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The loss that endures: some losses - of a loved one, a cherished activity, a dream for the future - leave a permanent void in a client's life. Creative advocacy can ensure that jurors understand your client's right to noneconomic damages.

Article Excerpt
One day, a young associate was trying to determine the value of a case involving a client who had lost her arm in a horrific motor vehicle crash. The associate, unsure how to place a value on such a significant loss, consulted a senior partner in the firm. The associate explained the injury and asked the senior partner what she thought case was worth. The partner replied, "Did she play the violin?"

The moral of the story is that each case is unique and that damages are often highly influenced by intangible factors, better known as noneconomic damages.

Noneconomic damages compensate clients for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of companionship and consortium. Persuading a jury to award these damages is often difficult. When jurors cannot see an injury and have not personally experienced such a loss, they often don't believe that the client's pain or loss is severe enough to justify the damages you seek. How, then, can you prove noneconomic damages?

What's often said is true: Preparation for trial starts at the initial client meeting. When developing your noneconomic damages case, take the time to learn how the injury or loss has affected your client's life. Invite the client to your office, or meet in his or her home or other comfortable surroundings. Explore how the injury has changed the client's relationships with family members, the way the client does his or her job, and the client's ability to pursue hobbies and fulfill dreams for...

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