Our Pennsylvania wrongful death lawyers know that the role of non-economic damages in wrongful death cases is to provide you with financial support for your intangible losses. The money you receive is not meant to replace your loved one. However, non-economic damages do make it easier to cover expenses that exceed the funeral expenses, medical bills, and restoration fees you already have to pay.
The attorneys at Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford, P.C. bring over 65 years of experience to your pursuit of non-economic damages. We can work together to get the justice you deserve following the tragic loss of a loved one.
How Do Lawyers Define Non-Economic Damages?
The phrase “non-economic damages” describes a type of compensation a person can receive after a personal injury accident. In wrongful death cases, this compensation addresses losses that don’t generate bills or invoices but still have a concrete impact on a person’s life, sometimes directly impacting their ability to work or take care of themselves.
Some of the most common non-economic damages to appear in Pennsylvania’s wrongful death lawsuits include the following:
- Reduced quality of life, or compensation for stark changes in a person’s ability to take care of themselves, meet their daily needs, enjoy old hobbies, or pursue advancements in their career
- Emotional distress, or undue changes to a person’s emotional state as a result of someone else’s negligence
- Pain and suffering, or undue stress, grief, and physical strain resulting from someone else’s negligence
- Grief, allowing the filer to address the emotional strain someone’s death had on their life
Parties interested in recovering from non-economic losses can ask a trusted wrongful death lawyer to help them calculate the value of the losses they want to include in their suit.
How Can Non-Economic Damages Help You Financially Recover From a Loved One’s Wrongful Death?
Even though non-economic losses don’t generate traditional expenses, they can still have a financial impact on your life. For example, unaddressed pain and suffering can make it difficult for you to return to work, subsequently cutting into your regular paycheck. Likewise, your reduced quality of life may require you to invest in more home aids, thereby costing you money.
Asking for compensation for these losses allows you to account for all of the little quality-of-life expenses that might otherwise creep up on you over time.
These damages cannot, and are never meant to, replace a loved one. There is no amount of money that can do that. However, the funds can offer your family some solace as you strive to recover together – a process made significantly easier when you have less financial stress plaguing you.
How Can You Ask For Non-Economic Damages When Filing a Wrongful Death Claim?
When you file a wrongful death claim, you have the right to ask the party responsible for your recent accident to meet you in court, where you can undergo the trial process. The trial process allows you to argue for non-economic damages in front of a judge and, under certain circumstances, a jury. The trial process involves the following steps:
- Discovery
- Opening statements
- Examination
- Cross-examination
- Closing statements
- Deliberation
- Verdict
That said, there are other ways to use a wrongful death claim to ask for non-economic damages. If a liable party acknowledges that their negligence led to your recent accident, you can ask them to meet with you for private settlement negotiations.
Talented personal injury lawyers can oversee settlement negotiations and ensure you emphasize your right to compensation based on your non-economic losses. We can specifically prevent a liable party from minimizing your losses or undervaluing the impact their negligence had on your life.
You Can Book a Free Wrongful Death Case Consultation Today
You have the right to hold negligent parties financially accountable for the physical and emotional losses you sustain as a result of a loved one’s untimely death. You can work with our wrongful death lawyers to assign dollar values to non-economic losses like loss of consortium, loss of companionship, pain and suffering, and grief during a free case consultation.
If you are ready to fight for justice on a loved one’s behalf, do not wait a minute longer. You can book your wrongful death case assessment with our team in Pennsylvania courtesy of our contact form. You can also call (215) 822-7575 to book your first appointment.
Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford P.C.
Pennsylvania Attorney's
March 26, 2025
