Calculating Damages in Nashville Wrongful Death Cases

That is truly one of the hardest things because there is never any amount of money that someone can get to recover for that emotional loss. That is a little bit of a two-way street because juries like fixing things. They can understand awarding medical bills and lost wages because that makes someone whole.

A wrongful death attorney when they come into a court room starts explaining to the jury ways to calculate that damage and to relate that to other things in value that they can. If the person had $200,000 of medical bills before they passed, attorneys can start building on that with the jury. They can present the amount of money spent in trying to save the individual’s life and the emotional effect that may have. At that point in the trial, experienced wrongful death attorneys can direct the jury to put some reason behind that number. 

The primary factor of future loss is earnings, or their paycheck and average yearly income. Economic or vocational disability experts come in and talk about the time value of money. Attorneys have to take out expenses that would have come out of the check. It is not always a gross check for the person to spend on themselves. Lawyers also look at benefits like were they billing a 401K and interest levels where the economists might come in and talk about how their income would have risen over the years. It is common for people to get pay increases so that is calculated. It is a fairly complicated process to do, so that is why attorneys try to get good experts.

Quantifying loss of income often means taking that person's yearly salary and multiply it by what is called a life expectancy. The experts will consider education, where the person was in the country, job history, inflation, and time value of money. A good expert can explain that in every simple ways so everyone can understand. When they come in with a big number, they have to be able to look at the jury. Not only do they have to be smart, but a good expert has to be able to come to the jury and explain why the number that they have is there and that it is a reasonable number.

It is always looked at more from an emotional loss, like what the relationship is, are they married, and did they have children. The more dynamic the family and the longer the marriage is something that will increase that value. How the person died is looked at as well as what was their dynamic in the family. Experts will consider the day-to-day perspective such as their everyday interactions with their loved ones.

Contributions that they did not only at work but at home are considered. A lot of times housewives or house-husbands play such a valuable contribution of maintaining a household, raising children, and being there to help them with their homework. Also looked at is what their life is and what hole is left without that loved one once they have passed away.

Economic and emotional losses are so different, but from an expert standpoint, it is important to have someone come in and be able to lay out for a jury the impact of a loss and what it will have on the family, and the ripples that it will have throughout that family from not just a day or a month standpoint but the changes it can make over a lifetime. An expert psychologist, psychiatrist, or a grief counselor can come in and explain that to a jury. They can quantify what a person or a family goes through when they lose a loved one.

A lawyer will work with a professor of economics and several experts when calculating damages in Nashville wrongful death cases. They will take that person's age, education, salary, the likelihood for raises and promotions in the future, expenses they had for their own life, and other things like that like, and create a formula and create a loss of income chart for the jury and the judge to understand.