“Pain and suffering” may sound like a straightforward concept until you start to think of its legal context. If you have been injured because of someone else’s negligence, it makes sense that you should be compensated. They caused you pain. But how does “pain” translate into money? You suffered because of their carelessness. But “suffering” doesn’t come with receipts that you can submit for reimbursement.
Calculating pain and suffering damages is an art, not a science. To understand the real value of your injury claim, you should consult with an experienced Mobile personal injury attorney at Andy Citrin Injury Attorneys. Our team can help you identify your damages and navigate our state’s laws. But to get you started, read this guide to calculating pain and suffering damages in Alabama.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
In Alabama, the courts categorize damages in three ways:
- Economic damages: compensation strictly for monetary losses, like medical bills, lost income, and property damage.
- Non-economic damages: damages that are very real, but cannot easily be translated into a financial loss, such as loss of intimacy with your spouse.
- Punitive damages: awarded by a judge or jury, they punish a wrongdoer for intentional or incredibly reckless conduct.
Pain and suffering falls under the category of non-economic damages, because your physical discomfort or mental anguish cannot be monetized. The ambiguity of non-economic damages is why you should have an experienced attorney on your case.
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When speaking in legal terms, pain and suffering refers to a wide range of injuries that a person may experience as a result of an accident.
- Physical pain associated with your injuries
- Emotional trauma and despair
- Fear and worry
- Negative feelings related to disfiguring injuries
- Loss of appetite
- Depression and anxiety
- Mood swings and anger
- Social isolation and anxiety
- Loss of enjoyment of previous hobbies and pastimes
Just like you, pain and suffering is unique, and will vary depending on the nature of your injuries, the circumstances surrounding your accident, and other factors.
It’s also important to know that Alabama courts cannot award pain and suffering damages in product liability claims.
How Is Pain and Suffering Calculated?
There is no one way to calculate, in monetary terms, the amount of pain and suffering damages a person might receive for their injury. You can find calculators and complicated equations online that say they can convert your injury into a dollar amount. But these AI-based calculation methods don’t take into account the unique and complex personal nature of your specific experience.
At Andy Citrin Injury Attorneys, we meticulously calculate our clients’ damages, including their pain and suffering. To start, we spend time with every one of our clients, getting to know them, their circumstances, and their profound losses. Once we truly understand their situation, we start crunching numbers.
In most cases, the value of your pain and suffering will depend on your injuries’ severity, how the accident impacted your life and relationships, and other factors.
But the amount of damages you could receive also depends on some circumstances unrelated to your injury—most notably, insurance coverage—that are out of your control. If the party that caused your injury has no insurance or tiny policy limits, your damages will be affected. This is especially true if you do not have uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
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This is why so many people turn to personal injury lawyers to analyze their case and help put together a compelling argument for pain and suffering damages. That’s also why we consult with everyone involved in our clients’ cases, including doctors, therapists, insurance companies, to fully understand the big picture and the extent of their non-economic damages.
Andy Citrin Injury Attorneys: We Do the Math and Fight for Our Clients
When you’re injured, you should be able to focus on healing and putting your life back together. But if you were injured through no fault of your own, the last thing you want to spend your time on is trying to calculate exactly how much money you’re owed. The wisdom and guidance of a personal injury lawyer can help you navigate the legal system at a time when you are most vulnerable.
At Andy Citrin Injury Attorneys, our experienced team will work hard to understand all the nuances of your injury case so that we can take care of the math—and your future. We’ll fight to make sure you receive fair compensation, including pain and suffering damages wherever applicable. To request a free, no-obligation consultation, please complete this brief online form or call 251-888-8888.
The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.
Andy is the owner and CEO of Citrin Law Firm, P.C. He founded the firm in 1995 with the goal of helping injured people put their lives back together. His passion for protecting injured people has only grown since he opened the doors of Andy Citrin Injury Attorneys, and he has a history of winning numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients.