Per diem damages

What are per diem damages?

Per diem damages is an argumentative technique for valuing pain and suffering by assigning a specific dollar amount to each day of an injured person's life affected by the injury, then multiplying that figure across the relevant total period.

It represents an alternative approach to the multiplier method, breaking the valuation down into smaller, more intuitive daily increments rather than applying a single overall multiplier to documented economic damages.

Like the multiplier method itself, this is fundamentally a negotiating and argumentative tool rather than any legally required formula a court itself imposes on the case.

Its genuine persuasive power lies in making an otherwise abstract, difficult to grasp total figure feel more concrete and intuitively understandable to a jury.

How does this specific approach actually work?

The technique breaks an overall pain and suffering valuation down into a more digestible daily rate applied across time.

• A specific daily dollar value is proposed for the pain and suffering experienced
• That daily figure is multiplied by the total number of affected days
• The total number of days may extend across an expected remaining lifetime for permanent injuries
• The resulting total figure is then presented as the suggested pain and suffering value
• The specific daily figure chosen is itself subject to argument and challenge

Why can this technique be genuinely persuasive to a jury?

Because expressing pain and suffering in daily terms, comparable to a modest daily expense or wage, can feel considerably more intuitive and concrete than trying to grasp an abstract lump sum figure in the millions.

Jurors may find it genuinely easier to evaluate whether a specific proposed daily figure seems reasonable, compared to directly evaluating an enormous total sum without any comparable reference point.

This is precisely why the technique remains a recurring feature of closing arguments in cases involving significant claimed pain and suffering.

What are the specific limitations of this approach?

New Jersey courts have placed some limits on how this technique may actually be presented to a jury, and the specific permissible boundaries should be confirmed with your attorney for your particular case.

The technique itself does not establish any actual value. It is simply one persuasive framework for presenting a value that must ultimately still be independently justified through the evidence itself.

Opposing counsel will generally challenge the specific proposed daily figure directly, arguing it is arbitrary or unsupported by anything genuinely in the actual evidence presented.

Common questions

Is per diem damages a legally required method for calculating pain and suffering?

No. It is one persuasive presentation technique among others, including the multiplier method, rather than any formula a court itself actually requires or imposes.

Can any attorney simply choose any daily figure they want to argue?

Specific limits apply to how this technique may permissibly be presented in New Jersey courts, and the applicable boundaries should be discussed directly with your attorney.

Does using this specific technique guarantee a jury will actually accept the proposed figure?

No. It is simply one argumentative framework for presenting a value, and the jury remains free to reach its own independent conclusion regardless of how the argument was actually framed.