The dollar value of pain and suffering can be difficult to calculate after any type of accident. Pain and suffering occurs after car accidents, slip and fall accidents, construction accidents, workplace accidents, and many other types of accidents. However, severe pain and suffering does not necessarily leave behind any physical or visible injuries. HowDo Attorneys Calculate ‘Pain and Suffering’ Costs?
Back in 1992, an elderly woman named Stella Liebeck sued McDonald’s in what became known as the infamous “hot coffee lawsuit.” The public relations team at McDonald’s has made sure the case is remembered as frivolous, but, like the third-degree burns Stella Liebeck suffered from a cup of McDonald’s coffee, her lawsuit was dead serious. The facts were simple: Mrs. Liebeck used the drive-thru with her grandson, who was at the wheel. Once the car stopped moving, she placed the cup of coffee she’d just ordered between her legs and tried to add some creamer. The cup tipped over, dumping the contents into her lap, causing third-degree burns over 16% of her body. She required hospitalization for eight days. Whirlpool debridement of the burns and skin grafts followed. She was at least partially disabled for more than two years, and that’s to say nothing of her pain and suffering. Remember the ‘McDonald’s Hot Coffee’ Lawsuit? It Was Justified All Along
So, how do lawyers calculate pain and suffering?
Defense lawyers, on behalf of insurance carriers as well as some lawyers for accident victims, frequently use formulas that multiply the “hard” damage numbers, referred to as “specials” (special damages such as medical expenses and lost earnings) to arrive at a supposedly “fair” settlement figure for pain and suffering. To explain it simply, the insurance company will tally all of the expenses you’ve incurred from the accident (including doctor bills, hospital bills, insurance bills, ambulatory transport bills, car repair bills, lost wages, and any other expense), and then they will multiply the total, often, it has been reported, by a randomly chosen factor of three. This is frequently what the insurance company either believes is good enough to cover any pain and suffering caused by the accident or believes should represent the highest they hope to voluntarily pay out to eliminate their liability for this particular item of damage forever. However, our attorneys at Friedman & Simon wholeheartedly reject this approach. We believe this is an arbitrary and heartless formula that lumps together all accident injury victims as if they are merchandise, failing to appreciate the human quality of the struggles and anguish they face after an accident. We believe in a more realistic and just approach by carefully studying all the ways the accident impacted the life of the individual client. From the young parent who cannot interact with their child as they could before the accident to the retiree who has become a shut-in instead of enjoying the social life they had before becoming injured, we look at every detail of how the accident injuries changed our clients’ lives in a harmful way. From there, we gather all relevant evidence, including accident reconstruction evidence, medical treatment evidence, and financial impact evidence, to forcefully present a claim for pain and suffering and all other damages, in the strongest way possible. If you or a loved one ever find yourself in a position of needing our services, rest assured that we will advocate for the full extent of your pain and suffering damages in a most compelling manner to the at-fault party’s insurer or before a judge and jury in court. If you have questions about the pain and suffering aspects of an accident injury case, we will welcome your call and the opportunity to address your concerns patiently and comprehensively.
For all of this damage, Mrs. Liebeck asked McDonald’s for $20,000 — arguably not even enough to pay her hospital bills.
When McDonald’s refused to pay more than $800, the case went to court, and it came out that they’d known for at least 10 years about the dangers their hot coffee represented, with over 700 recorded burns and several lawsuits. But in 1992, their policy was to store coffee at 180–190 degrees F, which is almost the boiling point! Furthermore, McDonald’s higher-ups testified on the stand that no matter what happened, they had no intention of changing their behavior. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the trial, McDonald’s was hit with a $2.9 million penalty. Although the penalty was later reduced, McDonald’s still dragged Mrs. Liebeck’s name through the mud in the press, with their version of the story being the one that stuck in the public consciousness. But it wouldn’t change the fact that they had to pay her
around $700,000 at the end of the day — or that their coffee is now being served at a reasonable temperature.
(If you wish to understand more about this case and its many implications, consider watching the 2011 documentary entitled, “Hot Coffee” that takes a deep dive into the details.)
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