The multiplier method: scaling off your damages
The multiplier method is the industry's default approach. It takes your economic damages — medical bills and lost wages — and multiplies that total by a factor generally between 1.5 and 5, chosen based on injury severity, recovery time, and whether any permanent impairment is involved. A minor soft-tissue injury might land at the low end; a serious injury with lasting impact lands much higher.
The per diem method: valuing each day
The per diem (Latin for "per day") method works differently. It assigns a specific dollar value to a single day of pain and suffering — sometimes tied to a measurable figure like the person's daily wage — and multiplies that rate by the total number of days of documented recovery. This method ties the value directly to time rather than to the size of your medical bills.
Why the multiplier method tends to dominate
In practice, the multiplier method is used far more often, including by insurance adjusters evaluating Alabama claims, because it scales naturally with the severity already documented in the medical record, without requiring a separate argument about what a single day of suffering is objectively worth. The per diem method can still carry real weight in a case with a long, clearly bounded recovery period, where counting days produces a compelling, easy-to-follow number for a jury.
Neither is required by Alabama law
It's worth being clear about what these methods actually are: negotiating tools, not a formula Alabama courts are required to apply. A jury ultimately has broad discretion to award whatever amount it finds appropriate for pain and suffering, within the bounds of the evidence presented.
Using both together
Because neither method is binding, it's common for an attorney to calculate a value both ways and present whichever framing better supports the claim — or to use the comparison itself as a negotiating point when the two methods produce meaningfully different numbers.