Loss of Earning Capacity and Serious Injuries
Truck collisions and other major accidents end up causing serious injuries. Brain injuries, back injuries, and amputation are only some of the catastrophes that our clients suffer, and they need help. Under Florida law, our clients can usually sue the person responsible for the accident.
A personal injury claim seeks financial compensation for various damages, including the cost of medical care. But you can also request damages for lost income, including loss of earning capacity. Indeed, compensation for lost income might make up a large part of your settlement.
What is Loss of Earning Capacity?
In the typical personal injury case, a victim is fully healed by the time their lawyer starts negotiating a settlement. At that point, their financial losses are already known, and many of them have returned to work.
Things are different with permanent, catastrophic injuries. An injured victim cannot easily return to their job, usually because of a permanent disability. Instead they often need to enter a new field altogether.
Here are some examples:
- A police officer has to find a new job after having both legs amputated. They can no longer walk a beat, so they have to transition to a new industry.
- A surgeon with a serious brain injury develops a permanent tremor in her arm, making it impossible to perform surgery any longer.
- A construction worker who is paralyzed below the waist can’t return to construction, so they will need to find a new job.
- Someone who is permanently paralyzed and in a vegetative state cannot return to work at all. They might also request future economic losses.
Sometimes the new job will pay more, but many victims will earn less after the accident. They have decades and decades of reduced income—through no fault of their own.
Loss of earning capacity measures expected future wage loss. These are not speculative damages. Instead, our firm works closely with expert witnesses, including occupational therapists and accountants to calculate how much you will lose over the coming years.
How Much Can You Receive?
The amount an accident victim requests depends on various factors, including their level of impairment. Other critical factors are the salary they earned before the accident and what they can earn in a new job.
Each case is different. Instead of searching the internet for information, reach out to a law firm like Pita Weber Del Prado. We can meet individually to learn more about your diagnosis, as well as your economic losses. We can estimate how much you might request for compensation, or we can identify what other information we need to make an informed analysis.
Speak with a Miami Serious Injury Lawyer Today
Accident victims often receive settlement offers quickly after an accident. You should never accept a settlement without first talking with an attorney. The odds are high you can get more than is initially offered. Insurance companies play hardball, and they aren’t afraid to offer meager settlements with the hope you are desperate enough to snatch it. Call our office to speak with a Miami serious injury lawyer at Pita Weber Del Prado for a free consultation.
