OPTIMIZING PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM VALUE. Stepping it Up

Life is a learning experience.  But sometimes, making mistakes along the way hoping to learn isn’t the best approach.  Instead, if you’re serious about something, you hire a professional.

Would you get on a jetliner knowing the person in the cockpit had no training and wanted to learn to fly a plane by trial and error?

Optimizing personal injury claim value also requires a professional.  Understanding, identifying and highlighting the elements is why.

HOW CAN AN ATTORNEY ADD ANYTHING TO MY CASE?  AFTER THE LEGAL FEE AND COSTS WON’T I LOSE?

A client came to me for another more immediate legal need and decided simply to “run this by you to see what you think”.  The person had been in a car accident.  They sent medical bills to the other driver’s car insurance company.  They made their own demand.

My initial reaction was that the case was worth 3 to 4 times their demand.  I was retained.  Long story short, several months later, my office in fact did settle that claim in between the 3-4 times estimate.  So, that client ended up with far more in her pocket than she would have, even after deductions for legal fee and costs.

WORKERS COMPENSATION: THIRD PARTY – SLIP AND FALL

In another case, a workers compensation claim, the client had been injured on the job and was simply going along listening to what the claims adjuster said.  But, when a second surgery was required and it was said that after she returned to work there was nothing more that could be done, the injured worker scratched her head and called my office.

It turned out there was a third-party case.  Third party claims are brought against a party that is not the injured person’s employer.  The employee worked for a delivery service and slipped and fell due to a poorly constructed cement staircase.  We held the owners of the improperly decaying cement stairway accountable.

When we settled the case, the ultimate dollar amount was far more than the injured person had expected.  The workers compensation claims adjuster personally felt that there was no liability for a ‘slip and fall’ accident under the circumstances, and decided on her own not to tell the injured worker about this potential avenue of recovery.  Had the injured employee not called my office, the case would have been closed.  Instead, we obtained a settlement that far exceeded the injured client’s expectations.

WHAT SECRETS WON’T AN ATTORNEY TELL ME?

There’s no secret.  Experienced personal injury attorneys who have tried cases in court understand all legal elements that go into a verdict or settlement.  Good personal injury attorneys also network with other attorneys and experts and know full fair case value.

I would never try to fly a jet airliner or to fix the electrical wiring or plumbing in my house.  When our heating system made loud banging noises, I called a licensed burner technician.  He came to the house, did the diagnostics and fixed the contraption.

For that same reason, you should never attempt to handle your own personal injury case.  Optimizing personal injury claim value is too important in your case to risk a bad result.

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