This is an old question and there is still no clear answer. Should I resolve my personal injury claim or am I going to trial? First of all, I have to explain the obvious preface. All personal injury cases are unique. Therefore, this is not a strict participation rule. In addition, in fact most personal injury cases are resolved before the jury verdict. However, that being said, lawyers and clients consider many factors when deciding when to resolve and when to bring the case to trial.
Let us explore some examples of dilemmas. I think it helps to understand two different case scenarios to help understand the problem. We will call first to resolve the liability case. This is a case where the negligence party is 100% at fault. In Michigan, the rules are different, depending on whether it is a car collision or a housing liability claim. But for our purposes, we will assume that the defendant is responsible and will pay some compensation.
In the case of this 100% responsibility, the question is what is the value of the injury. After all, insurance companies want to pay as little as possible. Therefore, assuming the insurance company offers a quotation of $50,000.00, there is no longer a need to resolve the 100% liability case. No lawsuits were filed. Your lawyer has determined that the case has a wide range of values and should be between $60,000 and $100,000,000. So what do customers do, take money or fight?
The first thing you have to do is to provide a quote to the customer. There is no doubt that they will ask for your opinion. what should I do? I will tell them that they currently have the lowest fee. If they accept the offer, they can get the funds immediately. There is no risk of reducing the benefits in the trial. The money is tax-free and it puts pressure on the lawsuit. If they file a lawsuit, the initial fee will be the application fee and process service. The insurance company will hire a lawyer and they will have 21 days to answer the complaint.
Then, the discovery process begins. The findings include answering questions and testimony. The customer will eventually have to pay the settlement fee from the experts and doctors. They will be asked to appear in court. Each party's lawyer will prepare a briefing and mediation. The case itself may take a year or two to resolve. However, it is always possible to file a lawsuit alone to generate a 10% or 20% quote. However, you can't count on this. In this case, I will not try to guide the client to develop in any direction. I will tell them $50,000.00 if they are going to end them now, they should accept the offer. However, I do not encourage acceptance of this proposal.
The second case is when the defendant claims that they are not at fault or that your client has contributed to your injury. In this case, the insurance company may be more stubborn about the settlement. Now, lawyers need to analyze how effective the defendant's claim is, that is, your client's part is at fault. If your lawyer believes that their defendant is only smoking and has no credibility, then the value of the case should be analyzed in the same way as the first case.
However, if the attorney believes that the defendant is likely to be irresponsible, then you must analyze the lessor's judgment or the possibility of no reason.
There is no reason to constitute a complete loss. If the customer is seriously injured, a complaint may need to be filed because the offer is not high enough.
For example, suppose a lawyer believes his client's loss is $500,000.00, while the insurance company only offers $50,000.00. Then the customer is in a difficult position and will probably not accept the offer. By pushing the case to trial, the customer may do better. In this case, the attorney may be looking for a compromise of $250,000.00 as a reasonable solution because the defendant may have no judgment.
Finally, in some cases, insurers are reluctant to pay a reasonable claim value before litigation. This may be due to several factors, such as the regulator being overworked or unreasonable. In some cases, an insurance company has only one policy that does not provide a reasonable solution until it is forced to sue.
Most importantly, the decision to resolve or file a lawsuit depends on many factors. Some of these factors are personal to the customer. What is important is that the customer's injury has been fairly compensated.
Orignal From: Reconciliation and trial practice after negotiating personal injury lawsuit
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