Pain and Suffering

When someone injures you, that person is required to pay you compensation in order to “make you whole.” This means that the person who hurt you is supposed to pay you in order to ensure you do not suffer any financial losses as a result of the accident.

Unfortunately, the losses that you endure in an accident can go beyond just the cost of medical bills or time missed from work. You also experience discomfort and pain after an injury. Illinois law allows you to be compensated for this pain and suffering.

An experienced attorney at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., can take legal action for you when you have been hurt and seek the pain and suffering compensation that you deserve. To learn more about how we can help with your case, give us a call or contact us online today to schedule a free consultation.

Types of Pain and Suffering

Your compensation for the pain and discomfort that you experience after an injury should be sufficient to cover not just the pain that you have already endured but any lingering pain that you will experience in the future. If your injury has caused you to suffer permanent harm, for example, then you should be compensated.

For example, you may experience ongoing pain as a result of:

In these and other situations, your pain may persist for months or years after an accident. As a result, you deserve a sufficient amount of money to fairly and fully compensate you.

How Much Pain and Suffering Compensation Should You Receive?

Placing a price on pain and suffering can be very difficult to do. No amount of money can make up for physical discomfort. There are, however, a number of different techniques that are used to try to estimate a fair amount of monetary damages.

One option is to use a pain multiplier. This involves multiplying your economic damages (the cost of medical bills and losses) times the “multiplier,” a number that is often between 1.5 and 5. Another option is to determine how many days you endured or will endure pain for and how much each day of pain should be worth.

In any case, the more evidence you can present showing how your pain impacts your life, the larger the amount of compensation you should receive. Taking photographs of your injuries so it is clear how badly you were hurt can be helpful in maximizing compensation for pain and suffering. Keeping a pain journal or video diary of what your life is like as a result of the harm you sustained can be effective as well.

A Chicago Injury Lawyer Can Help You Recover for Your Pain and Suffering

Compensation for pain and suffering can be part of an out-of-court settlement that you reach with the insurance company of the person or company that hurt you. Pain and suffering can also be part of the damages awarded to you by a judge or a jury if your case goes to trial.

In either situation, it is important to have a qualified and experienced personal injury attorney representing you. Your lawyer can help you to prove the extent of your pain so you can get a fair settlement or verdict.

Your attorney will also make sure your rights are protected. So, you should never sign anything or make any agreements with the person who hurt you or his insurance company until you have spoken to a lawyer.

At Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., our experienced injury lawyers have dedicated our careers to helping injured clients get the full compensation that the laws of Illinois allow after an accident. We have secured more than $2.3 billion on behalf of its clients, including more than 350 multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements.

We can put our legal experience to work to help you maximize your compensation for pain and suffering and other losses after an accident or injury.

We serve clients and throughout Illinois. To schedule a free review of your case, call us today or submit our online form. We can get started on your case without delay.