How Do You Put A Price on Scars and Disfigurement? | Indiana Lawyer Discusses
- 6 months ago
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Disfigurement and scarring is one element of damages that we deal with frequently, but are all scars created equal? I would submit to you, "no." Juries will value different types of scarring based on many different factors. Is it reasonable to treat discoloration and raised keloid scars differently? I would submit, "Yes. These types of scars will be treated differently by a jury." Discoloration is something that can be addressed for the most part with cosmetics. But a keloid scar that is raised cannot easily be addressed with cosmetics. A prominent scar on an area of the body that is visible will be treated differently from the same prominent scar on an area of the body that is not visible. Compare a same scar on a face with a scar on the buttocks. Scars for children may look really bad when the child is young, but oftentimes become nearly invisible as the child grows into adulthood and that is because the skin stretches and dissipates the scar. Surgical scars can be just as compensable as scar caused from a direct injury. And the same scar may be compensable at different rates on different individuals. For example, a facial scar on a highly paid fashion model may be valued differently from the same facial scar on a weathered soldier who comes back from active duty. There's also a component of scarring that jurors often consider and that is the psychological component. Some type of scars will bother a person psychologically at a higher rate than other types of scars. There's really no hard and fast rule, and all we can do is present the evidence and help the people on the jury come to a fair and reasonable assessment of scarring.
To learn more about the Law Offices Of David W Holub visit https://davidholublaw.com today.
To read David Holub's book "Fighting For Truth: A Trial Lawyer's Insight Into What It Takes To Win" visit https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1732468206/
Disfigurement and scarring is one element of damages that we deal with frequently, but are all scars created equal? I would submit to you, "no." Juries will value different types of scarring based on many different factors. Is it reasonable to treat discoloration and raised keloid scars differently? I would submit, "Yes. These types of scars will be treated differently by a jury." Discoloration is something that can be addressed for the most part with cosmetics. But a keloid scar that is raised cannot easily be addressed with cosmetics. A prominent scar on an area of the body that is visible will be treated differently from the same prominent scar on an area of the body that is not visible. Compare a same scar on a face with a scar on the buttocks. Scars for children may look really bad when the child is young, but oftentimes become nearly invisible as the child grows into adulthood and that is because the skin stretches and dissipates the scar. Surgical scars can be just as compensable as scar caused from a direct injury. And the same scar may be compensable at different rates on different individuals. For example, a facial scar on a highly paid fashion model may be valued differently from the same facial scar on a weathered soldier who comes back from active duty. There's also a component of scarring that jurors often consider and that is the psychological component. Some type of scars will bother a person psychologically at a higher rate than other types of scars. There's really no hard and fast rule, and all we can do is present the evidence and help the people on the jury come to a fair and reasonable assessment of scarring.
To learn more about the Law Offices Of David W Holub visit https://davidholublaw.com today.
To read David Holub's book "Fighting For Truth: A Trial Lawyer's Insight Into What It Takes To Win" visit https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1732468206/