Sexual Abuse Settlements: How Is Compensation Calculated?

When it comes to sexual abuse settlements, compensation is calculated by utilizing evidence in your case and considering landmark cases and expert witness insight when thoroughly calculating your losses.

Sexual abuse settlements are critically important in helping survivors recover compensation to pay for the care they need, such as mental health counseling, to improve their overall wellbeing.

Since physical and emotional trauma can linger for years after sexual abuse occurs, the costs you incur in receiving proper treatment can be significant. This is why it can be beneficial to bring in an Atlanta sexual assault lawyer experienced in calculating the full extent of damages in cases like these.

Losses a Sexual Abuse Survivor May Have

It’s not uncommon for sexual abuse survivors to sustain quantifiable economic damages, like medical costs or lost wages. However, non-economic losses you sustain, such as pain and suffering or emotional distress, can be significant.

Non-economic losses play a big role in determining sexual abuse settlement amounts. Assigning a value to damages can be difficult. A lawyer who regularly handles sexual abuse cases will know how to best calculate your losses.

When preparing to file a claim in advance of the Georgia statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases, you can expect your lawyer to ask about any potential losses you may have that fit into the categories above.

Understanding Approaches to Calculating Sexual Abuse Settlements

Lawyers utilize three primary methods to calculate how much to demand in a sexual abuse case, including:

• Relying on expert assessments: It’s common for attorneys to bring in psychologists and others who regularly work with sex abuse survivors. These professionals provide their expert opinions about future care costs and aid in calculating non-economic losses.
• Applying the multiplier method: This approach involves taking a victim’s economic damages and multiplying by a number between 1.5 and 5, depending on the extent of their pain and suffering, emotional distress, etc., to determine how much in non-economic losses to request.
• Analyzing benchmark cases: Sometimes referred to as a comparative analysis, this approach to calculating compensation in a sexual abuse case requires an attorney to evaluate cases with similar facts and impacts on survivors to determine what they settled for.

Do Sexual Abuse Survivors Settle for More Compensation Out of Court or at Trial?

Some sexual abuse settlements are often larger when cases go to trial. This can be due to a jury’s increased empathy for a plaintiff and the non-economic losses a defendant caused.

Also, although rare, a jury entering a verdict in a plaintiff’s favor may award them punitive damages. A jury often provides this additional compensation when attorneys show that a breach of duty established in a sexual abuse case was particularly reckless or intentional. 

Thus, a sex abuse survivor may be eligible for economic, non-economic, and punitive damages in their case.

Factors That Impact Sexual Abuse Settlements and How Compensation Is Calculated

The sexual abuse you’ve endured has adversely impacted many different facets of your life. How do you assign a monetary value to the emotional trauma you’ve had to deal with, and how do you show how much it has affected you?

When discussing factors impacting jury awards, the severity of what happened to you can dictate how much compensation you may be eligible to receive after sexual abuse.

Factors such as the following may increase how much of a sexual abuse settlement you qualify for:

• How long the abuse lasted
• Who abused you and your relationship with them
• The circumstances under which the abuse occurred
• How significantly your abuse has affected your ability to work
• Types and length of treatment you’ve needed to receive to cope with what happened
• The impact that abuse has had on your health and wellbeing
• If the abuse has made you increasingly socially withdrawn, affecting familial bonds and friendships

Notable Sexual Abuse Settlement Amounts

Plaintiffs who file civil lawsuits against their abusers often secure several-thousand-dollar settlements. However, there have been some more sizable awards made in cases involving mass sexual abuse victims in recent years. Some standout awards include:

• A $500 million verdict against Michigan State University for sex abuse by USA Gymnastics team physician Dr. Lawrence Nassar
• An $880 million judgment against The Los Angeles Archdiocese for being permissive of clergy sexual abuse
• An $852 million settlement entered against the University of Southern California for sexual abuse its doctor, Dr. George Tyndall, committed 

While perpetrators of abuse may only prey upon a single victim, we often find that there are many others who’ve had their trust violated by an abuser. Situations where there are multiple victims like these often create stronger cases and, in turn, yield higher settlement amounts. 

Let a Sexual Abuse Lawyer Advocate for You to Ensure You Receive Maximum Compensation

At John Foy & Associates, we understand how difficult it can be to come forward after being sexually abused. We know that you want to regain control over your life after someone eroded your trust in such a significant way. Oftentimes, survivors must get help to accomplish this.

Our attorneys want to help you calculate compensation in your sexual abuse case so you will better understand what type of settlement you may be entitled to. Get in contact with us to discuss how we can help you move forward toward healing, recovering compensation, and building a brighter future.