If a person or entity harms you, then you might bring a personal injury lawsuit against them. You should think about whether suing them makes sense. Maybe you feel this individual or entity caused you harm, but can you prove it in court?
To figure that out, you should meet with a lawyer. A skilled attorney can tell you whether they think you have a case. Addressing the diminished quality of life post-accident also becomes crucial in these instances.
If you end up in court suing the person or entity who you claim harmed you, a concept will likely come up. In the legal system, they call this quality of life. It means something specific, and we’ll talk about it right now.
What Does Quality of Life Mean?
If you bring a personal injury lawsuit against someone, maybe that’s because you tripped and fell in their house. They had an unsafe condition, and they knew about it, but they didn’t repair it. You might have a valid legal claim in that case.
Perhaps a company’s product injured you. Maybe you hurt yourself at a job site, and your employer knew about unsafe conditions, but they didn’t address them.
No matter how you hurt yourself or made yourself sick, though, afterward, you may not enjoy your life as much. When your lawyer brings up quality of life in your lawsuit, that’s what they mean. They’re discussing how much you enjoy your life.
What Does Diminished Quality of Life Mean?
Think about any of the accidents or incidents we just described. You might find that after the accident, you have sustained a permanent injury. If so, then presumably, you can’t resume your life like it was before. Maybe you still have a decent life, but you have diminished capacity.
You might end up in a wheelchair or on crutches if you hurt yourself and you don’t have the same mobility you did before. Perhaps you can’t do many things that you did before, like walking around your neighborhood, riding a bike, gardening, playing softball in the park with your friends, and so forth.
Diminished quality of life means you’re not enjoying your life as much because you can’t do as many activities. Maybe you loved doing certain things, and they brought you most of your life’s joy, and now, you can’t do them.
You can see how you’d feel very depressed about that. Your family will feel sad as well. They can’t do the things with you that you once enjoyed.
You Deserve Recompense if You Have Reduced Quality of Life
Many times, that’s the precise reason why you’re suing a person or entity. That individual or company had a duty of care, and they didn’t fulfill it. If so, you can hold them responsible, and you’ll likely win your lawsuit against them.
If you temporarily hurt yourself and you should fully recover, then you might collect some money, but it’s probably a smaller amount. That makes sense because you will eventually feel better. At that point, you can do the things you once loved again. The accident or defective product took away your joy, but you’ll get it back.
You can imagine how much more money you can get if you’ll never fully recover, though. If you’re in a wheelchair for the rest of your life or you have some other diminished capacity, that means the responsible person or entity changed your life forever.
You won’t have the happy times with family and friends that you could otherwise expect. That’s when you can expect a large cash settlement, assuming the jury feels that the person or entity harmed you. You must prove someone besides yourself caused your condition.
That’s why quality of life comes up in personal injury cases. Your lawyer might use that term when talking about your life before the accident and after it.
They can draw a distinct line between the two times in your life. They might paint a picture that shows what you could do before a person or entity harmed you and afterward.
You can get on the witness stand and testify. If you talk about how this incident changed your life, and the jury can easily see how the defendant hurt you, you should get the money you deserve. Just make sure you hire an attorney or law firm that can accurately link the defendant and the action or inaction that caused your life’s new circumstances.