If you’ve been involved in any incident where someone’s carelessness caused you harm, you are entitled to compensation for your losses, which the legal system calls “damages.” Personal injury law divides compensatory damages into two categories: “special” and “general.” 

Special damages refer to your financial losses, and include medical bills, lost income and property damage. These damages are fairly easy to quantify, but you might have future considerations. If you can reasonably anticipate medical expenses for treatment in the future, you are entitled to additional compensation.  

You can also recover “general damages” that compensate for intangible losses, such as: 

Pain and suffering, which covers your physical discomfort and emotional anguish

Loss of quality of life, which covers general limitations in what you can do and experience, and

Loss of enjoyment of life, which specifically addresses a talent or pastime you can no longer pursue

General damages aren’t easy to calculate, and juries can respond generously, especially toward a sympathetic victim. However, judges can reduce an award if the verdict is so excessive that the jury seems to have relied on emotion rather than reason. 

Ernest Law Group, PLC can help you understand the specific damages that may be available in your personal injury case.