How Does a Jury Evaluate Scarring

I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

One component of damage that we frequently encounter in injury cases is physical scarring.

Scarring, or disfigurement, is always compensable as an element of damage in civil injury cases.

Disfigurement of any type is unfortunate and certainly presents an element of damages to be considered by a jury charged with evaluating the harms and losses suffered through someone else’s negligence.

But, are all scars created equal? The answer is obviously no.

It would be reasonable to treat discoloration differently from a raised keloid-type scar. Discoloration scars can often be minimized with cosmetics. Keloid-type scars usually cannot be cosmetically addressed.

Additionally, scarring in an area of the body not normally visible in public will justify less compensation compared to a prominently visible scar on a public area of the body.

For example, a scar on the face will be treated differently than a scar on a buttocks. Especially if the buttock’s scar would typically be covered by the smallest of bathing suits.

Scars in children, often look particularly bad when the child is small. But as the child grows, the scar may become nearly invisible.

All we can do as attorneys is present evidence to a jury.

We can show the jury a scar. We can ask the jury to place a value on a person’s disfigurement. We can ask them to consider the impact of a scar on a particular individual as compared to the same scar on another individual.

For example, the very same scar visible on the face of a highly paid fashion model, that could be career-ending, might be considered a minor issue on the face of a 50-year-old soldier.

In addition, there is also the consideration of whether a particular scar might be further reduced in visibility by a skilled plastic surgeon.

Injuries that produce surgical scars are considered more severe than injuries that do not produce the same level of disfigurement.

There are also is a psychological component to disfigurement. Some scars might be more traumatizing to some people than to others.

In short, there is no hard and fast rule as to how a jury might value the harm posed by a scar.

Nevertheless, it is the attorney’s job to make sure that the jury has all the necessary information to arrive at a fair and reasonable assessment of an injury that results in scarring.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”