Attorneys at Law

Disclaimer: The information contained in this FAQ is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to be a legal opinion, legal advice or a complete discussion of the issues related to the area of valuation of personal injury claims. Every individual's factual situation is different and you should seek independent legal advice from an attorney familiar with the laws of your state or locality regarding specific information.

We are often asked the basic question that is on everyone's mind when it comes time to discuss settling a personal injury case—“How Much Is It Worth?” Unfortunately, it is not an easy question to answer. While a contract case is often easy to evaluate for damages—the dollar figures are right there in the document—it is much harder to put a dollar figure on, say, the loss of use of one's legs.

To help explain how we reach the recommendations we make in evaluating a personal injury case, we offer, as a small portion of the factors we consider, the following:

1. All of the factual details surrounding how, when, where and why the injury occurred, to determine if there is any liability for the injury at all and, if so, to assess what defenses may be available and to estimate the degree of fault which may be assessed against the injured person, as well as the prospective defendant(s);
2. Whether it is a tort claim, a worker's compensation claim, or both;
3. The details of the injured person's medical history, both before and after the injury;
4. All medical expenses, including hospital, physician, drugs, therapy bills and other expenses incurred or expended to date for diagnosis and treatment, and all such expenses which may be incurred in the future;
5. All past and predicted future loss of income arising from the injury;
6. All other past and projected monetary losses and expenditures arising from the injury;
7. How the injury has affected the injured person's ability to perform the various activities he or she engaged in before the injury, including work, sports, social, household and recreational;
8. Whether the prospective defendant has insurance and, if so, how much; or if there is no insurance, information concerning the ability of the prospective defendant to pay;
9. The injured person's work history, marital status, educational history, and appearance, credibility and demeanor as a witness;
10. The capacity and willingness of the injured person to train for and perform other work, the cost of any such retraining and the income which might be earned after retraining;
11. The prospective defendant's appearance, credibility and demeanor as a witness;
12. The availability and credibility of both expert and non-expert witnesses on all liability and damage issues;
13. The law which would be applied to the case in the state(s) where it would or could be filed;
14. Whether the case could be filed in or removed to a federal court and, if so, which one(s);
15. A history of jury verdicts which have been rendered in similar cases in the court(s) where the case would be filed and a "feel" for how a jury in that jurisdiction would be likely to react to the case;
16. The anticipated expense of prosecuting the case through trial and possible appeal.

Depending on the particular case, there will be a number of other factors to consider before a proper settlement evaluation can be made. These include the existence of medical and other liens against the claim, the willingness or unwillingness of the injured person and the prospective defendant(s) to engage in what could become a lengthy legal battle, the relative skills of the attorneys, judicial attitudes, etc., etc.

Copyright (c) 1996 F. Allen Speck

A bodily injury claim cannot be properly evaluated by anyone other than a skilled and experienced attorney with knowledge of all relevant information, It is important during this process to have legal advice you can trust. Call us at (301) 924-4400 or e-mail us to set up a free initial consultation.