Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Pain and Suffering

It is the judge's decision whether to award you any money in any category. If your medical bills and wage loss don't come up to $5000, you can allocate the balance to pain and suffering.

Re: Pain and Suffering

Thank you for your posting.

It is always up to the judge what to award, for any type of damage. I see persons representing themselves go crazy with amounts for "pain and suffering" damages, without proving what is necessary as to what pain was incurred. For example, you may wish to get a doctor's report itemizing what pain was experienced, when, on the standard pain scale used in the medical profession. The follow up report should show pain diminishing or some reason that pain is not stabilizing or is getting worse.

Remember that in small claims court, you are bound by the cap of $5,000.00, also, and that pain is usually measured as a multiple of medical bills -- in other words, the more severe the treatment, the more pain and suffering is presumed.

I hope this information helps, but if you need other questions answered, want more details on this answer, or feel you need legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. I�m happy to help in any way that I can, and best of luck.