Baltimore, MD – Accident victims have a number of different remedies available to them. However, compensatory damages are usually the most significant because they allow the victim to add up all of their losses and present these amounts along with various pieces of evidence when they bring a lawsuit. Damages are the final element of a negligence case after the plaintiff has shown that the defendant breached their duty of care and caused injuries and other problems.
How do damages help victims?
The legal concept of damages is very important in civil lawsuits. This is the term for the amount of money that the party at fault will owe to the plaintiff for various harms that they caused.
Drivers who are involved in a collision may file an insurance claim, but this usually only covers basic car repairs and minimal liability. Anyone who needs greater financial assistance will likely have to bring a civil case and ask for various forms of damages related to financial losses, pain and suffering, and possibly even punitive damages.
Economic losses and actual damages
Economic or compensatory damages are just a calculation of all of the things that an accident victim can prove were caused by the defendant’s actions. This is usually shown through things like bills and invoices for property repairs and medical treatment, and other documentation such as proof of lost wages. Maryland accident law also refers to these amounts as “actual damages” at trial, which is different terminology from any other states. The general policy behind actual damages is to return the victim to the place they were in before the incident happened.
Proving damages with legal assistance
Legal assistance can be important during the process of proving any type of damages. The lawyer may advise the client regarding certain types of losses that may not be obvious or occur after the accident. This can include things like health conditions caused by a collision that are not discovered until months later.
Lawyers are also extremely important during the process of arguing for non-economic damages related to emotional pain and suffering. Because those amounts are difficult to quantify, the lawyer will essentially have to argue the severity of the client’s condition and losses to the jury or during settlement negotiations. Skilled personal injury lawyers have done this successfully over the course of several cases, and they may have won their clients thousands or millions of dollars worth of non-economic damages over the course of their career.
Finding the right lawyer in Maryland
USAttorneys.com is a site that contains listings of lawyers and firms organized by state and practice area. Anyone who is considering legal help in Baltimore or anywhere else in the state can use the directory to find the right legal professional.
