Victims of careless negligence and bad acts suffer pain, discomfort, and the stress and anxiety that comes with an uncertain future. Few people, outside your close friends and family members, understand how devastating the effects of a personal injury are having on your quality of life.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s the fact that bringing a personal injury lawsuit can help you recover the financial and quality of life losses you’ve endured. Part of the compensation equation involves making a case for appropriate pain and suffering compensation. The importance of pain and suffering compensation in a Topeka, KS, personal injury case cannot be understated.
That’s why the experienced lawyers at the Palmer Law Group use their knowledge of the system, skills, and tenacity to provide the necessary legal support for recovery needs. If you suffered harm due to someone else’s recklessness, it would be fundamentally unfair to not get the pain and suffering compensation you deserve. Call the Palmer Law Group for a Topeka personal injury consultation.
What is Considered Pain and Suffering in Personal Injury Lawsuits?
The terms “Pain and Suffering” typically refer to the physical, mental, and emotional discomfort people experience after a traumatic incident. In personal injury cases, the event may involve an automobile wreck, a vicious dog attack, medical malpractice, or a hard-impact fall due to a property owner’s failure to maintain a reasonably safe environment. In some cases, people sue bad actors who willfully perpetrate acts of violence. When negotiating with an insurance carrier or petitioning the court for pain and suffering compensation in Topeka, it’s generally understood in two ways — physical and mental.
Understanding Physical Pain and Suffering
In a personal injury case, physical pain and suffering involve the way your body reacts to trauma from incidents, injuries, and maladies caused by external agents. For example, if someone were to contract cancer, a debilitating lung condition, or a chronic condition after exposure to a toxic agent, persistent pain and suffering would likely be actionable. The point is that physical pain and suffering are not necessarily limited to things such as the following.
- Whiplash Neck Pain from Car Accidents
- Lower Back Injuries from Slip and Falls
- Broken Bones and Soft Tissue Injuries
- Chronic Conditions such as Migraines and Joint Pain
When physical conditions result in chronic and sharp pains, they result in diminished quality of life. The need for ongoing pain management and lack of physical mobility impedes your ability to enjoy life to the fullest and engage in activities with loved ones. Those are also ways physical conditions negatively affect mental and emotional health and well-being.
Understanding Mental Pain and Suffering
Physical discomfort does not occur in a vacuum. We are all thinking and emotional beings who develop powerful feelings following trauma. One of the all-too-prevalent conditions good people suffer from traumatic events is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — commonly called PTSD. This condition causes otherwise healthy community members ongoing mental anguish. It can be persistent or triggered suddenly by sounds, smells, places, and seemingly routine experiences. These are other types of mental pain and suffering that call for compensation.
- Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
- Reduced Cognitive Functions
- Anguish at the Loss of a Loved One.
- Emotional Impact of Disfigurement.
If a reckless act or willful harm, caused by another party, left you with diminished emotional and cognitive quality of life, those losses can be part of the personal injury lawsuit.
An Experienced Pain and Suffering Lawyer in Topeka Can Help You
At the Palmer Law Group, we understand that no amount of money can ever adequately compensate you for the pain, suffering, and sadness you and your loved ones experience. However, financial settlements and awards are the only mechanisms currently available. By contacting us at (888) 966-8308 and scheduling a consultation, we can evaluate your out-of-pocket losses and start determining pain and suffering compensation. These are ways a Topeka personal injury lawyer can help.
- Open a file to investigate the incident and gather facts.
- Evaluate how medical records and doctors’ reports equate to discomfort.
- Consider how physical and mental conditions negatively impact your quality of life.
- Include a forward-facing assessment of how losses will impact ongoing experience.
As a law firm with vast experience resolving Topeka personal injury cases, we build a persuasive narrative around concrete facts. Insurance corporations and opposing attorneys usually settle out of court with us. But if the negligent party refuses to provide the pain and compensation you are entitled to, we’re happy to argue the case in front of a judge or jury of your peers.
What You Need to Know about Topeka Pain and Suffering Compensation
Under Kansas statutes, injured people can recover pain and compensation losses under what is called “non-economic damages.” That essentially means it is separate and apart from medical bills, property damage, and lost wages.
Because courtroom awards can sometimes be unpredictable, big insurance companies have started using technology to calculate non-economic compensation. Some use a multiplier in which the adjuster tallies the total medical bills and lost wages. That figure is then multiplied by a factor of one through five. Other insurance outfits take a per diem approach. They assign a daily dollar amount from the date of the incident until the estimated maximum recovery. As you might anticipate, insurance companies try to underpay their own estimates and short-change victims.
It’s also important to keep in mind that there are some restrictions on bringing a personal injury case forward in Topeka. These include the following statutes of limitations.
- One year for injuries caused by public transportation and intentional acts.
- Two years for automobile accidents, wrongful death, or the discovery of medical malpractice.
- Ten years for product liability harms.
Pain and suffering awards can reach as high as $350,000 in some cases, with wrongful death generally capped at $250,000. Whether you were bitten by an unleashed vicious animal, struck by a drunk driver, or suffered a traumatic brain injury due to someone else’s negligence, it’s crucial to enlist the support of a determined Topeka personal injury lawyer.
Contact a Trusted Personal Injury Lawyer in Topeka
Victims and their families discover that unscrupulous insurance adjusters try to get them to take quick settlements when they are struggling financially. The money you receive rarely, if ever, covers the total out-of-pocket expenses you’ll incur and doesn’t address pain and suffering adequately. Don’t let insurance carriers take unfair advantage by underpaying you.
By enlisting a Topeka personal injury lawyer, you will have an advocate whose purpose is to get you the full, fair compensation you deserve. To schedule a free consultation with a Palmer Law Group attorney, contact us electronically through the platform.
