Being unable to work is a huge inconvenience. This is especially true when your injuries directly affect your job.
Your broken leg or knee injury may not matter if you give online English classes. But if you’re a professional athlete, a fractured ankle could make or break you for years to come.
Claiming for lost income in a personal injury case is a no-brainer. Of course, you request compensation for lost wages! Quickly showing proof of past income in your payslips or bank deposits sounds simple enough.
But what about the future lost wages? Logically, how do you claim income you haven’t even worked for yet?
This is when an experienced personal injury attorney comes in handy. Determining lost earning capacity for a personal injury lawsuit will not be a cut-and-dry process and will likely be met with pushback. Let’s discuss proving future lost earnings in a personal injury case.
Understanding the term “economic damages” is critical in making a claim. Economic damages are easily proven using documentation with empirical data.
Economic damages can include:
Lost income is further broken down into:
When we speak of your “earning capacity,” we refer to your ability to earn due to your injury. Do your physical limitations significantly impact the usual way in which you do your job?
Your personal injury attorney from DP Injury Attorneys is not a psychic, but they know the ways to prove future lost earnings in court. It’s not recommended that you try to prove the loss of future wages without a professional.
The figures your California personal injury lawyer will are not ad hoc, nor will a jury simply take your word for it. No, now more than ever, anything claimed requires proof. Under California law, to receive payment for future earnings lost, you have to show that the income was lost with reasonable certainty due to the injuries.
Additional documentation, such as the following, may be required to bolster your claim.
Your employer could provide a letter stating that you earned a certain amount and were reasonably expected to continue in the job for years into the future. Plaintiff’s employers could also speak to bonus entitlements or expectations of a promotion or salary rise.
Expert testimony could take the form of an economist who would examine the present value of your salary, market trends in your field of work, and projected inflation to give the court an idea of your future earnings.
Clients come to our office after every accident imaginable. The result is that we have an excellent knowledge of California law concerning personal injury. Let us help you get back on your feet.
Do any of the following apply to you?
Any of these accidents can snuff out your ability to provide for yourself and your family for years to come. Don’t let that happen to you. Let the DP Injury Attorneys help you recover lost wages. Our previous numbers speak for themselves.
California is home to the receptionist by day and the makeup artist by night. Working several jobs with differing schedules for multiple clients is not unusual. Some workers cannot say with reasonable certainty that the gig they have today will be available to them next week.
Some workers are self-employed, freelancers, or work on a contract basis. Are you a creative person that experiences booming seasons and crippling dry spells? Proving lost future earnings will be quite a mammoth task.
Your accident injuries may be grave, but if you can’t prove that you were on a trajectory for future income, you may not have a strong claim. Having a good attorney for these personal injury cases is necessary. California law can be unforgiving. Schedule a free case review with us to have a frank conversation about your prospects.
We can help you prove future lost wages, recover your medical expenses and allow you to recover from your injuries in peace. It would be best not to deal with financial losses in addition to emotional trauma.
Schedule a free case review with a California personal injury lawyer at DP Injury Attorneys, and let’s get started on your case!
Arthur Paul D’Egidio is the Managing Partner of DP Injury Attorneys, a San Diego personal injury law firm. With more than 12 years of experience in California injury law, he has dedicated his practice to representing clients in a wide range of personal injury matters, including car accidents, workers’ compensation, slip and falls, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death cases.
Arthur received his Juris Doctor from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and is a member of the State Bar of California as well as the San Diego County Bar Association. He has received numerous accolades for his work, including being named a Super Lawyer for seven straight years by Thomson Reuters and a “Top 40 Under 40” by the National Trial Lawyers.
