What kinds of damages are available in a slip and fall injury, and is there a cap on damages, especially on pain and suffering?
The value of a case is as much determined by the area in which the case is filed as it is by the injuries involved. Urban settlements are typically greater than those in rural areas, where the cost of living is lower. The same kind of case that lands a $20,000 settlement in a Knoxville, Tennessee court may turn up an $80,000 award in Los Angeles, California.
The value of a slip and fall depends on the facts, the location, the total amount of insurance coverage, the wealth of the defendant, the severity of the injury, the strength of the case, and the assets and insurance of anyone else in any way at least partially responsible – plus the skill of the lawyer involved. There is also the subjective element involved: the sympathy of the jury, the appearance of the injured, juror perceptions, makeup of the jury, and so forth.
Putting a dollars and cents amount on your injury can be extremely difficult because of the subjective factors. Damages are intended to compensate you for the injury you have suffered. Consequently, there is no set formula. In slip and fall cases, damages may include both:
(1) “general damages.” This includes payments for such things as (a) future wages if you can’t work for a period of time or anymore at all, (b) loss of promotion to a higher job that you might have gotten if you hadn’t been injured, (c) inability to do housework or drive your car to go to the store, (d) loss of ability to enjoy your hobbies, and, the most common, (e) pain and suffering. General damages are a bit trickier to prove and definitely more subjective.
(2) “special damages.” These are payments for all the costs you incurred for such things as medical and hospital bills, heating pads, ace bandages, child care, transportation to doctor appointments, medicines, prescription drugs, physical therapy, and ambulance costs. They also include actual wage loss. Special damages are fairly easy to calculate as they can be proven by receipts, statements, pay stubs, and so forth.
Courts often find it difficult to put a specific dollar amount on these damages. There is no “typical amount.” Certainly, a person who incurs $3,000.00 in medical bills and a broken arm from the slip and fall has a better and more valuable case than another person who suffers $3,000.00 in medical bills which consists of therapy for soft tissue injuries (i.e., no broken bones, dislocations, etc.). In some states, there is no award for general damages at all. In others, there is a limit of a certain dollar amount, such as $100,000 or $250,000. Your personal injury lawyer will know the law in your state and will be able to advise you on it, how much the limits are, and what you may be entitled to.
As for calculating a demand for damages, your attorney will include actual losses (special damages), plus projected amount of future losses, and subjective amounts for such losses as inability to enjoy a previous lifestyle or activities, including the impact on your marriage (also called “loss of consortium”) and for pain and suffering, including the emotional suffering caused by the consequences of your injuries. These latter items could increase the value of the case by double, triple or even more. For instance, if you broke your leg in two places, with $15,000 in medical costs to date, a projected need for more extensive surgery and treatment in the amount of $70,000 with a guarded prognosis, a wage loss of $5,000 and projected four month wage loss because your work requires you to walk or be on your feet, plus challenging changes to your life and home, making it wheelchair accessible, you may be looking at a settlement demand of $400,000 or greater. If the outcome of treatment and your prognosis is good and you have fewer lifestyle challenges and less potential wage loss, your $15,000 medical bill and $5,000 wage loss plus pain and suffering may fetch you about $50,000.
If there was an egregious problem that should have been corrected, there could also be punitive damages. This may only be relevant if the matter goes to trial, but the potential for an argument of this nature can provide significant leverage, especially if your attorney is known to have a track record for big settlements. An example might be an absentee landlord with numerous code violations who has endangered his tenants.
Laws vary from state to state concerning caps on damages and new legislation can change things at any time. For instance, there are proposed limits to medical malpractice lawsuits, and this type of suit could result if there are medical complications that are related to an underlying slip and fall case.
Ultimately, the reality is that you are dealing with insurance companies, and you may be limited by the policy limits. An attorney may have greater access to information about policy limits through previous contacts with an adjustor, and will know which types of damages are available to you. |
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