Injury Settlements
How much is your leg worth?
Such a question might be tricky, right? Nevertheless, personal injury attorneys grapple with
such questions day in and day out.
There is no scientific formula to calculate the personal injury settlements. Understanding
personal injury compensation requires one to look in and around the lives of the victims,
including the reasons leading to the injury itself. Probably one of the biggest personal injury
attorneys' tasks is managing the client's expectations of what is due to them.
The ability to project the value to of the personal injury settlement should not be underrated. It
takes experience, hard work, and a little bit of luck sometimes. However, a great lawyer will be
able to build a case worth its salt.
But what really determines how much one gets paid?
Severity of Injury
This probably goes without saying. Accidents that lead to severe injuries will attract larger
settlements. Hard injuries such as broken spine and bones will attract a large settlement than,
say, sprains or bruising.
Permanent injuries similarly attract larger rewards, considering the victim's life is completely
altered. Such injuries include brain trauma, diminished mobility, or permanent loss or damage
of a particular body part.
Disruptions
Some accidents will dramatically disrupt how the client lives. Such cases do attract large
personal injury settlements. For instance, some accidents will limit the individual's ability to
walk or stand, or unable to play sports, travel for long distances, or even work certain jobs.
With everything else remaining constant, victims whose lives do not rapidly change after the
injury will receive a lesser compensation than those whose lives do.
Treatment and Recovery
When the post-injury treatments involve specialist doctors and hospitals, the settlement will be
larger than the ones involving physician assistants. Reconstructive surgeries also command high
settlements because of their costs and high dependence rates.
Similarly, how long the victim takes to heal also matters in determining the settlement. Longer
recoveries, entailing a lot of follow-up appointments and substantial prescriptions, would mean
that the recovery period is also long. As such, the recovery process becomes expensive both in
terms of the money spent on medication and opportunity cost. It will require large settlements
to compensate for these costs.
Certainty of Liability
All the factors we have highlighted above relate to alleged injuries. However, the preliminary
concern will be if the defendant is even liable to all the injuries. The settlement value will
depend on the role the victim played in the occurrence of the injury, if any. If the victim was
also at fault, the compensation will significantly reduce.
Every good personal injury attorney Michigan will put in the work to argue through the liability
question arising in the case; it is their value preposition.
Attorneys will have to take time and interview all credible witnesses to compile very strong
evidence. Strong cases are formed from strong evidence, and the attorney can simply dictate
the settlement value by how much liability they can transfer to the defendant.
Mental and Emotional Trauma
Sometimes, the effect of an accident goes beyond the physical injuries. Depression and anxiety
can equally debilitate. Although proving the extent of the emotional damage for settlement
purposes could be quite difficult, a professional input by a reputable mental health expert can
paint a picture of the injury extent.
Newsworthiness
Just as the old saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Any reputable company or
person on the receiving side of negative publicity can claim more damages. Bad press could
cause much damage, and a defendant would be willing to pay a significant settlement to save
their name from it.
Cost of Litigation
A case administration cost can rise significantly. Deposing witnesses, hiring experts for technical
issues, and even clerical workâall these costs could fall on the defendant. In a bid to avoid all
that expense, the defendant would be willing to give a higher settlement.
On the other hand, a lack of resources to handle a complex case could leave them with no
choice but to accept a lesser settlement.
Conclusion
Having a good personal injury lawyer can help you go for large settlements. However, one
should be careful of any unexpected costs that would make the case unbearable. Always
consult an attorney before taking up a personal injury case.
