Question: Can you get monetary damages over your lifetime, if the injuries you sustained due to the negligence of another are permanent?
Answer: Yes, see below. In a personal injury case, the trial judge will instruct the jury that if they find for the plaintiff on the question of liability for negligent conduct of defendant(s), then you must determine the amount of money which will fairly compensate that plaintiff for any element of damages proved by the evidence to have resulted from the fault of one or more defendants. In making this determination, the jury may consider (a) the nature and extent of injuries; (b) whether the injuries are temporary or permanent; (c) the physical pain and mental suffering experienced in the past and reasonably certain to be experienced in the future as a result of the injuries ; (d) physical disfigurement or deformity resulting from the injuries; (e) the plaintiff’s ability or inability to have and to enjoy the pleasures of life that only those who are possessed of sound body and free use of its members can enjoy. On the issue of permanency, the standard life tables may be introduced to show the probable duration of the plaintiff’s life, on the question of compensation for permanent injury, or, in case of death, the deceased’s expectation of life at the time of the accident. Once such tables are in evidence, the court will instruct the jury that, in determining damages, if any, it may consider the plaintiff’s life expectancy.
