pain and suffering

Related to pain and suffering: Pain and Suffering Damages

pain and suffering

A legal term for the physical and emotional trauma endured by the complainant in a case. Primarily heard in US. We are in court today because of the pain and suffering that Mr. Smith's reckless driving has caused my client.
See also: and, pain, suffering
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • suffering
  • manpain
  • have had more than (one's) fair share of (something)
  • don't get your panties in a bunch
  • bloody hell
  • have a meltdown
  • numb out
  • shell-shocked
  • have had enough of (someone or something)
  • numbed out
References in periodicals archive
After a jury trial, despite finding that WNF was negligent, and that negligence was the cause of the injury sustained, the jury awarded $0 for pain and suffering. The trial court denied the plaintiff's motion for a new trial on the issue of damages.
The Bush administration's initiative to reform medical malpractice laws should raise the larger question about the consequences of a legal system that bestows astonishing awards for pain and suffering. While the economic impact of these payments is obvious, the health consequences to those involved in litigation resulting from injury in an accident is an issue that policymakers should study carefully.
Not only was pain seen as negative, but the entire concept of the penitent imitatio christi lost its relevance as society looked to relieve rather than sacralize corporal pain and suffering. Professor Silverman thus suggests a close relationship between medical culture, law and secular politics as a basis for the Enlightenment, opening the door to a new field of study.
Experts hold MICRA as the standard of medical-liability tort reform, pointing to its $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages for mental suffering or pain and suffering as the linchpin of its effectiveness.
The number of English words associated with illness, pain and suffering is huge.
Fortunately for us, we have the eloquent testimony of Boethius, a sixth-century scholar who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy -- a work dealing largely with the purpose of pain and suffering -- while in prison awaiting a traitor's execution on dubious charges.
The guide notes the experience in the Netherlands, where doctors may assist in killing a terminally ill patient who is experiencing unbearable pain and suffering after a process of counselling and consultation that must involve at least one other physician.
The Schleier Court clarified that the availability of compensatory damages for intangible harms (e.g., pain and suffering, emotional distress, harm to reputation, or Other consequential damages) was a primary characteristic of such a broad range.
They could also demand that doctors take all available steps to reduce pain and suffering, which, amazingly enough, doctors often do not do.