How are lost wages calculated in a personal-injury lawsuit?

In a personal-injury lawsuit, the objective of damages is to place the injured party in the position they would have occupied had the injury not occurred, insofar as a monetary award can achieve this.1

When calculating lost wages, the law considers the loss of time resulting from the injury. This is typically measured by the actual wages lost during the period of recovery. Because common-law systems generally provide for a single award for a single wrongful act, the calculation must also account for future losses. This includes the loss of future earning capacity, which is estimated based on the reasonable certainty of the injury's long-term impact on the individual's ability to work.1

While these future projections are inherently speculative, they are a necessary component of the total compensatory award in tort law, which seeks to cover all losses that are a natural and proximate result of the wrongful act.1