Auto Injury Claim Recovery: Maximizing Pain and Suffering, Loss of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Auto Injury Claim Recovery: Maximizing Pain and Suffering, Loss of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Nov 26, 2023 294 likes •755 views

Presenting a live 90-minute webinar with interactive Q&A Auto Injury Claim Recovery: Maximizing Pain and Suffering, Loss of Future Earning Capacity Damages Leveraging Calculation Methodologies, Medical Documentation and Expert Testimony to

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Presenting a live 90-minute webinar with interactive Q&A

Auto Injury Claim Recovery: Maximizing Pain and Suffering, Loss of Future Earning Capacity Damages

Leveraging Calculation Methodologies, Medical Documentation and Expert Testimony to Increase Damages Award

Today’s faculty features:

1pm Eastern | 12pm Central | 11am Mountain | 10am Pacific THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Steven C. Laird, The Law Offices of Steven C. Laird, Ft. Worth, Texas

  • R. Mark Taneyhill, Attorney, Schwartz & Schwartz, Wilmington, Del.
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Auto Injury Claim Recovery: Maximizing Pain and Suffering, Loss

  • f Future Earning Capacity Damages

Leveraging Calculation Methodologies, Medical Documentation and Expert Testimony to Increase Damages Award

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Presenters

Steven C. Laird The Law Offices of Steven C. Laird, Ft. Worth, TX laird@texlawyers.com

  • R. Mark Taneyhill

Schwartz & Schwartz, Wilmington, DE mark.taneyhill@schwartzandschwartz.com

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  • I. Maximizing Pain and Suffering

Damages

The amount the Insurance Company will pay or the Jury will award

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  • A. Calculation Methodolgies
  • i. Multipliers-

Add up the boardable or special damages and multiple that number by 3 (or 2 or 5). Example: $10,000 in boardable medical expenses plus $5,000 in lost wages = $15,000 X 3 $45,000

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  • A. Calculation Methodolgies
  • ii. Per Diem Method

The basic of the per diem argument is to break down the injury into a small fraction of time and apply a thing of value to the time. Example: Client is paid $9.00 an hour. She was out of work for three weeks, and during that time she was in pain 24 hours a day. She should be compensated at $9 X 24 hours X 21 days = $4,536.00

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  • A. Calculation Methodolgies
  • iii. Colossus Software

Software program created by CSC. According to their website: www.csc.com It is the insurance industry’s leading expert system for assisting adjusters in the evaluation of bodily injury

  • claims. Colossus provides adjusters access to your

company’s claim data within a defined business process framework for evaluating injuries, treatment, resolution, impairment and general damages settlements. Colossus helps adjusters reduce variance in payouts on similar bodily injury claims.

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  • B. Factors Influencing Damages

Start with the end: Jury Instructions

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  • B. Factors Influencing Damages
  • The purpose of a damages award in a civil lawsuit is a just and

reasonable compensation for the harm or injury done.

  • While pain and suffering are proper elements on which to

determine monetary damages, the damages for pain and suffering must be fair and reasonably determined and may not be determined by a fanciful or sentimental standard. They must be determined from a conclusion about how long the suffering lasted, the degree of suffering, and the nature of the injury causing the suffering.

  • In evaluating pain and suffering, you may consider its mental as well

as its physical consequences. You may also consider such things as discomfort, anxiety, grief, or other mental or emotional distress that may accompany any deprivation of usual pleasurable activities and enjoyments.

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  • C. Documentation

– Medical Records

  • Intake Questionnaires at Doctors, Physical Therapy and

Chiropractors offices.

  • Types of treatments received (chiro to surgery)
  • Length of treatment
  • Has the injury resolved (not MMI)

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  • C. Documentation

– Lost Wages

  • Job Description
  • Length of out of work status from medical providers

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  • D. Expert Witnesses
  • Most auto injury claims are only going to have
  • ne medical expert witness on each side.
  • Plaintiff’s treating physician can testify

regarding the specific medical procedures performed on Plaintiff i.e. injections, surgery.

  • Defendant’s medical witness can also be used

to corroborate the process used for each procedure, and the circumstances when a patient undergoes the procedures.

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  • E. Trial Strategies
  • Depositions

– Plaintiff’s deposition is an opportunity to provide the insurance company an understanding of the pain and suffering damages in the case.

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  • E. Trial Strategies
  • Lay or Damage Witnesses

– Double and triple check that your lay witnesses have been identified during discovery. – These are witnesses that spend significant periods

  • f time with Plaintiff i.e. spouse, family member,
  • friend. They are in the position to provide

testimony regarding the type of suffering experienced by Plaintiff including specific examples of compensable categories from the jury

  • instruction. Also before and after testimony.

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  • E. Trial Strategies
  • Openings and Closing Arguments

– Tell the jury what you are asking for. Make sure the jurors know at the end of your opening that pain and suffering damages are an important if not the most important reason that you are standing before them. – Effective closing argument is honest, and injects passion into the jury regarding the injuries and suffering experienced by Plaintiff.

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  • I. Maximizing Pain and Suffering

Damages

Conclusion: All of our cases involve an individual who experienced some level of pain and suffering due to the negligent (or reckless) conduct of

  • another. Although it is difficult to spend the

necessary time to discover the individualized damages suffered, each of our clients deserve to receive the maximum allowable recovery under the law for the harms endured.

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Understanding Future Loss of Earning Capacity

Steven C. Laird Fort Worth, Texas www.texlawyers.com

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Should I claim future damages?

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What is a forensic economist?

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Life Expectancy

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Work Life Expectancy

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Growth Rate

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Inflation

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Education

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Don’t forget about the loss of benefits.

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The economist giveth, and the economist taketh away.

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Discount Rate

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Taxes

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Consumption Rate

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Beware of the consumption rate trap aka The Wealthy Widow

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Household Services

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Laundry Yard work Cleaning the house Fixing things

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Household Services Calculated

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What does a future loss of earning capacity look like?

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Assume the following:

52 year old male Death or total impairment Married Retired at age 63 Unionized Mechanic making approximately $55,000 per year.

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