What Compensation You Can Get With Help From an Austin Personal Injury Lawyer
December 18th, 2023
Personal injury lawsuits serve a few different purposes: first, they’re meant to compensate victims for the suffering they’ve faced. Second, they’re meant to provide justice after a personal injury occurs.
Personal injury compensation plays a role in both of these goals.
If you’ve suffered an Austin personal injury, keep reading to learn about what compensation you may be able to get with help from an Austin personal injury lawyer.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are meant to compensate victims for the losses and suffering they’ve faced. The harm caused by personal injuries is often complex, and personal injury compensation needs to be able to cover all of that harm, both physical and emotional. That’s why compensatory damages are split into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are meant to make up for the financial losses you’ve suffered as a result of an accident. This can include both current and future expenses and losses, like medical bills and lost wages. Usually, economic damages are calculated by adding up all of the losses already sustained and combining that with the estimated figure for future losses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are meant to make up for the non-financial harm that we face due to personal injuries. This can include pain and suffering, mental illnesses, and lost relationships. In Texas, non-economic damages are usually calculated using the multiplier method. Through this method, the total amount awarded for economic damages is multiplied by a figure between 1.5 and 5 depending on the severity of your suffering.
Because no receipt or documentation can show that you’ve suffered emotional harm, it can often be more difficult to prove non-economic damages compared to economic damages. If you feel you are owed non-economic damages, you should talk to an Austin personal injury attorney about proving your claim.
Punitive Damages
Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages aren’t meant to compensate victims for any kind of specific loss or suffering. Instead, punitive damages are meant to punish defendants for willful and malicious harm. Punitive damages may also be applied to discourage future bad actions by the defendant.
While there is no maximum cap on punitive damages, they usually don’t exceed four times the total awarded in compensatory damages. An Austin personal injury lawyer can help you determine what you may be owed.
Get Injury Compensation With Help From an Austin Personal Injury Attorney
Proving who was responsible for your personal injury is only the first step toward getting the relief you’re owed. You’ll also need to prove what harm and losses you’ve suffered and how much that suffering is worth in dollars. This process can be a lot easier said than done.
If you’ve been involved in an Austin personal injury, don’t face the process of seeking compensation on your own. Get help from an experienced Austin personal injury attorney at Ramos James Law, PLLC.