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.
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 and multiplies that rate by the total number of days of documented recovery, tying the value directly to time rather than to the size of your medical bills.
Why neither ever hits a Kentucky ceiling
In most states, one of these methods eventually runs into a statutory cap, at least in medical malpractice cases. Kentucky is different: Section 54 of the Kentucky Constitution bars the legislature from capping damages of any kind — economic, non-economic, or punitive — in any type of personal injury case. Whichever method produces a larger number, there's no statutory ceiling waiting to cut it down.
A constitutional protection, not a court decision that could flip
This is a meaningfully different situation from a state whose cap was simply struck down by a single court ruling, which could in theory be revisited by a later court or legislated around with a new statute. Kentucky's protection is written directly into the state constitution, and multiple legislative attempts to amend Section 54 and open the door to caps have all died in committee without ever reaching voters.
So which method should you actually use?
Without a ceiling to worry about, the choice between methods comes down to which one tells a more persuasive story for your specific case. A case with large medical bills and an obviously severe injury often favors the multiplier method; a case with a long, clearly documented recovery period, even with modest bills, can sometimes be more compellingly told with the per diem method instead.
Neither is required by Kentucky law
Both methods remain negotiating tools, not a formula Kentucky courts are required to apply. A jury retains full discretion to award whatever amount it finds appropriate for pain and suffering.