“How do I know what my pain and suffering is actually worth?” It is a fair question, and honestly, it is one that even experienced attorneys have to think about carefully. At Bautista LeRoy LLC, this one of the hardest problems we help out client's solve, no one wants to leave money on the table. Unlike medical bills or lost wages, pain and suffering does not come with a receipt. There is no line item on a hospital bill that says “pain and suffering: $50,000.” So how do Arkansas courts and insurance companies actually put a number on it?

The answer is a mix of Arkansas law; established legal formulas and what juries have awarded in the past; the facts of your specific case, and frankly, how well your attorneys fight for you. 

What Does “Pain and Suffering” Actually Cover?

In Arkansas, “pain and suffering” falls under the broader category of non-economic damages. These are real, compensable losses that do not come with a dollar amount attached to a bill or paycheck. Arkansas law allows an injured person to recover damages for both past and future pain and suffering as part of a negligence claim. Arkansas Code § 16-55-212 addresses damages in civil actions and states that injured parties may recover for physical pain, mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent impairment or disfigurement.

That means your non-economic damages can include:

• The physical pain from the wreck itself and during your recovery;
• Ongoing pain that may last months or years;
• Anxiety, depression, or PTSD caused by the accident;
• Loss of enjoyment of activities that you were able to do or perform before the wreck; and
• The impact on your relationships and daily quality of life.

The Two Most Common Calculation Methods

Arkansas does not have a statutory formula that tells a jury exactly how to calculate pain and suffering. Instead, juries are given broad discretion, guided by the Court, the evidence and arguments presented at trial. In practice, two methods tend to dominate how pain and suffering damages are calculated in settlement negotiations and at trial.

The Multiplier Method

The multiplier method is probably the most widely used approach used b y insurance companies and defendants. Under this method, you take the injured person's total economic damages, including thier medical bills, lost wages, future medical costs and multiply them by a number, typically between 1.5 and five, depending on the severity of the injury. A minor soft tissue injury with a full recovery might attract a multiplier of 1.5 to 2. A serious injury with permanent with loss of one of the five senses, might justify a multiplier of four or five. For example, if you have $20,000 in medical bills from a whiplash injury and the case warrants a 2x multiplier, your pain and suffering claim would be valued at $40,000, making your total claim $60,000. This is the preferred method of insurance companies  and defendants because it takes the emotion out of pain and suffering and allows the defendants to argue that the multiplier should be low.

The Per Diem Method

At Bautista LeRoy LLC, we generally focus on the per diem method assigns a daily dollar value to the injured person's pain and suffering and multiplies it by the number of days they suffered. While some statues, such as Kansas, allow for per diem arguments, Arkansas does not. However, a skilled attorney can easily make the same type of argument without calling it per diem. If an attorney argues that a client's daily pain is worth $100 per day, and the client suffered for 365 days, the pain and suffering award would be $36,500. This method can be particularly effective for injuries that result in a long, documented recovery period. Further they help account for the emotional toll that an injury takes on the client's life.

Documentation Is Everything

One of the biggest mistakes injured people make is assuming that their pain and suffering will be obvious to an insurance adjuster or jury. It will not. You have to build the case. That means going to every doctor's appointment, following your treatment plan, documenting how your injury affects your daily life, and being honest with your medical providers about your symptoms. At Bautista LeRoy LLC, we recommend that our clients keep a pain journal, which is a simple daily log of your pain levels, what activities you could not do, and how the injury affected your mood and relationships. Photographs, testimony from family members and coworkers, and expert medical testimony about the long-term impact of your injuries also help establish the full value of your pain and suffering damages.

At Bautista LeRoy LLC, we work with our clients from the very beginning to build a complete picture of how the injury has affected their lives. We know what evidence Arkansas juries and insurance companies respond to, and we know how to present it effectively to maximize results.

What Factors Does Arkansas Law Consider?

Arkansas courts instruct juries to consider several factors when awarding pain and suffering damages. The Arkansas Model Jury Instructions (AMI 2201 and 2202) instructs juries to weigh the nature, extent, and duration of the injury; the physical pain experienced; the mental anguish suffered; and the effect of the injury on the person's ability to enjoy their normal daily activities. There is no cap on non-economic damages in Arkansas personal injury cases. That means a jury can award what the evidence supports, without an arbitrary ceiling created by the legislature.

Arkansas does follow the “modified comparative fault rule “under Arkansas Code § 16-64-122. This means if a plaintiff is found to be partially at fault for the accident, the plaintiff's recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's percentage of fault. If the plaintiff is  found to be 50 percent or more at fault, the plaintiff is barred from any recovery. This is why insurance companies will try to assign blame to plain tiff to reduce or eliminate what they have to pay. It is also why you need an experience attorney to help you argue against your comparable fault.

Call Bautista LeRoy LLC Today

If you were injured in a car wreck in northwest Arkansas or anywhere in the state, you deserve to know what your case is truly worth. This is different from what an insurance company wants to pay you. Pain and suffering is real, it is compensable under Arkansas law, and it can represent the largest portion of your recovery.

Bautista LeRoy LLC has the experience and the commitment to fight for the full value of your claim. Through our office is in Bentonville, Arkansas, and we represent injury victims throughout the state and work tirelessly to maximize the recovery they receive for pain and sufering. We understand how insurance companies operate, we know how Arkansas juries value these cases, and we will not let an adjuster shortchange what you have been through.

Call Bautista LeRoy LLC today at 479-208-6614. Your consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win. Let us get to work for you.