In a personal injury case, the damages that you recover through a settlement agreement or a jury verdict are designed to compensate you for your injuries and make you whole. There are three main categories of damages in injury cases: economic damages, noneconomic damages, and punitive damages.
The first two categories of damages are designed to compensate you for losses related to the accident and the injuries you have suffered. Economic damages typically include things like past and future medical bills and past and future lost wages. Noneconomic damages typically include things like pain and suffering and loss of consortium. The last category of damages is punitive damages. Unlike economic or noneconomic damages, punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for past bad behavior and deter any similar future actions.