Every injury settlement is unique. In each case, we gather as much information as possible from our clients but no two cases are alike so there isn’t any kind of average amount for a settlement. Some people may only miss a few days of work while others may never be able to work again. Some injuries though serious, will heal, though it may take one to two years to become pain-free or scar-free. But for many their scars will be visible for life just as the pain may exist the rest of their life.
How the Uniqueness of a Case Affects Settlement
Cases are evaluated differently based on the type of injury. Obviously, the more serious the injury – such as paralysis and burns – due to the horrific and devastating injury. And many times the entire family is affected by the injury and it changes their lives as well. These cases can lead to a high settlement value.
Any cases where a limb is amputated or multiple limbs are amputated – those are at the high end of the personal injury settlement scale. Also, how you are hurt affects what the settlement is likely to be worth. In aviation cases, normally, people know for several minutes that they’re going to die or be seriously hurt, and so those often involve very high settlements because the conscious pain and suffering, the knowing that you’re going to die, the knowing that you’re never going to see your children grow up, those things all cause settlements to be considerably higher than usual.
Disasters in industrial facilities and coalmines also involve high damages in settlements for conscious pain and suffering. And so we have to take that into account when we’re trying to figure out what type of compensation you want to get for an individual and their family because of the personal injury that they have received.
So although there aren’t averages, there are elements that you need to consider as far as the permanency of the injury, the length of time the individual will be off work, the pain and suffering, scarring, and future problems that they will have. And whether or not, if they did die, they knew death was coming, unfortunately, for some period of time before they were killed in the accident.
How Doctors Affect Court Settlements
One of the things we have to be very careful of is not to get a case in a posture to settle until we know from the doctors what the answer to those questions is going to be. And that’s as frustrating for us as it is for the clients, because unfortunately, the doctor can’t always be sure. And we don’t want to shortchange a client and not get them the compensation they are due. So, in some instances we have to step back, with the client’s permission and say, “You know, we’re going to put this on hold for a couple of months until the doctor can tell us.” And that means going to the judge and explaining to him that we need to wait until the doctor has a chance to render his or her final opinion about this patient, we don’t want to shortchange our client.
Most judges will understand the importance of being patient in that regard. With children, it’s critically important that we have answers to those questions, because they have their whole life ahead of them. You really need to know for sure that they are going to be okay in the future, or have the money to take care of themselves in the future.
To find out more information about personal injury cases, contact the Segal Law Firm at 855-344-9100.