{"id":4502,"date":"2024-08-14T04:08:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T04:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shegerianconniff.com\/?p=4502"},"modified":"2024-08-14T04:08:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T04:08:23","slug":"how-to-document-a-legal-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shegerianconniff.com\/dev\/how-to-document-a-legal-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Document and Prove Your Losses in a Legal Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winning a case isn\u2019t always as it appears on TV or in movies. About 7 out of 10 personal injury cases result in a settlement. Only 4% of cases go to trial. That leaves almost 30% that never go to trial or result in a settlement. Of those settlements, 58% are for no more than $25,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EEOC cases aren\u2019t much better. Of the 81,055 cases in 2023, only 8.5% settled. Over 50,600 were found to have no reasonable cause. You need to have a winning strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Evidence is one of the leading ways to win a case. However, you also need to be able to carefully document everything and prove your losses. When it comes to providing losses in a legal claim, it\u2019s important to have proof. It\u2019s also important to understand the different types of losses. We\u2019ll go over each one to help you understand what you can and cannot claim as a loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

Understand the Types of Losses<\/span><\/h3>\n

When you\u2019re building an estimate of what you\u2019ve lost, you need to consider every type of loss. There are three main types of losses to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

Economic Losses<\/span><\/h3>\n

Most people think of economic losses<\/a> in a personal injury or workplace discrimination case. You were injured by someone else\u2019s irresponsible behavior or failure to take appropriate precautions. You can\u2019t work because of your injuries. You lost your job because you filed a complaint against your boss for racist comments, and now that you\u2019ve been fired, you\u2019re struggling to pay the bills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Loss of wages is one type of economic loss. You might also be stuck with costly medical bills after you fall on an icy sidewalk that was poorly maintained. You woke up to a car crashing into your house because it took a corner too fast. All of these situations have a monetary loss that you can calculate. You can track how many days of pay you\u2019ve lost. You have the total cost of the medical bills. All of this is easy to calculate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You need bills, invoices, and receipts. You can document it with pay stubs, contractor estimates, or the medical bills you receive in the mail or have to pay before you\u2019re discharged. Keep all of the originals in a fireproof safe and save emails and invoices received online both on your computer, in a cloud storage such as Google Drive, or on a thumb drive or external hard drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Non-Economic Losses<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s harder to quantify non-economic losses. This includes things like your pain and suffering <\/a>and the impact it has on your friendships, work life, or family. It can also be the loss of enjoyment you have. For example, you used to love going to dinner, but a shooting that happened in front of the restaurant has made you terrified to leave your home. You can\u2019t put a price on that fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Witness statements will go a long way in non-economic claims. You can also keep a journal of your mental health, emotional health, and physical symptoms as you go through panic attacks, chronic pain, fear of leaving the home, and other forms of emotional distress. It\u2019s made it hard to leave your home to get to work. It\u2019s impacting your relationships because your friends feel you should just get over it. There\u2019s nothing wrong with you, and that\u2019s important to remember.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in a car accident, you\u2019ve healed from your injuries. You still experience a lot of joint pain where metal pins had to be used to repair the damage. The pain is worse when it\u2019s cool and damp outside. You\u2019re told that\u2019s always going to be part of your life. It\u2019s pain and suffering, and while it\u2019s hard to put a financial amount on that pain, it\u2019s impacting your life and matters in a lawsuit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Punitive Damages (Exemplary Damages)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Punitive damages are defined as \u201cdamages awarded in excess of compensation to the plaintiff to punish the defendant.\u201d It\u2019s similar to non-economic losses, but there\u2019s one key difference. The thing to remember in this is the term \u201cpunish.\u201d If a company has a product that they know is dangerous but continue to push it anyway, they\u2019re putting others at risk for their gain.<\/span><\/p>\n

One area where punitive damages have been immense is cases against big tobacco and cigarette companies. For decades, tobacco companies have made public statements denying there is a link between lung cancer and smoking. In 1994, several CEOs of tobacco companies testified that nicotine and tobacco products are not addictive. That\u2019s helped make it possible to win punitive damages for former smokers who are battling or succumbed to diseases like COPD and lung cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Witness testimony is important here. The more people who can testify about the misleading statements or ads you believed in, your mental health after the incident, and anything else that proves the emotional damage you\u2019ve suffered and the willful behavior of the company or person.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Value of Working with a California Attorney<\/span><\/h3>\n

Even if you\u2019re not certain you have the knowledge needed to definitively prove your losses, don\u2019t feel that it\u2019s futile to file a complaint. Having a lawyer to help you<\/a> is ideal. Go back to the statistics on personal injury cases. The average compensation without a lawyer\u2019s help is $17,600. With a lawyer, the average compensation soars to $77,600.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attorneys have the benefit of understanding statutes of limitations and deadlines. You only have a certain amount of time before you can no longer file a complaint. There are often different rules for government employees, plus the victim\u2019s age makes a difference in certain cases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When you work with an attorney, they know the evidence that can help you win a case. They also understand how to present it to ensure it\u2019s impactful. Attorneys also know how to store electronic evidence to ensure it doesn\u2019t accidentally get overwritten or lost if a computer crashes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originals are better evidence than copies. An attorney can work to get originals if you don\u2019t have the authority to get them. Attorneys can also help preserve the chain of evidence to show how the paperwork was obtained, who handled it at any point, and how it\u2019s been secured until a hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shegerian Conniff\u2019s legal team has the experience and knowledge to help you go over your employment discrimination or personal injury case. We\u2019ll work with you<\/a> to make sure you have the best possible documentation and information to get the highest possible settlement or judgment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winning a case isn\u2019t always as it appears on TV or in movies. About 7 out of 10 personal injury cases result in a settlement. Only 4% of cases go to trial. That leaves almost 30% that never go to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Document and Prove Your Losses in a Legal Claim - Shegerian Conniff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shegerian Conniff\u2019s legal team has the experience and knowledge to help you go over your employment discrimination or personal injury case\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Document and Prove Your Losses in a Legal Claim - 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