Accidents and injuries cost victims more than just financially. The emotional distress they experience is sometimes overwhelming. When we file your lawsuit, we will seek compensation for emotional distress and other intangible harms.
Unlike medical damages, which we can prove with bills, intangible harms are subjective. They’re based on victims’ personal experiences with their injuries. When you sue for emotional distress, you can prove your damages by testifying in court. Expert testimony can also support compensation requests and the methods our lawyers use to quantify emotional distress. Expect to have two years to sue for non-economic and economic damages. New Jersey doesn’t cap either type of compensatory damages, which often bodes well for victims who go to court and prove fault at trial.
Get a free case assessment from the New Jersey personal injury lawyers of Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. by calling (201) 777-1111.
Can You Get Damages for Emotional Distress if You Sue in New Jersey?
Emotional distress is an example of the non-economic damages victims suffer after accidents. Along with emotional distress, you may sue for physical pain, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and more. This is on top of your economic damages, like medical bills and lost wages.
Your case must meet certain criteria to sue for emotional distress after a car accident. Suppose you have the “limitation on lawsuit option” for your personal injury protection insurance, as most drivers do. In that case, you have to prove a serious injury to sue.
In New Jersey, serious injuries include miscarriage, dismemberment, displaced fractures, permanent injuries, and death. Victims with significant disfiguring or scarring from burns or other injuries may also sue drivers for emotional distress.
New Jersey limits damages in wrongful death claims to “pecuniary losses,” like funeral and medical expenses. However, a survival action lets plaintiffs get damages the victim would have been entitled to recover had they lived, including non-economic damages.
Victims can sue for emotional distress after other accidents, like slip and falls caused by poor maintenance.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for Emotional Distress in New Jersey?
Most likely, you will have two years to sue for emotional distress in New Jersey, according to N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-2(a).
Contact us about your case right away, so we have as much of the two-year statute of limitations to prepare the lawsuit. Our Elizabeth, NJ personal injury lawyers need to gather evidence of your emotional distress and other intangible harms. Mental health experts may evaluate you over a period of time so they can testify about your pain and suffering in court.
We also need time to tally your economic damages, like medical bills and lost wages.
New Jersey provides several exceptions to the two-year statute of limitations. Victims who get injured as minors or by defendants who leave the state may get longer to sue. Furthermore, if it took time to discover your injury, your filing deadline would also change. Instead of it being two years from the accident’s date, it would be two years from the date of discovery.
We will pinpoint your filing deadline and meet it, so you don’t miss your opportunity to recover non-economic or economic damages.
How Do You Quantify Emotional Distress in New Jersey Lawsuits?
Our attorneys quantify emotional distress using two calculation methods. We can use both and see which one yields larger amounts.
The first method is the multiplier method. We’ll choose a multiplier and multiply it by your total economic damages. Chosen multipliers should reflect the severity of victims’ injuries. Multipliers typically range between 1.5 and 5. We can use your medical records to support the chosen multiplier.
The second method is the per diem method. We’ll assign a daily rate to your emotional distress, likely based on your missed daily earnings. We multiply that rate by the number of days you expect to suffer emotional distress or other non-economic damages.
To support either calculation method, we may have mental health experts testify in court after evaluating you.
Victims who do not quantify their non-economic damages before filing might underestimate these losses. Emotional distress is just as worthy of compensation as your medical damages and could boost your claim’s value.
Can You Get Emotional Distress Damages if You Settle Your New Jersey Case?
While you can get compensation for emotional distress if you settle your case, expect that to take time.
The first settlement offers generally downplay victims’ non-economic damages. Don’t let that discourage you since we will respond with counters. We will argue why you deserve more based on your injuries.
For example, suppose you suffered disfiguring facial burns during a car crash. The embarrassment, mental anguish, and physical pain from these injuries will be long-lasting. Our lawyers can point to medical records detailing your injuries to explain why current settlement offers are unacceptable.
Though you can get some damages for emotional distress in a settlement, you might claim more from a jury award. We can help you choose what’s best for your recovery, which may mean going to trial in New Jersey.
Does New Jersey Cap Damages for Emotional Distress?
New Jersey does not cap damages for emotional distress and other intangible harms. If your case goes to trial, the jury can award you whatever amount it sees fit.
To prove your pain and suffering, you can testify, as can mental health experts. You can also keep a diary where you record bouts of depression or anxiety since an accident. You can document how medical treatments mentally affect you and how your physical limitations affect your social or professional life.
New Jersey only caps punitive damages, which juries use to punish defendants for egregious behavior, like drunk driving.
Call Our Attorneys About Your New Jersey Injury Case
Call the Jersey City personal injury lawyers of Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. at (201) 777-1111 for a free case evaluation.