In some injury cases, it makes sense to take your case all the way to a jury trial. In most cases, it does not make much sense to take your case to trial. So, how do you know if your injury case should go to trial?
The Story of Amy
Let me tell you the story of Amy. Several years ago, before I started representing injury victims, I used to work as an attorney for insurance companies defending personal injury claims in court. One of the cases I helped defend at trial was Amy’s car accident injury case. This was a clear liability accident injury case, meaning the driver who collided with Amy’s vehicle was clearly at fault for the accident. The insurance company retained the law firm I worked at to defend the at-fault driver in court after Amy’s attorney filed a lawsuit against him.
Pre-Trial Events
The case lasted several months before trial. Amy was deposed. My client was deposed. Doctors were deposed. Motions were filed by both parties, which were heard by the judge in court, and a mediation was held. Amy was offered by the insurance company which hired our firm over $10,000 to settle her case prior to trial. However, she rejected every offer and took her case to a jury trial.
Medical Issues and Trial Outcome
Amy claimed injuries to her spine. She had significant past problems with her spine pre-existing the accident. However, months after the accident, she had surgery to repair her spine. Her claimed medical bills alone were in the six figures because of the surgery. The case went to trial. We had a doctor who performed an independent medical exam on Amy testify at trial that Amy’s surgery was likely not needed as a result of the car accident. According to the doctor, the accident caused minimal damage, if any, to Amy’s spine.
Amy’s lawyer, of course, had a doctor testify as well, and that doctor’s testimony linked Amy’s surgery to the car accident. The verdict came in, and the jury ultimately awarded less than $10,000 to Amy. The jury did not link the surgery to the accident.
Should You Settle or Go to Trial?
You might think this means that someone in a position similar to Amy’s should settle their case prior to trial because Amy would have been awarded more money if she settled. Well, not necessarily.
Pre-Litigation and Litigation Stages
Let me explain what it takes to get an injury case to a trial. During the pre-litigation process, you gather all your medical records and bills from all your medical providers. You get medical treatment, possibly with several medical providers during this stage. Once you’re done treating or reach maximum medical improvement, you typically send a written demand for a specific amount or for the policy limits to the insurance company. Many cases settle at this stage for the policy limits or after rounds of negotiations. If there is sufficient insurance coverage or pockets to pursue, many personal injury cases settle for a fair amount even before you have to file a lawsuit.
If the insurance company is making you a low offer, consider filing a lawsuit. In my experience, the insurance company or defendant you are dealing with will make you higher offers at some point during the litigation process prior to a trial. The litigation process prior to a trial can last years and can be costly, including retaining experts such as doctors or liability experts, court filing fees, mediator costs, and many other costs.
Reasons to Consider Trial
One scenario where you may consider trial is when the insurance company offers what you believe to be a low offer, and you believe that you will be awarded more money should you take your case to trial. In Amy’s case, she and her attorney clearly believed a jury would have awarded her more money if they linked the surgery she had to the accident. Juries are just a bunch of strangers with different thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Nobody can always accurately predict what a judge or jury is going to do with any particular issue or case.
Another scenario where you may consider trial is where you believe an insurance company acted in bad faith and did not offer you the policy limits when you demanded the policy limits.
Reasons Not to Go to Trial
If you get a fair and reasonable offer in your injury case, it’s usually wise to accept that offer prior to going to trial, especially in light of the time and cost it takes to get an injury case to trial. I usually would not recommend taking a case to trial if the insurance policy limits are offered by the insurance company. In hindsight, it obviously would have worked out better for Amy if she accepted the settlement in her case prior to trial.
Balancing Risk and Reward
What it ultimately comes down to when you are trying to determine if you should take your case to trial is the amount of risk you want to take when you factor in the possible reward on your injury case. The possible reward is a big payday over and above the last offer made to you prior to trial. For Amy, the possible reward was big because if the jury determined the surgery was related to the car accident, they likely would have awarded her a large amount of her medical expenses and a significant amount of pain and suffering damages.
Conclusion
Taking an injury case to trial is not an exact science. If you are willing to take a risk to possibly get a bigger reward than the last settlement offer prior to trial, then by all means take your case to trial.
The thing is, how do you even know if the last, best, and final offer made to you prior to trial is a fair offer? In order to know that, you must be able to calculate the damages sustained in your injury claim. In this video about to pop up, I’ll show you how to calculate the damages sustained in your injury claim right here. Lastly, if you’ve been injured in an accident in Kentucky, remember: don’t wait, call Tate.
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