While few people like to think of the prospect of their loved one(s) dying prematurely in a car accident, it is indeed very common, especially in California. Once a person has lost a dear and loved one, he or she naturally experiences a great deal of emotional shock, grief, and distress. What can that person do? Well he or she can contact a personal injury lawyer to help in calculating the resulting non-economic losses endured. The person can also read this article for more information regarding doing that!

A personal injury lawyer in Lakewood knows that non-economic losses are intangible losses, or those losses that can’t easily be calculated mathematically. Good examples are emotional losses such as grief, anxiety, and depression, among others. They can be calculated by taking the following into account.

Calculate non-economic damages

When you are crafting your personal injury lawsuit with your personal injury lawyer, he or she will be using his or her vast legal knowledge and experience to calculate your non-economic damages. Your lawyer will likely be in arbitration with many different parties including the defense. Your lawsuit will likely be pursued in court if you, your lawyer, and the other parties can’t reach an agreement outside of court.

A simple formula many personal injury lawyers use to calculate non-economic losses is to multiply the economic losses by a factor of 2 or 3. However, most personal injury cases are very complex or unique, therefore the multiplication factor is not commonly used. Non-economic losses in these instances are calculated based on the nature of the personal injury case.

Some evidence the jury needs when deciding the monetary amount, the defendant must pay for your non-economic damages include:

● Testimony from close ones. This includes testimonies from friends, relatives, teachers, co-workers, or anyone who understood how you and your deceased loved one interacted.
● Documentation proving this close relationship. Good evidence to include in this case is birthday cards, letters, copies of text and email messages
● Photos and videos that demonstrate your close relationship

Because evidence like this is the deciding factor for most juries and judges, your personal injury lawyer will include it in his or her case. However, juries tend to award a lower financial settlement to the plaintiff if the deceased loved one was a minor.

You can indeed get the settlement you want in court

While no real economic value can be placed on the non-economic loss you may suffer from losing a loved one, this article shows that you and your lawyer can work together to make a very accurate approximation.