a personal injury lawyer.
