One of the first questions our new clients ask us when we first meet is how much we think their case is worth. Before we’ve looked at a piece of paper or had a 5-minute conversation, people expect us to put a price tag on their lawsuit. There are Fairburn car accident lawyers who will do this. They are so desperate for a client that they promise them the moon. The problem is that not every car accident victim is entitled to damages. Even if your Georgia injury lawyer can prove fault, they may not be able to prove that you’re entitled to pain and suffering.
One of the hardest things for us to explain to some clients is that they’re not automatically entitled to damages for pain and suffering. These damages are intended to compensate people for any physical or mental anguish they suffered as a result of their car accident. The judge doesn’t just hand pain and suffering damages to a plaintiff in a way to punish the other driver. These damages are there to compensate you for actual pain you experienced.
Understanding the Legal Concepts of Pain and Suffering
Here, we will discuss whether an accident victim is entitled to pain and suffering damages. We will also explain how our Fairburn car accident lawyers can prove that you are entitled to damages for pain and suffering. If you still have questions about your own car accident case, feel free to contact our office directly. We offer all new clients a free, initial consultation.
This gives you the chance to sit down with a seasoned attorney and ask any questions you may have. It also gives our associates a chance to review your case and determine if it has value. If it seems that you have a strong case, we will more than likely be willing to represent you in court. If, on the other hand, your case does not seem to have the necessary evidence to support a claim for damages, we will let you know. Our Georgia injury lawyers are always upfront and honest with their clients. We would never want to get somebody’s hopes up unfairly.
Your Fairburn Car Accident Lawyer Must First Prove Fault
Before we can even talk about damages, your Georgia injury lawyer will need to prove fault. Just because you were involved in a motor vehicle accident does not mean you’re automatically entitled to compensation. Your lawyer will have to demonstrate that the other driver caused the accident. To do so, they will have to prove that the other driver was negligent.
Negligence is just a legal term attributed to somebody who did not behave the way a reasonable person would have given the circumstances. There are four elements you must prove in order to demonstrate negligence. These include the following:
- The other driver owed you a duty of care. This isn’t usually that difficult to prove in a motor vehicle accident case. This is because all drivers owe a certain duty of care to other motorists and pedestrians.
- Your Fairburn car accident lawyer must also demonstrate that the defendant breached this duty of care. There are various ways you can do this in a car accident case. For example, all drivers are required to obey the local traffic laws. If you can submit proof that the defendant was issued a ticket for speeding at the accident scene this will suffice.
- Your lawyer must be able to show that you were injured. It is not enough that you were involved in a serious car crash. You could have been a passenger in the back seat and walked away from the crash unscathed. Your Georgia injury lawyer must show that you suffered a particular physical injury and submit evidence to support it, usually the form of medical records.
- Finally, in order to prove negligence, you must show that your injuries were directly caused by the defendant’s breach of duty. This isn’t usually all that hard to do. It becomes difficult when an accident victim refuses to seek medical treatment until a week or two after the accident. This opens up the door for the defendant’s attorney to argue that something happened during those two weeks that caused your injuries and that they had nothing to do with the car crash.
Once your Fairburn car accident lawyer proves negligence, then they can continue to discuss damages.
Not All Plaintiffs are Entitled to Damages for Pain and Suffering
It’s important to start out by repeating that not all plaintiffs are entitled to pain and suffering. Whether or not your Fairburn car accident lawyer can demand these types of damages will depend on the following:
- The seriousness of your injuries-If your injuries were very minor, it will be very difficult to convince a judge that you’re entitled to pain and suffering. For example, if all you suffered was a sprained wrist or whiplash, the judge is not going to award you much in the way of pain and suffering. If, on the other hand, you suffered a severed spinal cord or neck injury, there is a very good chance that you would be awarded damages for pain and suffering.
- The type of medical care you were forced to undergo-Certain medical procedures are much more painful than others. For example, if you had to have a broken arm reset, you will have to deal with a certain amount of pain. However, this is nowhere near the pain somebody would suffer if they needed brain surgery, back surgery, or knee surgery after the crash. Your pain and suffering damages will be correlated with the level of physical pain and the period of experiencing it.
Remember – It’s Your Fairburn Car Accident Lawyer’s Job to Make You Whole
If you were involved in a car accident and feel that you’re entitled to damages, you should reach out to our office. Schedule your free consultation with one of our Fairburn car accident lawyers as soon as possible after the crash. We can take a look at your file and see how extensive your injuries were. We can also look at your medical records to see what sort of surgeries or medical interventions you underwent. Once your Georgia injury lawyer has had a chance to look at this information, they’ll have a much better idea of what your case may be worth. Since we don’t charge for the initial consultation, there’s every reason for you to take advantage of it.
