Can you sue someone for emotional distress? You can sue someone for emotional distress when their negligent or intentional actions caused emotional and mental suffering that affects your quality of life.
When you hire Postman Law to represent you, the Chicago personal injury lawyer handling your case can help you document and calculate these losses so you can recover compensation to offset your anguish.
Postman Law Explains What Emotional Distress Is in Your Case
Accidents caused by negligent parties can be traumatic and cause significant suffering. This can also lead to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, as well as anxiety and depression. These challenges can affect your daily life by decreasing its quality and preventing you from enjoying relationships and activities.
While emotional distress is not as tangible as your financial expenses after an accident, it is still a very real loss that can affect every area of your life. As such, you can sue for emotional distress when you have been the victim of wrongful actions. A lawsuit allows you to account for and recover these losses from the party responsible for inflicting hardship on you.
You can talk to our team to learn how long it takes to get a settlement check and how we can include the value of your emotional distress in it. This type of suffering can result from a variety of situations, and we optimize your case for a satisfactory outcome regardless of the legal parameters that apply to your specific type of case.
For a free legal consultation, call 844-767-8626
Types of Emotional Distress in Illinois That Give You Grounds for a Lawsuit
To sue for emotional distress, you must identify the intent behind the actions and the excessive nature of the actions that activated your emotional distress. These situations generally cause more than a fleeting response. Emotional distress often produces ongoing and lasting effects. Emotional distress lawsuits usually fall into one of two categories:
- Negligent infliction of emotional distress: In this category, emotional distress is generally the byproduct of an accident caused by negligent behavior. As a result of the harm and trauma you sustained, you developed emotional and psychological symptoms. Many personal injury cases allow you to include emotional distress among the damages you seek.
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress: According to 740 ILCS 21/10, intentional emotional distress is considered “significant mental suffering, anxiety, or alarm.” This can include disturbing, threatening, watching, or contacting an individual. This behavior is often unwanted, can be malicious, and can be grounds for an emotional distress lawsuit.
The type of event that triggered your emotional distress can impact how you pursue your case and the legal requirements that apply to it.
Talk to Postman Law about the circumstances that caused your emotional distress so we can provide counsel on what steps you are allowed to take next, how to pursue compensation for emotional distress, and how to strengthen your claim so you can get positive results.
Evidence You Need to Demonstrate Emotional Distress During a Lawsuit
When suing for emotional distress, you must demonstrate the long-term effects of the other party’s actions on your life. This requires solid evidence to back up your claim. Medical records from doctors and mental health professionals can tangibly show the symptoms you have developed, their impact on your daily life, their ongoing nature, and your emotional and mental health prior to the trauma.
A journal can be another form of evidence you can use. After suffering harm, you should chronicle your daily experience and symptoms in writing so there’s a record of what you’re experiencing. Note symptoms, dates, and other relevant changes to your daily life. Statements from family, friends, and experts can also indicate changes in your emotional, mental, behavioral, and social health.
These and other forms of evidence are critical for showing an intangible loss as concretely as possible. As Postman Law works to secure compensation for the emotional distress you’ve suffered, we present this information in your case as evidence of the very real harm that you experienced. Our team advocates for your ability to recover as we work to negotiate a fair monetary value for these losses.
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How a Settlement for Emotional Distress is Calculated
The goal of suing for emotional distress is to recover damages to make up for the effects on your life. This compensation can also help you pay for therapy or retain services or resources that can ease your suffering. However, emotional distress doesn’t have a fixed value, so formulas are often used to calculate and assign a monetary amount to your suffering.
The multiplier method is one such formula. This calculation involves determining the severity of your distress and assigning it a rating from 1.5 to 5. This number is then multiplied by the value of your economic damages. If the per diem method is used, your distress receives a daily monetary allocation instead. This is multiplied by the estimated term of your condition.
Regardless of which method is used in your case, Postman Law takes care to ensure accurate calculations. We reinforce the value of your distress with evidence so we can maximize the recovery you are entitled to in your case. Illinois does not place limitations on how much you can recover, which means you may be able to recover the full value of your emotional distress.
Talk to Our Team About How to Sue for the Emotional Distress That You’ve Endured
The team at Postman Law is dedicated to helping you recover compensation for your emotional distress. Whether it resulted from negligent or intentional actions, our team fights for you and is committed to upholding your rights throughout your case. We know how much a settlement can help you find supportive resources to help you process the trauma and heal from what you’ve experienced.
Schedule a free evaluation today to meet the team at Postman Law and learn more about how to sue someone for emotional distress and your other losses.