One of the most difficult questions we are asked during an initial consultation is “What is my auto accident case worth?”. You may wonder why we find that question difficult. After all, we are personal injury attorneys and we have handled thousands of cases.
Let me explain by going through the analyses that we must go through to determine what your case is worth.
Ultimately, the value of your case is the amount that a jury will give you after a trial. There are numerous factors that go into predicting what a jury verdict will be in your case. Some factors are:
- your physical injury
- the extent of your pain and suffering
- your credibility
- the amount of your medical expenses
- the amount of your lost income
- the demographics of the jury pool
Obviously, most people want to settle their cases rather than going to trial. The settlement value may be the same as the expected jury verdict, occasionally higher but frequently lower. That is because the settlement value of a case is the highest amount an insurance company is willing to pay to settle the case prior to a verdict being entered.
To determine that settlement value, one of the things we must consider is, what insurance company is involved. Some insurance companies make reasonable offers while some insurance companies routinely make low ball offers. Some insurance companies make low ball offers prior to filing a lawsuit and then raise the offer just prior to trial.
Another important factor that comes into play is what type of injury do you have. Most insurance companies evaluate cases based upon the type of injury. Every injury has a settlement range. The amount of medical expenses, lost income, disability, disfigurement and other elements of damages will determine whether the settlement you are offered is at the high end or the low end of the range for that injury type.
I hope you can now see why it is difficult to give a settlement value during an initial consultation. We rarely have enough information at that time to make an accurate estimate as to what your personal injury case is worth.
That being said, our vast experience handling personal injury cases tells us that the best way to get the highest settlement possible is to convince the insurance company and defendant that we are prepared to take your case to trial. We handle each case as though we are going to trial. We have found that insurance companies offer higher settlements when they know that you are prepared to take your case all the way.
That is why studies have consistently shown that personal injury victims get more money in their own pocket when they hire a lawyer. Those studies show that the offers of settlement are so much higher that personal injury victims get more money even after paying an attorney a contingency fee.
If you’d like to see what your personal injury case is worth, give us a call drop us an email or chat with us online.