Personal Injury Resources

Loss of Consortium

If you have been severely injured in an automobile or motorcycle accident in New Hampshire, your injury claim is not limited only to your pain and suffering; New Hampshire law allows your spouse to recover for his or her loss of consortium.

New Hampshire law recognizes that a spouse has a right of consortium i.e. a right to the society, sex and services of his/her spouse. The right to “society” includes the love, companionship, affection, comfort, solace or moral support. The right to “sex” includes sexual relations or the ability to have children. The right to “services” includes the physical assistance in the operation, care and maintenance of the family home.

A loss of consortium claim is allowed under New Hampshire law even though one spouse may not have suffered a physical injury, but nonetheless may be “injured” because their spouse can no longer perform the services typically performed due to the physical injury you sustained in a NH car accident or collision.

As an example, if a wife is injured in a car accident and her injuries prevent her from maintaining the home which she used to do, the husband may have a loss of consortium claim for the loss of services provided by his wife in the normal and ordinary course of their marital relationship.

Medical Records

For accident and injury victims, the days and months – sometimes even years – following a motorcycle collision or severe car crash are often consumed by medical treatment. From an initial visit to the emergency room, to appointments with primary care physicians, consults with specialists, perhaps a surgery or a cast or brace, not to mention the hours spent in physical therapy and occupational therapy, the receipt of ongoing medical treatment becomes a fact of life. As injury victims receive their treatment, the medical records that document the cause, diagnosis, status, and treatment of their injuries become critically important evidence. A medical provider’s bills also help to objectively demonstrate certain categories of damages incurred by an injury victim.

How Medical Records Can Be Used

Specifically, medical records may help to establish that the injury victim was injured through no fault of his/her own. The records can also provide critical information regarding the status and extent of physical, mental and emotional injuries incurred, as well as the long-term effects those injuries may have. In evaluating personal injury claims, insurance companies place great weight on those records, which are generally considered to be prepared by objective medical providers. They study the records in great detail to look for causes of the injuries sustained, but also to uncover pre-existing conditions, prior injuries and compliance with prescribed medical care. Insurance companies also review the associated medical bills to assess and evaluate the cost of the medical care received.

Typically, the law protects against the disclosure of information concerning someone’s medical condition. However, when injury victims pursue compensation for their injuries sustained from the fault of another driver, the injured party deemed to place their medical condition at issue. As a result, the disclosure of medical records regarding their medical conditions is necessary in order to pursue their NH personal injury claims. In helping injury victims pursue their claims – whether with insurance companies or in court – the personal injury attorneys and paralegals at Tenn And Tenn, P.A. collect, assemble, and analyze injury victims’ medical records and bills. Often, accident victims obtain treatment from multiple medical providers and have thousands of pages of information concerning their medical treatment and condition. All of this paperwork and electronic files can become overwhelming and confusing. Which note goes with which physician during which visit? Which treatment is on which bill? The personal injury attorneys at Tenn And Tenn have spent the last 20 years helping people who have been involved in serious motor vehicles collisions. Our injury lawyers help victims streamline the collection of such information and use the records and bills as critical components in their negotiations with insurance companies and as evidence in court. If you have been seriously injured in a NH motorcycle or car accident, the dates of your treatment, types of treatment you received, and the extent of your treatment – all of which will be reflected in your medical records – will be a critical component of your claim.

Pain & Suffering

Pain and suffering is a legal term used to describe the physical and emotional stress caused by a personal injury. Placing a value on human pain and suffering is one of the most challenging and difficult tasks in any New Hampshire personal injury case. There is no scientific formula or set method of calculating an amount of money to compensate you for the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of someone else’s negligence. Every injury case is different and deserves a thorough evaluation.

New Hampshire law allows an injured person to receive compensation for the pain and suffering they have experienced to date, and which they will probably experience in the future as a result of injuries sustained due to someone else’s negligence. Their measure of damages includes compensation for physical pain, discomfort, fears, anxiety, mental and emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life-that is, the ability to enjoy life as they had in the prior to the accident. All of these factors must be considered when evaluating pain and suffering in New Hampshire car accident lawsuit or motorcycle claim.

Personal Injury Damages

If you have sustained an injury in New Hampshire as a result of someone else’s negligence, New Hampshire law entitles you to a recovery compensation for your injuries from the negligent party. The well-settled law in New Hampshire is that an injured person is entitled to a full, fair and adequate compensation for their losses.

What types of losses can be recovered?

Many types of losses and damages are recoverable in NH. The Court’s will consider damages which include pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost earnings, loss of future earnings, permanent disability, disfigurement, and catastrophic injury and death, among others.

Pain and Suffering

Most people are familiar with the phrase “pain and suffering”. Simply stated, in New Hampshire a person can recover monetary compensation for physical pain and mental anguish which they have suffered and will continue to suffer due to an accident. While there is no automatic formula for the calculation of “pain and suffering”, it often can be the most significant element of a client’s personal injury claim.

Medical Bills

If you have been injured and suffered a permanent injury in New Hampshire, you are entitled receive compensation for the loss of bodily function and/or permanent disability. Examples of such injuries might include a catastrophic injury such as a brain injury, loss of cognitive ability, loss of speech, or paralysis. Other significant injuries might include the inability to lift your arm above chest level, or the inability to bend after an injury to your back.

Another common type of permanent injury is a physical disfigurement. These permanent injuries can be some of the most difficult for clients and their families to deal with, especially if the disfigurement is obvious and severe. These types of injuries include loss of a limb, facial scarring or scars to the body.

These types of permanent injuries and disfigurements can be severe and greatly limit your daily life. In most cases, these permanent injuries and disfigurements often require expert medical testimony to quantify the cause of your injury, the permanent nature of your injury, and the percentage of disability.

Wrongful Death

In New Hampshire, money damages are also recoverable for death cause by someone else’s negligence. Damages for “wrongful death” may be available to certain family members of the deceased person.

Wrongful death cases can be some of the most emotionally trying cases for clients who are grieving and who have lost a loved one. Wrongful death cases should be handled by experienced personal injury attorneys, who can guide you and your family through the legal process.

Recovering Lost Wages

If you have suffered a serious injury in an accident in New Hampshire, worrying about how you will pay for your medical bills is to be expected. But have you considered how much income you will lose if your injury prevents you from returning to work. Recovering your lost wages is an important aspect in every personal injury case.

New Hampshire law allows an injured person to recover full, fair and adequate compensation for their damages. One element of personal injury damages include the value of lost wages to date, or wages that would have been earned but for the accident and injury.

Recovering lost wages requires an injured person to document that they were unable to work as a result of the injuries they sustained, and document the amount of compensation they would have earned but for the accident and resulting injuries. A lost wage claim may include not only regular pay but also overtime pay, bonuses, differentials, raises and even lost opportunities for personal promotions or commissions. If the injuries sustained in a New Hampshire vehicle collision are severe and permanently disabling, an injured person may also seek to recover lost earning capacity and lost future wages. Calculating these losses can be difficult and often require the assistance of an expert to provide an opinion on the injured person’s loss of earning capacity.