What Compensation Am I Entitled To After Being Involved In A Serious Maryland Automobile Accident?
Under Maryland law, monetary compensation for personal injury sustained in a serious accident is referred to as “damage” “damages” or a “damage award”.
There are two forms of damage typically recoverable in a personal injury case: economic and non-economic damages.
What I’ve attorney Eric T. Kirk seen over the years is that the economic damages in the wake of a significant or catastrophic motor vehicle accident can sometimes be substantial. Some law firms advertise that they handle only “serious” “significant” or “catastrophic” personal injury case. What I have also seen over the years is that every personal injury is, by definition, a uniquely personal matter, and it is also serious business to the person injured- not matter what label might be attached to it. Economic damages would include things such as lost wages or the loss of the ability to earn wages, or other income, in the future. Medical rehabilitation, therapy, surgery, medications assistive devices, and potentially in-home medical or domestic help are all included under the broader rubric of economic damages which can be recoverable in a serious person injury case. Because of the very nature and consequences of the serious or catastrophic car accident, the likelihood of a larger, or very significant, non-economic damage is greater.
Non-economic damages include things such as emotional or physical distress or anguish caused by physical injury, and recovery therefrom, as well as pain, suffering, inconvenience, or embarrassment caused by scarring or disfigurement. These are some of the labels that Maryland law uses to describe the non-economic consequences of a significant personal injury, but the list is truly non-exclusive. Any impact on the injured individual’s life, and any activity which they formerly enjoyed but are no longer able to because of their injury, is a notion that could be considered by a jury in fashioning a proper award designed to fairly compensates that individual for their loss.
