100% of what the jury puts on the verdict form goes to the injured party right? Not even close. So where does all the money go? We’ll use a civil personal injury car crash case’s special verdict form as an example.
There are six categories of damages awarded. (1) Past and future medical services, (2) past and future wages, and (3) past and future pain and suffering, which includes loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement and emotional distress to name a few.
Past & Future Medical Services
“Pain & Suffering damages attempt to restore the human losses. These are the biggest losses in most every case."
Medical service expenses, i.e. medical bills, are solely for doctors, not the injured party. Meaning awarding these damages allows the plaintiff to 1) pay for all the medical debt that has accumulated since this case started, and 2) pay for all future medical expenses to maintain plaintiff’s current medical condition. Keep in mind: the plaintiff is seeking medical care because of someone's negligence, or failure to use reasonable care. None of these damages go directly to the injured party, rather they go back to the doctors and/or medical facilities.
Past & Future Loss of Wages
These damages reimburse the plaintiff for all time missed from work (likely because they’re at the doctors office) and all future missed work they’ll miss. Past loss of wages can be proven by pay stubs, W2's or 1099's showing a loss of income during the time period when the plaintiff was hurt.
For future loss of "capacity"–a person's ability to work– generally the plaintiff will need to hire an expert, a vocational rehabilitation expert and/or an economist, to prove that as a result of this injury, the plaintiff's capacity to work has been diminished. This does not happen in every case.
Past & Future Pain and Suffering
“Human losses are the biggest losses in catastrophic injuries cases."
Judicial Counsel of California Jury Instructions (“CACI”) 3905(a) lists items for pain and suffering damages. The jury is required to put a dollar figure for each item of harm, but rather do. The items include the following: (1) physical pain, (2) mental suffering, (3) loss of enjoyment of life, (4) disfigurement, (5) physical impairment, (6) inconvenience, (7) grief, (8) anxiety, (9) humiliation, and (10) emotional distress.
Each of these categories are award for BOTH (a) past pain and suffering and (b) future pain and suffering. Most folks have a real hard time awarding these damages and following the law during juror deliberations. If that is you, please let both attorneys know during jury selection—personal injury cases may not be the best type of case for you to be a jury on.
What Isn’t Mentioned?
Attorney’s fees and litigation costs. Attorney’s fees can range from 10%-33% of the gross verdict. Why so much? Well the short answer is the party bringing the lawsuit generally pays nothing until they win. This is called a contingency fee. Meaning, the attorney only profits contingent on winning the case. Further, the typical case takes on average 2-3 years to resolve in litigation. So, for 2-3 years the attorneys make nothing unless they win. The defense/insurance attorney, however, gets paid by the hour for every hour for eternity. So, defense gets paid win, lose or draw. Lastly, litigation costs are all the accumulated costs and fees for the years leading up to the verdict, i.e., day 1 costs. Such as filing the complaint, investigating the case, taking depositions, and hiring experts. These, too, can easily exceed $100,000.00 in litigation cases.
So, a $1,000,000.00 verdict with a 33% attorney fee, $100,000.00 in litigation costs and $250,000.00 in past medical bills only leaves $220,000.00 for the injured party. What does this mean for you? It’s purely informational.
Now you know. One less secret. Go enjoy your civic duty.
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