REVIEW-What Determines the Value of Your Personal Injury Case?
The golden question, right? This dictates:
Whether you will be able to pay your out-of-pocket expenses.
If your pain and suffering will be fairly compensated.
The same factors that determine the speed of a personal injury lawsuit also guide us in evaluating the value of your claim. Here are the most critical ones:
1. Liability Plays a Role
Do you have any fault or comparative fault?
If so, your recovery can be reduced by your share of the fault.
2. Available Insurance Policy
Does the value of your damages exceed the insurance policy?
In such cases, you are often limited to recovering the policy’s maximum amount.
Is there a larger policy available?
With larger policies, you may recover significantly more for the same injury and damages.
3. Economic Damages
What are your quantifiable financial losses?
Medical bills (including what insurance didn’t cover).
Out-of-pocket costs.
Lost wages—both past and future.
4. Pain and Suffering
How have your injuries affected your life?
What has been taken from you as a result of the accident?
What activities can’t you do the same anymore?
This includes loss of enjoyment of life.
This is not a mathematical formula, and it’s something I always ensure juries are comfortable analyzing to place a fair value on.
5. Appellate Court Guidelines
Our justice system is based on precedent.
Appellate Courts set guidelines for what is “sustainable” for a given injury, particularly for pain and suffering.
This typically comes into play after a trial verdict rather than a settlement:
At trial, an objective jury—not an insurance adjuster—reviews the facts and works to make the plaintiff whole again.
Fair juries aim to properly compensate the injured party, unlike insurance companies.
Now you have some background on the factors that determine the value of your case. Having a knowledgeable and proactive attorney to guide you through these complexities can make all the difference.
