How is pain and suffering calculated in Michigan?

There is no high and fast rule on how to calculate  pain & suffering. However, with years of experience, there tends to be a consistent range of how much the defense values the injuries. Ways to increase the value of a case relies heavily on the type of injuries, liability, treatment, and how the accident affected a person's life. The other major component is liability, meaning who is at fault and how much are they at fault?  

The Severity of the injury effects how pain and suffering is calculated in Michigan

When it comes to injuries, the severity of injuries sustained could determine the value of your pain and suffering. For example, if the at-fault driver has a $250,000.00 and liability is not in dispute and the client is considered quadriplegic, that would be considered a policy-limits type of case. However, every case is different and every injury varies. More often than not, the client sustained soft-tissue injuries in the spine in the form of bulges and herniations and the amount awarded for those injuries drastically changes on the entirety of the case and the type of counsel that represents you.

Liability plays a role in calculating pain and suffering 

When it comes to liability, if it is a clear-cut liability matter where you get rear-ended or where the other party was clearly at fault, liability will not be in dispute. If liability is in dispute, you will need to prove that the other party is at least 50% at fault. For example, if the other party is at 90% at fault, you will be able to bring a claim against the at-fault driver, but your reward will be reduced to 90% of the total awarded. This means that if you were awarded $10,000.00, the reward will be reduced to $9,000.00 (90%).

When calculating pain and suffering, it's important to consider treatment

When it comes to treatment, one must look at the length of treatment and types of treatment. If you have undergone multiple surgeries that can drastically and exponentially increase the value of your case. Certain types of surgeries could also exponentially increase the value of your case, but surgeries should always be a last resort. If someone receives injections, that could increase the value of the case. If someone receives psychological help, the emotional anguish suffered can increase the value of the case.

Is the Injury life changing?

When it comes to change of life, this could drastically increase or decrease the value of your case. If you were considered quadriplegic from an accident, change of life can be very obvious and this would be considered a high-value case. On the other side of the token, if someone sustained injuries, but it really didn’t change their life, the client may not have a successful claim against the at-fault driver. However, clients with soft-tissue spinal injuries typically experience a notable impact on their daily lives.  This can in the form of being disabled from doing household chores, gardening, cleaning, picking up cases of water, not sleeping through the night, inability to walk long distances, or inability to pick up your kids or play with your children.

 
Even with several injuries, extensive treatment, clear liability, and a severely impacted change of life, it is of the utmost importance to hire aggressive counsel that will maximize the value of your case. It is also important to hire trial counsel because 97% of all cases are settled before trial and that is when Defense will put more money into the case in order to avoid the trial cost.