If you have suffered from personal injury due to the negligence of others, you can sue the other party who’s responsible (or irresponsible) for your physical and mental grievances. Some personal injury cases lead to huge settlements or generous verdicts.

Not all of them net multimillion payouts. The norm is smaller amounts by the thousands to hundreds of thousands. Also, not every case or injury holds the value of millions of dollars. When considering pursuing a personal injury lawsuit, it’s crucial to consult with an experienced New York personal injury law firm that can accurately assess the value of your case, manage your expectations regarding potential settlements, and guide you through the complex legal process to ensure the best possible outcome.

Why Do Some Cases Get Large Payouts?

There are some things that can skew your point of view of the nature of personal injury lawsuits and how settlements work. Here they are.

• The Values of Personal Injury Claims: Some cases get large payouts and some have smaller payouts. This is influenced by several factors, including the severity of the injuries, whether there’s permanent impairment involved, and whether or not the injured party has lost income due to the personal injury.

• Mostly Depends on Insurance Coverage: The person who suffered the personal injury or his legal representative can sue or collect damages from his insurance. This is especially true of people who, for example, put up huge insurance policies for their hands (artists) or thighs (models) or anything valuable for their work.

• The Right for Compensation: When someone is responsible for your injuries—whether it’s a drunk driver, the manufacturer of the car you’re driving, or the ladder you’re using to do home improvements on—you have the legal right of compensation for the loss of income incurred by your injury when push comes to shove. This could involve a fair settlement.

• What’s a Fair Settlement? A fair settlement takes into consideration how your life has been changed by your temporary or permanent injury, the mental trauma you’ve suffered from the event, and other similar damages. This includes both monetary and non-monetary damages as part of your settlement or payout.

• What are Economic Damages? Economic damages includes things like medical expenses, household maintenance fees, childcare expenses, diminished earning capacity due to permanent injury, and lost wages when push comes to shove. You can document your loss of income and expenses with financial records such as pay stubs, bank statements, and other financial records.

• Which Non-Economic Damages are Recouped? You can get compensation for non-monetary damages to make your settlement into a truly fair one with true-blue compensation. Examples of non-economic damages you can get a settlement for include reputational damage, mental anguish, physical suffering and pain, diminished quality of life, and loss of consortium.

When compared to economic damages it’s harder to get the value of non-economic damages because they don’t have an objective monetary value. It’s up to the judge and jury to decide how much you’re eligible for in damages due to your personal injury lawsuit.