Determining the Settlement Value of a Brain Injury Claim

Issues relating to brain injuries have been in the news a lot lately, thanks in part to both growing education about the serious nature of these injuries and to several high-profile cases in the sports world about deceased athletes with brain damage. It has become clear that repeated head injuries and traumatic brain injuries could have lifelong effects. But how do these effects impact the value of your injury claim?

First, we will assume that you have been able to prove that the at-fault party in your case was negligent in their actions, causing your injury. This is absolutely vital to your ability to recover financial damages in your case.

You have the ability to recover two basic forms of damages in head injury cases. These are referred to as general damages and special damages. Special damages, also referred to as economic damages, are more specific, and could include lost wages, medical expenses, funeral or burial expenses, property damage and lost earning capacity. General damages, also known as non-economic damages, can be harder to put a price tag on. These include pain and suffering damages, mental anguish, loss of consortium or companionship, emotional distress and more.

Because traumatic brain injuries can have serious lifelong effects, it is more likely that you will be able to make a strong case for lost earning capacity and pain and suffering associated with an injury. The value of your settlement will also be affected if there was egregious negligence or wrongdoing on the part of the defendant; they will be much more likely to pay more money to prevent themselves from having to go through litigation to avoid large punitive damages.

To learn more about the factors that impact personal injury settlement values related to serious brain injuries, speak with an experienced personal injury attorney in Jacksonville.

Personal injury attorney Mark Link contributed to this blog post.