Should You Gamble on a Settlement or a Trial for Your Personal Injury Case?

There's a very large gamble associated with personal injury cases. You and your lawyer must figure out if a settlement is worth it or if you should take it to trial. This decision is one of the most important ones anyone can make when it comes to personal injury case. But do you understand why?

What Makes It a Gamble?

There's a lot of guesswork involved when it comes to determining how much your personal injury case is worth. Unfortunately, each entity involved in your case will determine that number in very different ways. If you think about it, you'll see there's always at least four amounts to consider.

  • Your calculation
  • Your lawyer's calculation
  • The insurance company's calculation
  • The court's calculation

If your case involves other parties, then they too will have their own calculations for how much they feel they may owe in your case. These calculations may not even come close to matching each other. This is something that you have to keep in mind if you must considering accepting a settlement or going to trial.

Accepting the Settlement

Your lawyer will go to bat for you and try to get you the best settlement possible. They will negotiate back and forth with the insurance company. They will make offers and counteroffers. Eventually, there will come a point where there's no more room for negotiation. You will have to accept the offer on the table or take it to court.

Can your lawyer say the settlement is a good one? Can your lawyer explain how the dollar amount satisfies, or more than satisfies, your pain and suffering and other compensatory damages? If so, then there are very few reasons for you to pass on the settlement offer. Many people feel that they can receive even more in damages if they go to trial. Unfortunately, this can often backfire.

Going to Trial

Going to trial isn't for the faint of heart. In fact, some lawyers will not do trials. That's why it's important that when you initially choose a lawyer you need to check if he or she is willing to go to trial for you. Or, check to see if they have a trial lawyer on their staff for such and eventuality.

  • Trials can go on for years
  • Decisions are subject to multiple appeals
  • Trials add expense to your case
  • Damages are unpredictable in some cases

But trials aren't all terrible. Sometimes it makes sense to go to trial. If the other party makes completely unreasonable offers, then a trial can become your only option. If you want justice along with your settlement, a trial can lead to punitive damages as well.

There's also a chance that your rewarded damages are far more significant than you would have thought. It's not a given though, just a possibility. The opposite can occur as well.

Don't Gamble Away Your Compensation

Whether you take the settlement or go to trial won't matter if you do either without making a thorough consideration of your situation. It's a decision that you need to talk to a professional personal injury lawyer like The Reed Noble Law Firm PLLC about. It's important to stay realistic. And it's important to listen to expert advice. The more you know, the less of a gamble the decision becomes.

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