Hire a Dedicated Injury Settlement Lawyer for Your Case
What Is an Injury Settlement?
To understand what an injury settlement is, it is important to discuss personal injury, which leads to an injury settlement. A personal injury is when someone experiences mental, physical, or emotional injuries through no fault of their own.
People who suffer a personal injury and believe it resulted from another’s negligence often pursue an injury settlement. This means they work to reach an agreement where the at-fault party compensates the plaintiff for injuries, medical care, pain, suffering, and financial hardships that resulted from the injury.
Injury settlements can involve an individual, a business, or an insurance company. If you aim to sue another party for compensation and seek a settlement, you need to work with a personal injury lawyer who can fight to win you a fair settlement deal.
The Injury Settlement Process
The injury settlement process can be long and complicated. This is why you must familiarize yourself with what to expect and work with an attorney well-experienced in this field and the general process for settling:
Step 1: Receive Medical Care
During the accident aftermath, the first step is to receive medical care. You will want immediate treatment for serious injuries. However, you also want to know the full extent of your injuries, medical problems you may face down the road because of the accident, and any rehabilitation you may need. You need to understand the full scope of your injuries and document all necessary treatments. This way you can work with your attorney to get the compensation you deserve.
Step 2: Consult an Injury Settlement Lawyer
Immediately following the first step, reach out to an injury settlement or personal injury legal professional to discuss your case. Give her or him all the details of the accident. You should provide documentation such as police reports and medical forms and discuss what your legal options are, which can include pursuing a settlement or going to court.
Step 3: File a Personal Injury Lawsuit
If your attorney feels pursuing a settlement is the best course of action, she or he begins by filing a lawsuit with the court. You must file the suit within a set period known as the statute of limitations. This can vary from state to state.
Step 4: Complete the Discovery Phase
During the discovery phase, your attorney (and the defendant’s attorney) investigates each party’s legal claims and defenses. All legal advocates question each other and get relevant information from witnesses and all other relevant parties. This process can last anywhere from a few months to an entire year, depending on how complicated the case is.
Step 5: Negotiate the Injury Settlement
Most personal injury cases are resolved through settlements rather than going to court, as this approach often saves time and money for all parties involved. Settling can streamline the process and avoid the complexities of a trial.
During settlement negotiations, your attorney works directly with the plaintiff’s attorney to reach a fair agreement. If they cannot resolve the matter, a neutral mediator may step in to facilitate discussions and help both sides find common ground before resorting to a trial. Partnering with an experienced lawyer ensures you have a strong advocate working to secure the maximum compensation you deserve.
What Happens If You Cannot Reach a Settlement?
If the plaintiff and the at-fault party cannot reach a settlement, they can either drop the case or have it go to trial where a judge and jury decide the outcome. This often leads to a lengthy process that can add several months to the timeline, delaying when you receive compensation.
What to Expect From a Settlement
Settlements can differ from case to case depending on the injury severity, whether parties utilize legal representation, and whether the attorneys reach a fair agreement. Here is what to expect from your settlement case:
What Affects an Injury Settlement Case Outcome?
What you receive from an injury settlement depends on a few factors, some of which you cannot control. Two factors of compensation determination that you cannot change include:
- Your injuries: Serious injuries lead to much higher payouts, especially if significant pain and suffering result from the injury and physicians expect you to remain affected for the foreseeable future.
- The defendant’s insurance policy: The defendant’s insurance policy limits determine the settlement you receive.
However, there are ways to increase the settlement amount. The most important thing you can do is hire an experienced attorney who can negotiate a settlement for you. Another way you can receive a higher payout is if your legal advocate continues to negotiate beyond the initial settlement offer.
What Does Compensation Usually Look Like?
The compensation you receive from an injury settlement can vary depending on the details of your case. Settlements can range anywhere from a couple of thousand dollars to more than a hundred thousand dollars. Plaintiffs usually receive compensation anywhere from two months to one year after making the initial claim.
Legal representation makes a substantial difference in payouts for plaintiffs. People represented by an attorney during a settlement negotiation can end up with thousands more than they would without legal representation. Connect with an attorney today by filling out the form on our website.
Work With an Experienced Local Lawyer
Have you been injured in an accident through no fault of your own? Do you want to increase your chances of receiving a fair injury settlement to compensate for your injuries, pain, and suffering because of the accident? Do not take on the at-fault party on your own and risk missing out on the settlement you deserve.
You need to work with an experienced attorney dedicated to fighting to win you a fair settlement. Tuning your case over to an attorney may not only make the process easier but doing so also allows you to put your full focus on making a full recovery.
Submit a request online or call us today at (866) 345-6784 to get in touch with an experienced lawyer in your area!
About the Author
Aaron is a professional legal writer with a B.S. in English Education from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. He has written, published, and edited thousands of legal articles for RequestLegalHelp, which has connected over 5 million people to legal help in the United States.
With over five years of experience writing thousands of legal articles for law firms across the U.S. and Canada, Aaron specializes in covering federal, state, and city-level legal issues ranging from auto accidents to wrongful terminations.
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