Compensation for Injuries

Durham Injury Compensation

Seeking Justice on Your Behalf

Seeking adequate and fair compensation as a result of a car accident can be a difficult process if you, like most people, do not have experience evaluating car accident injuries and claims. The main purpose of calculating and determining the amount of your damages is to attempt to restore you to the same position that you were in before the accident occurred.

Depending on your unique situation, you may be able to seek compensation for a variety of damages, including both special and general damages. Special damages are monetary losses that are directly related to your accident and injuries. These damages can typically be calculated to a specific amount. On the other hand, general damages are difficult to calculate and are often viewed from a subjective standpoint. Additionally, general damages are not guaranteed in every case. Our Durham attorneys are well-versed in personal injury law, and can advocate on your behalf so you receive the compensation you need to recover your damages.

Call Wallace Pierce Law today to reach one of our caring attorneys at (919) 313-2737, or contact us online.

What are Special Damages?

Special damages are calculable and quantifiable damages which you incur as a result of your automobile accident. Special damages are easily documented, proven, and calculated, yet still require detailed documentation to recover. These documented damages must be shown as reasonable and necessary and must also be related to the bodily injury you sustained in the accident.

Special damages include:

To prove these kinds of damages, it is important that you keep up with all your records and receipts related to the accident.

Medical Expenses

Medical expenses generally tend to be a significant portion of most personal injury claims for damages. These costs are extremely important because they are viewed as the starting point for your recovery. Medical expenses will consist of all of your medical treatment, beginning immediately after the accident and continuing into the future, if your injury requires. If you will continue to receive medically necessary treatment for your injuries into the future, or if you become partially or permanently disabled as a result of the accident, you likely have a valid argument for higher damages, which often results in a larger recovery amount.

Lost Income

Lost income is another important component of your personal injury claim. These damages include all wages and other earnings lost as a result of your accident. Calculations should begin from the date of your accident and continue until you finally return to work.

There are three general types of lost income that you may be able to claim:

Lost wages
Lost earning capacity
Lost opportunity

Lost wages consist of the actual time you missed from work due to the recovery time for your injuries. Lost earning capacity issues may arise if your injuries prevent you from working in the same profession as before the accident. Finally, lost opportunity may be claimed when your injury caused you to miss out on a potential business opportunity. Claims for lost income must be supported by appropriate documentation, including letters from both your employers and doctors stating which days you were out of work and the reason.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses

Out-of-pocket expenses usually only make up a small portion of your personal injury recovery after a car accident. However, out-of-pocket expenses can be substantial in larger claims, particularly if your recovery takes an extended amount of time. These types of expenses include costs related to your accident that you have had to pay yourself, such as prescriptions, medical aids (crutches, braces, walkers, etc.), travel, and any other costs you would not have incurred but did incur because of your injuries. To ensure you can claim out-of-pocket expenses, your receipts and other documents should be maintained or preserved.

What are General Damages?

Seeking compensation for non-economic damages, or general damages, is a more difficult determination because they are often subjective and cannot simply be calculated from certain amounts (i.e., medical bills or lost wages). In other words, you cannot simply add up the numbers (as you can with special damages) to get a fixed dollar amount.

Determining general damages often involves assigning a dollar amount to a subjective injury, which includes claims for:

Pain & Suffering

North Carolina law provides for the recovery of past and future pain and suffering after a car accident. This type of compensation includes the pain and discomfort you endure at the time of the accident and any future suffering. These are two separate categories: (1) past and present pain and suffering, and (2) future pain and suffering. Past and present pain and suffering are what you endure from the time of the accident until you can receive a settlement or an award. Future pain and suffering are any pain you may endure in the future, which continues after your car accident claim is resolved.

Emotional Distress

You may also be able to seek compensation for emotional distress that was caused by your accident. Emotional distress includes conditions such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In pressing such claims, a psychologist or psychiatrist’s opinion is most often offered in support for claims of emotional distress.

Loss of Consortium

Loss of consortium damages is the losses sustained by the loss of companionship between spouses as a result of the injury. Typically, these subjective damages include the loss of services from that spouse, such as cooking or cleaning, and includes companionship losses that arise due to the inability to be intimate because of the injury.

Duty to Mitigate Damages

Additionally, even if you are not at fault in an accident, North Carolina law requires that you have a duty to mitigate damages. This duty is an obligation to minimize the effects and losses related to your injuries. This obligation includes seeking other employment, retraining if you are no longer able to work in your current profession, and continuing any doctor-recommended treatment or surgery. If you fail to seek treatment for your injuries and attempt to mitigate the damages on your own, you may face an uphill battle when making a claim for damages.

The damages you suffered from your accident can be difficult to understand and calculate. Furthermore, seeking compensation for those damages and negotiating with an at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster can also prove to be a formidable task.

Call our Durham attorneys if you’re ready to ease your financial burdens at (919) 313-2737. No matter what your personal injury matter may be, we can provide solutions.

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Our top priority is to devise customized legal strategies that are tailored to the unique legal needs of our clients, no matter how simple or complicated their situations, might be.

$1,900,000 Wrongful Death
The at-fault driver failed to reduce speed and collided with our client's vehicle. Our client passed away shortly after the collision.
$900,000 Wrongful Death
Our client was thrown from his motorcycle and was pronounced deceased on the scene.
$122,000 Car Accident
Vehicle made a left-hand turn, failing to yield the right of way.
$104,000 Serious Injuries
Client was a passenger in a vehicle that was driving through an intersection when another vehicle ran a stop sign and t-boned the vehicle our client was in.
$104,000 Severe Injury
We were able to not only receive policy limits for our client but were able to negotiate her medical bills and liens to ensure that she was able to keep a good portion of the settlement.
$102,000 Serious Injuries
Elderly client was a passenger in a vehicle that was t-boned in an intersection where a driver failed to yield the right of way.

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