Lots of those workers who are injured in New York City construction accidents understand how the state of New York may view their compensation for medical bills, but they may have less of an understanding of other types of compensation often called “economic recovery.” Below are some of the specific types of economic recovery that lawyers often tell their clients about because those without legal experience have no idea that they may be entitled to such compensation under New York State law.
Lost Wages and Lost Earning Capacity
Courts will often look at both lost wages between the time of injury and settlement, as well as lost earning capacity, or simply put, the overall ability to earn that the person would’ve had if he or she had not been injured. These short-term and long-term economic outlooks are part of what frames a personal injury case – lawyers look at the full context of the case and assess the entire picture (including likely future results) to put together a number that represents fair compensation.
Pain and Suffering
For this type of compensation, courts look at the nature of the injury and how painful it would generally be. Painful injuries can generate significant awards in terms of pain and suffering, but too many defendants view this as “too abstract” or try to downplay the justification for pain and suffering. Some injured victims fall into the trap of not pressing for this compensation. Injury lawyers help to assess where pain and suffering might be valid under the law.
Loss of Consortium
This type of economic recovery regards the marital situation of the injured party. It looks at the relationship between two spouses and how an injury can affect it. Either of the spouses, or both, may elect to add this sort of compensation to a case and the outcome will depend on several factors, including the life expectancies of the spouses, the stability of the marriage relationship and the ways in which these two individuals typically interacted prior to the injury. When injury victims fail to ask for loss of consortium due to inexperience with the law, they may be losing out twice.
Cost of Household Services
This is another specific type of compensation that can be easily overlooked but applies to the majority of injury victims. This area of compensation focuses on the ability of a worker to maintain his or her household. In this type of economic recovery, courts have to look at how any injury suffered at work will relate to the physical activities that are reasonably done to take care of a property. Things like mowing a lawn, raking leaves, doing laundry or doing minor home improvements may be considered, as well as maintaining home systems such as plumbing and HVAC systems or dealing with trees and landscaping. Although defendants may see it as frivolous or unimportant, economic recovery for costs of household services actually serves the community by making sure that an injury victim doesn’t end up neglecting a property.
You Can Rely on Our New York City Catastrophic Injury Law Firm
Construction workers injured in the New York City area can contact the personal injury and construction accident lawyers at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff. Our experienced lawyers will listen to your concerns and help you assess an injury case to take advantage of your rights under the law.