Personal Injury ClaimsPain and Suffering

When hiring a personal injury attorney one thing that they will ask you is what type of pain and suffering you are experiencing. Knowing this will help them decide how much they should file the claim for against the company, person, or other entity that caused the accident. Your personal injury attorney will want to know if it is physical, mental, or both types of pain and suffering. Mental and physical pain and suffering not only includes what you have suffered so far but what you might suffer in the future.

Mental pain and suffering

This type of pain and suffering is a by-product of bodily injuries and includes things such as:

Emotional distress Mental anguish Loss of enjoyment of life Anxiety Shock Loss of wages

Basically, it is any type of negative emotion their client has suffered because of the trauma of the accident and the pain they are suffering. Some have very significant mental pain and suffering that can include:

Anger Depression Sexual dysfunction Mood swings Loss of appetite Sleep disturbances

The most severe mental pain and suffering could result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD).

Physical pain and suffering

This is the actual pain that their client is feeling from their physical injuries at the time of the accident and later in the future. Some examples of physical pain and suffering can come from:

Broken bones Burns Sprains Brain injuries Internal bleeding Lacerations

Example of pain and suffering

If you have been in a serious car accident and suffered a severe concussion and several broken bones and became angry and depressed, suffered loss of appetite, and had difficulty in sleeping your personal injury attorney could file a claim for both physical and mental pain and suffering on your behalf.

Compensation for pain and suffering

In figuring out the compensation that the person should receive as a result of the physical and mental pain and suffering there are many different factors that are taken into consideration. Some of these factors include whether the one filing the claim is:

Credible and likeable Giving testimony regarding their injuries that is consistent Exaggerating their claims of pain and suffering in order to receive more compensation Supplying written physician support for their claim of pain and suffering

In some personal injury claims, the judge will ask the jury to use their experience, background, and good sense to determine if the client will receive compensation and what the fair and reasonable compensation should be. Out of this compensation, the personal injury lawyer would get a set percentage and if the personal injury claim were denied, they would receive nothing.