Damages in Nashville Survival Action Cases

There are two main roles for monetary damages in Nashville survival action cases. The first role is simply to make up for the financial losses that someone has when they lose a loved one. Loved ones may experience financial and income loss after a parent or a spouse passes away. Families may also experience medical bills, funeral bills, and other expenses as a result of the negligent or reckless acts.

The second role is the emotional side such as the healing side for the families when they pursue these lawsuits for damages. Most families just need this for closure. They need someone to be able to come in and say that their loved one’s life had value. After a traumatic loss of a loved one, family members find peace by explaining to the Court what their loved one meant to them and try to ensure this type of incident does not happen to someone else. A distinguished wrongful death lawyer can help you seek closure to a very emotional loss.

Calculating Conscious Pain and Suffering

Calculating conscious pain and suffering is up to the Judge or the jury to determine what conscious pain and suffering is worth. They consider the length of time of the pain and suffering, the severity of it, what the deceased person was like, and what they would personally feel if it was their relative.

They will also look at the defendant to determine what kind of person they are. Larger verdicts are usually awarded when the actions that caused the conscious pain and suffering were reckless or criminal. Damages in Nashville survival action cases can be increased if the decedent was hit by a drunk driver or hit by somebody that was texting. In a nursing home case, high damages are awarded when they find someone at the end of their life was suffering needlessly so the nursing home can make more profit.

Why Compensate for Pain Suffered?

All people know pain and have felt pain when somebody dies. There is no way to undo that pain in the justice system. However, there is a way to recognize it. The only way to do that is to compensate someone for that loss financially. Showing the family or whoever is left that they recognize that the life of their loved one has value. Many people, when they receive those funds, want to honor their loved one by doing something good with it and donate it to charitable causes like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, or something similar, so that something positive can come out of a very tragic loss.

Common Medical Bills

Calculating medical bills as damages in Nashville survival action cases can vary from accident to accident. Most death cases are either car accident-related or nursing home claims for nursing home neglect and abuse. In the car accident cases, ambulance bills, Medevac bills, and hospital (emergency room, surgical, medical costs). The nursing home cases are very similar with end-of-life emergency bill, hoping to nurse that elderly person back to health.

Compensation for Funeral Costs

Funeral expenses are an expense that a person should not have to pay if somebody dies prematurely. Funeral costs include caskets (prices of which range from merely expensive to outrageously expensive), the vault, and charges from the funeral homes. These homes charge for everything from embalmment to sheltering the remains, transporting, and headstones.

Working with an Attorney

An experienced lawyer in these types of cases can try pursuing damages in Nashville survival action cases that the client is entitled to and calculate the loss of future wages and benefits. An inexperienced attorney tends to only look at the salary and multiply it, however, the calculation of damages is much more complicated than that. Legal representation can organize, calculate damages, and put the losses in a package that the insurance company or defense lawyer can understand.

Author Bio

Jim Higgins, founder of the Higgins Firm, is a seasoned personal injury attorney with deep roots in Nashville, Tennessee. A 4th generation Nashvillian, Jim carries on the legal legacy of his father, a judge for over 30 years. After graduating from the University of Memphis School of Law, Jim’s career began on the other side of the courtroom, defending insurance companies and learning their tactics for minimizing settlements. However, he soon realized his true calling was fighting for the rights of the injured, and for the past several years, he has exclusively represented plaintiffs in personal injury cases.

Since then, his dedication and skill have earned him membership in the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization limited to attorneys who have secured million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for their clients. Licensed to practice in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, Jim focuses on personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice, and workers’ compensation cases. His exceptional work has been recognized by his peers, earning him a spot on the Super Lawyers list from 2021 to 2024, a distinction awarded to only a select group of accomplished attorneys in each state.

Google | Linked In | Avvo | State Bar Association