When Injuries Affect Your Ability to Earn a Living
Imagine that a certified public accountant suffers a brain injury that only affects one area of her brain: the area that controls the use and understanding of numbers. Analyzing the tax implications of complex financial transactions was once a normal part of her day. Now she cannot add a simple column of numbers or dial a phone number in the proper sequence.
Projecting the Costs of Negligence
In every other respect, she appears unchanged by the accident that caused her brain injury. Yet, continuing her career as an accountant is now out of the question. She has completely and permanently lost the ability to practice her profession. Projected over her lifetime, the financial loss caused by the brain injury could easily be hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. That is what we mean by loss of earning capacity.
The attorneys of Stolpman Law Group are skilled at explaining to juries how injuries caused by negligence result in loss of earning power. While juries can be suspicious of large claims for pain and suffering, they understand how injuries can rob people of their ability to go back to work and earn a living.
The Case of a Ship’s Engineer
One of our clients was a ship engineer who worked on an ocean-going tanker. He lost a small part of a finger on his dominant hand in an accident. Looking at him, you would never guess he had any impairment, but the injury caused nerve damage and permanent loss of sensation that prevented him from performing the specific tasks required by his job. The jury gave him nothing for future pain and suffering, $50,000 for past pain and suffering and $1.1 million for loss of future earnings.
Back Injuries and Loss of Earning Capacity
Now imagine a man with a high school education who has always made a decent living doing manual labor. He is injured in a construction accident and needs back surgery. While the surgery was successful, his back will never be the same. He will never be able to return to the work he’s always done, work he had planned to retire from one day.
At Stolpman Law Group, our lawyers believe those who are responsible for depriving someone of their ability to work and earn a living should be held accountable. You can depend on us to pursue full compensation for any loss of earning capacity resulting from an injury caused by negligence.
A brain injury, a back injury, a knee injury or any other injury may prevent you from returning to your specific type of work. If you find yourself in these circumstances, please contact the attorneys of Stolpman Law Group to arrange a free consultation about your case.
From offices in Long Beach, our lawyers represent clients in the Los Angeles area and throughout Southern California.
