This episode explains how pain and suffering damages are valued in Ohio car accident cases, distinguishing non-economic damages from measurable costs like medical bills. Calder Mellino discusses how insurers estimate value using multipliers and past verdicts, as well as Ohio’s legal caps and exceptions for catastrophic injuries. The conversation also covers key factors that influence case value and how attorneys build compelling narratives using testimony and expert evidence.
John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher and I’m here today with Calder Mellino, a partner with the Mellino Law Firm, a personal injury law firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Today we’re talking about pain and suffering and what it’s worth in Ohio car accident claims. Welcome, Calder.
Calder Mellino: Thanks for having me.
What Is Pain and Suffering in a Lawsuit?
John: Sure. Calder, what are some of the non-economic damages like pain and suffering, and how are they calculated in Ohio car accident cases?
Calder: Sure, so the way I usually explain non-economic damages is, it’s anything that we can’t have a receipt for. Things we have a receipt for are the medical bills, the cost of repairing the car, the cost of getting the car towed. Those are all economic damages, something we have a receipt for, and non-economic damages are anything else.
The pain and suffering of the injuries caused by the accident, the effect it’s had on your daily life and your family’s life. Those are things that we have no receipt for and can’t put a number on, and those would be non-economic damages. At the end of the day, they’re valued by a jury of your peers who have similar life experiences, who hear what the pain is and everything you’ve gone through and are asked to put a value amount on that.
Prior to a jury going to it, it’s insurers trying to figure out that amount. What do they think a jury would do? Sometimes they have an internal multiplier that they’ll apply, like the bills times whatever. That’s how the big companies will do it, or they’ll look at, if it’s a case that’s going to get tried they’ll look at what other verdicts have been in the state, or in the area, for similar type of cases.
Are there any Limits on Damages in Ohio?
John: Does Ohio impose any caps or limits on those types of damages, and under what conditions?
Calder: Yeah, so Ohio is a tort reform state, and they do have a cap on non-economic damages. And, so, the most that can be recovered for any non-economic damages, with an exception that I’ll talk about, the most you can recover is $250,000 or three times the economic damages up to $350,000.
Now there is an important exemption, which is for catastrophic injury, so that’s loss of life or limb, that is a permanent and substantial deformity. That’s a loss of the ability to care for yourself independently. Any type of injury like that is not capped in Ohio, but anything else is going to be maxed out at those numbers that the legislature came up with over 20 years ago.
What Factors Influence the Settlement Multiplier?
John: Are there any other factors that influence that multiplier that you mentioned before or the valuation in a case?
Calder: Yes, so, the extent of the injury and the impact that it has on your life, those will increase the multiplier. If you’ve got a clear physical deformity that everyone can see, that’s going to drive up that multiplier for the insurance because they know that’s going to be a problem when the jury sees it in a courtroom.
If you’ve got something that’s affecting your ability to work or go about your day, clearly that’s something that’s going to be a compelling story for a jury, and again, drive up the value of a case. And, therefore, the insurer will calculate that into their multiplier.
John: Can you share an example of a case, or just a hypothetical, illustrating how pain and suffering were valued?
Calder: Sure. So, what’s interesting is that sometimes we won’t ask for any economic damages at all because they’re so much lower than the non-economic damages that all they do is serve as an anchor and pull the jury’s evaluation down, or they’re more likely to give the economics because it’s a receipt and something they can see and handle.
And so when contrasted between a $5000, $10,000 medical bill, which certainly might be a lot, it’s something you have to pay if insurance isn’t covering it, versus the value of this pain and suffering for, say, a permanent injury that’s going to be upwards of six figures as it affects every day of your life for the rest of your life, it affects your family, it affects your hobbies and what you like to do.
That’s going to be far more valuable than $5,000 and $10,000 medical bills. So there’s no point in even mentioning those, and we don’t. We would just focus on the noneconomic damages and the impact they’ve had on our clients’ lives.
How to Argue for Higher Non-Economic Damages
John: What are some of the ways that you argue for higher non-economic damages to insurers and to juries? How do you go about showing that narrative?
Calder: Yeah, and I mean that’s where it’s important. The lawyers go above and beyond just the evidence and the medical records, but working with great experts who can explain that to the jury and explain what these injuries look like every day for the client, to not just have the client themselves get up on the stand and explain to the jury how this affects their lives, but to have friends and family members really drive that home and explain how it’s changed their life forever. Those are the types of testimony and evidence that really drive home how serious these injuries are and what’s the proper amount to compensate them for.
John: Alright, well that’s really great information, Calder. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Calder: Thanks so much for having me.
John: And for more information, you can visit the Mellino Law Firm website at mellinolaw.com or call 440-333-3800.