{"id":372827,"date":"2016-10-18T13:27:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T18:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/georgia-law\/pain-and-suffering-damages-in-georgia.html"},"modified":"2018-12-06T16:56:56","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T21:56:56","slug":"pain-and-suffering-damages-in-georgia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/georgia-law\/pain-and-suffering-damages-in-georgia.html","title":{"rendered":"Pain and Suffering Damages in Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pain and Suffering Damages in Georgia<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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With places like Savannah and Tallulah Falls, Georgia is home to some beautiful scenery. While you hope to avoid injuries no matter where you are, they can happen anywhere from the shores of Cumberland Island to the mountains of Georgia’s High Country. If you’ve been injured here, you should understand that Georgia treats "pain and suffering" as a legal term for the physical and emotional distress caused by an injury. Read on to learn how courts treat pain and suffering damages in Georgia.<\/p>\r\n

Below is a table outlining Georgia’s laws regarding pain and suffering damages, including damage caps and the statute of limitations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Statute of Limitations<\/b><\/td>\r\n
Limits on Damages<\/b><\/td>\r\nNo cap on non-economic damages (such caps deemed unconstitutional by Georgia Supreme Court)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>
Other Limits<\/b><\/td>\r\nComparative negligence rule may prevent or limit recovery of damages (Sec. 51-12-33(a)&(g)<\/a>)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\n

Types of Damages: Economic vs. Non-economic<\/h2>\r\n

There are usually two types of damages<\/a> to consider in a personal injury lawsuit: economic (or "special") and non-economic (or "general"). Economic damages refer to the objective, monetary costs of an injury, such as medical expenses and lost wages, while non-economic damages are the more abstract, subjective costs of an injury. Pain and suffering are non-economic damages and may include compensation for things like depression, insomnia, and the loss of enjoyment of life.<\/p>\r\n

The Difficulty of Measuring Pain and Suffering<\/h2>\r\n

Damages for pain and suffering are difficult to measure<\/a> because the experience of pain and suffering is so subjective and there is no easy standard of measurement. Juries are often told to use their best judgment in deciding how much to award a plaintiff, so an award could depend heavily on the make-up of the jury. Attorneys may argue for damages that reasonably conform to the evidence, and some use a number of factors to assign value to these types of damages.<\/p>\r\n

Some examples of factors considered in measuring pain and suffering are:<\/p>\r\n