Closing Arguments: Is It Appropriate to NOT SUGGEST an Amount of Money in Your Malpractice Lawsuit?
NY Medical Malpractice Trial Attorney Gerry Oginski Explains
"SAY WHAT?" NOT SUGGEST AN AMOUNT OF MONEY? ARE YOU CRAZY?" said the injured patient. "How will they know how much money we're asking for? How will they know how much to give me?"
Those are valid questions.
Why?
Because at the end of you trial, most attorneys will ask the jury to give you a certain amount of money for each element of damages you're claiming in your case.
Money to compensate you for the pain and the suffering you endured from the time of the malpractice until the time of trial.
Money for your pain from the time of trial into the forseeable future.
Money for your lost earnings.
There are many other elements of damages you might be claiming in your case. Some attorneys will ask for very specific amounts for each element of damages. Others will give a range.
"I ask you to consider a range of $2 million to $4 million for the suffering she endured for the past two years..."
Still others might not offer a suggestion as to how much to give.
"I ask you to consider what her injuries are worth. I leave it to you to decide, collectively as a jury, whether to give her a very substantial amount of money for all the harms she suffered at the hands of this careless doctor..."
There may be specific reasons why an experienced trial attorney would NOT suggest a particular amount to the jury. You will find that if an attorney does not suggest a particular number, he will likely have shown the jury by analogy, stories of other people whose injuries are worth considerable amounts of money, in the millions of dollars.
Such as?
Sports figures.
Famous art pieces.
Expensive jewelry or cars.
Then use those stories to analogize the value of your injuries. If done correctly, it can get a jury to realize that your injuries are often as valuable if not more so than some static art piece or a material piece of jewelry.
To learn what happens if the defense admits liability but not damages, I invite you to click here:
If you have questions about your matter that happened here in New York and have not yet started a lawsuit and are thinking of brining a case, then I invite you to call me at 516-487-8207 or by email: Gerry@Oginski-Law.com
Law Office of Gerald Oginski
35 South Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
516-487-8207
Email: Gerry@Oginski-Law.com
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