Many people have heard heard the word damages before. In the context of law, damages are what victims of Boston personal injury accidents suffer when they are injured due to someone’s negligence. But what types of damages are there?

The first kind are special damages, which are sometimes referred to as economic damages. These are damages or losses stemming from an accident such as medical bills, lost wages, or other concrete, measurable losses. For example, when someone has a car accident, their car accident lawyer will want to collect compensation for the client for all of these specific special damages that resulted.

The second type are general damages, which are commonly called non-economic damages. These are also referred to as pain and suffering. Unlike special damages, these are not easy to calculate. They are oftentimes open to interpretation.

For example, if you get injured in a Massachusetts motorcycle crash and suffer a broken leg, and you have surgery, how is your pain and suffering calculated? There is no real specific method for doing this. Rather your personal injury lawyer will analyze your case, and past cases, to determine what would be fair and full pain and suffering compensation for you.

The third and final type of damages are punitive damages. These types of damages are much less common than special damages and general damages. because they are only available in a very limited amount of cases. They are intended to punish a wrongdoer for especially egregious conduct. They are sometimes seen with products liability cases, which is when someone is injured by a product has been effectively designed or sold.