When a person is hurt in an accident, such as a car crash, one question that often arises is how much can that person hope to collect in compensation. There are different types of damages that an injured individual can collect from a defendant and the amount that the person can collect is dependent on a number of different factors.
Compensatory damages are the damages a person recovers for their actual losses. Some of these damages are fairly simple to calculate.Medical expenses and lost income can be calculated to come to a clear amount. It is also possible to be compensated for less concrete, but very real losses such as pain and suffering, or for losing the ability to do things that were a part of your life prior to the accident and injuries.
Punitive damages are also possible to collect in some cases. These damages have nothing to do with the actual injuriesbut are related to the actions taken by the defendant. A court will order a defendant to pay punitive damages when their actions are particularly egregious. Punitive damages are not the normbut are an exception when there isa very high degreeof recklessness or intentional actions.
Damages can also be limited based on who is liable and whether the liability is shared. If the injury is entirely the fault of another person, then that person will be completely liable. However, in many cases, injuries are the result of negligence by multiple people, including the person who was injured. In these cases, the liability will be broken up into percentages with the parties bearing responsibility only for their portion of the fault.
Injured? Call Stein Shulman, LLC For Your Instant Case Analysis
Stein & Shulman, LLC is a Chicago Injury Law Firm with over 45 years of combined experienced in Illinois Personal Injury Law. You can receive a free and instant case review by calling our office at 312.422.0500.
Stein & Shulman, LLC
134 N LaSalle St, #820
Chicago, IL 60602
312.422.0500
