If you have ever been injured due to someone else’s fault, you know even a small injury can result in medical bills that you should not be held responsible for paying. The at-fault party or liable party should be held responsible. But when the evidence is lacking, making the responsible party pay for all your damages can be difficult.
At Tenn And Tenn, PA, our personal injury attorneys are committed to getting you fair and just compensation for your personal injury, whether it was caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, boat accident, bicycle accident, truck accident, slip and fall accident, or any other type of accident – we are here for you. We will thoroughly investigate and research your claim. We will lay out the evidence clearly so as to make it difficult for the responsible party to dispute both liability and the full amount of compensation owed to you.
For your own understanding of what this process may entail, here is an overview of damages available in most personal injury cases in New Hampshire and the types of evidence needed to prove the damages. If you have questions or have a personal injury claim o file, contact our office today.
THE EVIDENCE NEEDED IN PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS
In order to get the compensation you deserve from an accident caused by another person, you need to prove damages – both economic and non-economic – and liability.
Evidence to Prove Liability in New Hampshire
To prove liability, you must prove four elements of personal injury claims:
- Duty of Care;
- Breach of Duty;
- Injury; and
- Damages.
Proving duty of care is accomplished by showing a relationship between parties, but the relationship isn’t the end of it. You must also, in many cases, show what that care is. For medical professionals, there is a certain standard of care different than, for example, motorists. All motorists owe a duty of care to obey the rules of the road and watch out for each other, and the standard of care is established by driving laws. A relationship with a medical professional, on the other hand, is established by showing you were a patient or not, and the standard of care is established by medical boards, ethics, and the law.
Proving a breach of duty requires evidence. If a person failed to obey a traffic light and instead ran a red light and struck your vehicle, then eyewitnesses or pictures or available video (from a dash camera or a building security system) can help prove this element.
Injuries are proven by establishing (1) an actual injury and (2) a causal link between the injury and the breach of duty. Going to the hospital immediately after the accident can provide a link and records from the hospital can identify the injury you sustained and that it was sustained from the car accident and not another activity. Other evidence can include photographs, video, police reports, and accident reconstruction reports.
Compensatory damages come in the form of economic and non-economic damages, and both will require their own respective proof as provided by specific evidence.
Evidence to Prove Compensatory Damages in New Hampshire
Anything from tangible to intangible evidence may be used to prove compensatory damages. Below are examples of what this may include.
Economic Damages
- Past medical expenses can be proven using medical records, doctor bills, hospital bills, emergency room bills, nursing services, ambulance services, pharmaceutical receipts, physical therapy bills
- Future medical expenses can be proven using expert medical testimony, like physician and other healthcare providers who testify on your medical care, prognosis, and future treatment
- Lost wages and benefits can be proven with things like pay stubs, W-2s, wage verification from the employer, tax returns (especially if self-employed)
- Loss of earning capacity (i.e., future loss wages) can be proven using expert testimony to provide a calculation after your personal profile and skills, injury, and current market values and wage rates are taken into consideration
- Home care or domestic help can be proven with invoices
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages in New Hampshire include:
- Pain and suffering
- Temporary and permanent disabilities
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium or companionship.
The evidence you need to prove any of the above will include things like:
- your personal testimony and story, which should include the emotional, mental, and physical pain of the injury and descriptions of what you once enjoyed versus what you can no longer enjoy – your testimony should be descriptive
- evidence that can support your description of your pain and suffering – for example, if you say you were once an avid baseball player on a community team but now you can’t play due to your injury, provide documentation, photos, etc. of yourself playing
- testimony provided by your friends and family attesting to how the injury has made you suffer or otherwise changed the quality of your life
- expert testimony to link the injury to the suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, among other non-economic damages – the expert testimony can also fill in any holes left by personal and familial testimony.
Non-economic damages are not as easily defined and proven as economic damages, but with an experienced New Hampshire personal injury attorney – your story can be put together with the evidentiary support necessary to get you the compensation you deserve for your pain and suffering.
CONTACT AN EXPERIENCED, COMPASSIONATE PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Suffering from a personal injury caused by another person or entity can leave you feeling depressed and alone. But you aren’t alone, and you don’t have to go through the whole process of fighting for just and fair compensation on your own. Contact our personal injury attorneys at Tenn And Tenn, PA today. We will review your case and outline the steps we will take to get you the compensation you deserve.