Expenses

If you show that the product was defective, unreasonably dangerous, or that you weren’t warned about dangers known to the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, you will be entitled to recover the amount of expenses you were forced to pay as the result of the injuries that you suffered because of the product defect. These expenses will include any kinds of medical expenses you might have, from drug expenses to hospitalization and surgery or prosthesis. You can also recover expenses to pay for work you usually do yourself. For example, if your kids have to use taxis because you can’t drive them, or you need to hire a housekeeper while you’re recovering from your injury, these expenses would be legitimate damages in a product liability case.

People who’ve been permanently or seriously injured may have other kinds of expenses. For example, someone who suffers paralysis or loses a limb may need to have their home, office, or car fitted with devices like railings, lifts, ramps, and altered controls and pedals. These people may also need daily care. All of these expenses would be recoverable as damages.

Lost Wages

If you are successful in an Alabama defective product lawsuit, you can recover wages that you would have earned had you not been injured, but that you now won’t be able to earn. This could be missed wages for three months while you’re recovering or the wages someone was expected to earn during the rest of his or her life if the person is permanently disabled or killed by an unreasonably dangerous product.

If you are employed and have been employed at a similar salary for a few years, your lost wages will be fairly east to calculate. But you are also entitled to recover what is lost from self-employment and entrepreneurial activity if that’s the way you made your living. These amounts may be more difficult to prove—it’s hard to know how successful a small business would have been over a twenty-year period— so experts are often used to testify on these questions. You are entitled to recover the present value of lost wages, which means the amount of money that will bring you the amount of the wages you would have received over time if the damage award is invested conservatively.

Pain and Suffering

The last category of damages is pain and suffering. This includes both physical and emotional pain and suffering.

Physical pain is generally classified as severe, moderate, and slight or minimal. It is also divided into periodic or chronic pain. Any long-term pain can be expected to significantly increase a damage award. Emotional pain can include depression, grief, or deterioration of relationships as the result of injury of loss of a loved one.

These are the general rules, but the best person to tell you the amount of damages that can be expected in any case is an experienced Alabama product liability lawyer.

If you were injured by a product and believe the product was defective, contact an experienced Alabama product liability attorney right away. A qualified product liability lawyer can provide expert advice on your rights and the merits of your case, as well as how much time you have to file your product liability lawsuit.

If you would like to have your case evaluated by an experienced Alabama product liability attorney, fill out our case evaluation form at no cost or obligation.

Check out the following articles for more information about Alabama product liability, filing an Alabama product liability lawsuit and finding an Alabama product liability attorney.

• For more information about Alabama product liability claims, see Alabama Product Liability Claims
• To learn more about who is responsible in an Alabama product liability claim, see Alabama Defective Product Liability: Who is Responsible?
• For more information about Alabama product liability lawsuits, see Alabama Product Liability Lawsuits
• If you would like to learn more about Alabama product liability lawyers and attorneys, see Alabama Product Liability Attorneys and Lawyers