If you have been injured in a car or truck accident, you will have a lot of questions especially these:
- Will I have to go to court?
- How much money can I receive?
- How long will it take?
This post answers the first question and the other two are addressed in these posts:
How much money is my car accident case worth?
The litigation process
Will my case settle out of court or go to a trial?
There are two ways that someone can collect his or her damages: an insurance company can pay them an agreed amount of money or a jury can award them monetary damages.
Statistics show that about 99% of all injury cases settle outside of the courtroom, usually before a lawsuit is filed.
So the chances of your case settling are excellent. But that answer as well as the amount of money you might receive and the length of time the process may take depend on many factors including the following:
Key information that is needed
- Your case’s strengths and weaknesses;
- Your liability facts and vehicle damage;
- Your chance of winning a trial totally or partially, as negligence is attributed between all drivers and companies involved;
- Your injuries – are they permanent or temporary, hard tissue or soft tissue, did you have surgery, etc.
- Your medical expenses – how many are outstanding, were paid, and were written off;
- Your lost wages, lost job benefits, and lost capacity to earn a living;
- Your disability, disfigurement, loss of consortium, and other damages;
- Your financial condition – your need for a quick recovery of money or your ability to wait for a trial;
- Your desire to go through the usually frustrating and slow court process;
- Your injury lawyer – his experience, ability, and reputation;
- Your negotiating ability (if you are trying to represent yourself) and knowledge of legal, insurance, and medical issues;
- Your goals; and
- The other driver’s/company’s insurance company insurance policy limits and his/its assets
We at Berenson Injury Law evaluate these and other variables when we first meet with our new clients. We ask if our clients would prefer us to try to get the maximum amount of money from the insurance company or sue. After practicing personal injury law for almost 40 years, Mr. Berenson has never had a client who wanted to go to court if he could avoid it.
Later, we analyze these variables and recommend that our clients take their case to court or accept a settlement offer. We then try to reduce outstanding medical bills and perform other services to make our clients more money.
If you are undecided between entering into settlement negotiations, accepting a settlement offer, and going to a jury trial, we are happy to analyze your car or truck accident in a free no-obligation meeting or phone call. Continue reading