PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY

Lawyer Donald D' Aunoy - Personal Injury Attorney

How To Choose A Personal Injury Lawyer

Finding a personal injury attorney can be difficult. Many victims who have been injured in a car accident, at work, or by a slip and fall often get frustrated because they cannot find attorneys to take their cases. However, these victims fail to realize that personal injury attorneys do not earn money from a case unless they recover a settlement or judgment. Thus, attorneys will often reject accident cases when they feel a recovery cannot be made. Below are 5 reasons why personal injury attorneys reject cases from prospective clients. For purposes of this article, a prospective client refers to an accident victim that consults with an attorney hoping to retain that attorney’s representation for an accident and pursue a damage claim.

Proving and Calculating Pain and Suffering in Louisiana Personal Injury Cases

In a previous article, I described how past and future lost wages are proven in personal injury claims. This article will discuss how to prove and win money awards for pain and suffering in Louisiana injury cases.

Pain and suffering is a non-pecuniary damage, which means that it is not subject to calculation like pecuniary damages. Pecuniary damages include lost wages, property damage, and medical bills. Pecuniary damages are determined by simple addition. For instance, if a Kenner injury victim incurs $3,500.00 in emergency room bills and $4,000.00 in chiropractic bills relating to a car accident, he can claim $7,500.00 in past medical bills.

But non-pecuniary damages (like pain and suffering and emotional distress) are not as easy to quantify because they do not lend themselves easily to objective calculation. Instead, an emotional appeal must be made to the sympathies of the jury to empathize with the injured plaintiff (accident victim) and award money based on the degree of suffering the plaintiff has suffered as a result of the accident-related injury.