If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Insurance companies often try to settle claims for as little as possible, but a skilled personal injury attorney can help you get the maximum amount you deserve. At Caruthers Law Firm in Houston, our experienced car accident lawyers have a proven track record of securing substantial settlements and verdicts for our clients.
The Importance of Hiring an Attorney After a Car Accident
After a car accident, you may be dealing with serious injuries, medical bills, and lost wages. Insurance companies may contact you with a settlement offer, but it’s rarely in your best interest to accept the first offer. Insurance adjusters use various tactics to minimize payouts, including:
- Downplaying the severity of your injuries
- Blaming you for the accident
- Offering a low settlement and pressuring you to accept it quickly
An attorney can level the playing field and advocate for your rights. They will:
- Conduct a thorough investigation into the accident
- Gather evidence to support your claim
- Calculate the full extent of your damages
- Negotiate with insurance companies
- Take your case to trial if necessary
How an Attorney Can Increase Your Settlement
Studies have shown that car accident victims who hire an attorney receive higher settlements than those who represent themselves. This is because attorneys understand the legal system, know how to build a strong case, and are not afraid to take on insurance companies.
An experienced car accident attorney can help you get more money in several ways:
- Accurate Calculation of Damages: Insurance companies often try to settle claims based only on immediate medical bills and lost wages. An attorney will also factor in future medical expenses, long-term lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other non-economic damages.
- Aggressive Negotiation: Attorneys are skilled negotiators who know how to push back against low settlement offers. They can use evidence and legal arguments to persuade insurance companies to pay more.
- Litigation: If necessary, an attorney will take your case to court. The threat of litigation often prompts insurance companies to offer higher settlements. If a trial is necessary, an attorney will present a strong case to a judge or jury.
- Handling the Legal Process: By handling all aspects of your case, an attorney reduces the stress on you and allows you to focus on recovering from your injuries.
Choosing the Right Attorney for Your Car Accident Case
Not all personal injury attorneys are created equal. When choosing a lawyer for your car accident case, consider the following factors:
- Experience: Look for an attorney with a proven track record of handling car accident cases and securing substantial settlements and verdicts.
- Expertise: Make sure the attorney has experience with cases similar to yours. For example, if you were injured by a drunk driver, look for an attorney who has handled DUI accident cases.
- Resources: A law firm with ample resources can hire experts, conduct thorough investigations, and take on deep-pocketed insurance companies.
- Communication: Your attorney should communicate clearly and keep you updated on the status of your case. You should feel comfortable asking questions and expressing concerns.
- Fees: Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you only pay if they secure compensation for you.
Settlements: The Most Common Outcomes in Personal Injury Claims
You may have heard about how many criminal cases are settled without a trial. It’s true, more than 94% of criminal cases are resolved through a plea bargain rather than going to trial. Would you believe that the statistics for civil cases are similar?
Estimates vary, but somewhere between about 95% of civil cases reach settlements at some stage. And a settlement can be reached at literally any stage of the case — from before the case is even filed to after the case is over (when the winning side will offer to settle to prevent the losing side from appealing).
How Do Personal Injury Settlements Work?
No matter what stage of the case a settlement is reached in a personal injury case, the function is the same. A settlement is an agreement for the plaintiff to take a specified sum in exchange for not pursuing the case in court.
The way that settlements are negotiated can be tricky for both sides. The plaintiff—that’s the person who was harmed and is suing—risks taking a lesser amount than they might get from a verdict. The defendant—the party accused of causing the harm— offers to pay something now to avoid the expense of the trial. But the verdict could go either way.
There’s a reason why we have sayings like “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” For most plaintiffs, a guaranteed settlement sum is better than a gamble on the verdict, even if the verdict amount might be a lot higher.
Personal Injury Lawsuit Outcomes
Personal injury lawsuits almost always end in settlements. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, only 4% to 5% of personal injury cases go all the way to trial.
A study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2005 found that:
Of all the personal injury cases that went all the way to verdict, the success rate for plaintiffs was about 50%
The highest success rate was in auto accident cases, at 61%
Plaintiffs were only successful in 19% of medical malpractice trials
What this means for someone considering a settlement offer is that, if you accept the settlement offer, you are 100% guaranteed to get the amount being offered. If you reject it, statistically speaking, your chances are about 50/50. You’ll either end up with an amount greater than the settlement, or you’ll end up with nothing.
Of course, there’s another possible outcome besides settling or reaching a verdict. Cases can be dismissed at any time and for a variety of reasons. The plaintiff can simply drop the case, but the judge can also dismiss either based on motions of the parties—basically one side or the other asks the judge to dismiss—or sua sponte (on the court’s own accord).
How Much Compensation Is Typical in Personal Injury Cases?
Compensation in personal injury cases is based on the facts of each case. Compensation is based on the amount of damages caused, or at least it’s supposed to be. This makes it difficult to estimate a typical amount of compensation even for cases of the same type.
A car accident involving a broken arm is going to be different than a car accident causing a severed hand. .
Still, the study mentioned above does shed some insight (at least as of 2005):
Half of all plaintiffs received $24,000 or less.
The median award was $31,000 for all cases studied.
The median amount awarded in auto accident cases was $16,000.
The median award in premises liability cases — cases holding owners or landlords liable for injuries sustained due to the condition of the property — was $90,000.
The average award for medical malpractice cases was $679,000.
The median payout for product liability cases — cases involving flawed products like medicine with unknown side effects or a lawn mower that explodes whenever it gets hot — was $748,000.
What Affects the Outcome in Personal Injury Cases?
When it comes to deciding whether to settle or go to trial in personal injury cases, there are a number of factors that both sides consider. These factors include:
The severity of the injuries sustained
The impact the injuries have on the plaintiff—how much the injuries interfere with daily life and work, for example
Cost and duration of treatment and recovery from the injuries
The emotional and psychological damage from the injuries
The certainty of liability—how much debate is there as to whether the defendant is responsible?
Cost of litigation itself
The length of time litigation could take to get to a verdict
Costs beyond litigation—newsworthiness, for example. What will the publicity around a case cost the defendant later in harm to reputation and business?
If a case goes all the way through to reach a verdict, some states actually have caps in place that limit how much a jury can award. Some limitations are placed only on parts of an award such as a cap on pain and suffering damages. In some instances, a jury will award a plaintiff millions of dollars only for the state law to reduce the amount to a fraction of what the jury decided.
You can be sure that if there are such laws in place in your state, your attorney and the lawyers on the other side will know about them.
How a Lawyer Can Help with Personal Injury Settlement Amounts
Having an attorney working with you during settlement negotiations is incredibly valuable. After all, the statistics suggest that more than 9 out of 10 cases your personal injury attorney has worked on ended in settlements. That experience alone is invaluable.
Advocating for Your Rights
When you’re in a personal injury dispute, the other side is going to have a team of legal professionals. The insurance companies on the other side of the table are going to be represented by lawyers who work on personal injury cases—and personal injury settlements—all the time.
If you don’t have an attorney, you’ll be on the other side of the table all alone.
Your personal injury lawyer’s experience and perspective can make a huge difference in reaching a favorable settlement. From the first meeting to discuss your case, they will be learning the individual elements of your particular claim and figuring out the best way to get a favorable settlement or verdict.
An attorney will bring their experience to assessing the value of your case and any settlement offers you receive.
Negotiating Settlement Offers
You may know all the details of your injuries as well as anyone, but there are a lot of factors to consider when negotiating a settlement that may not occur to you. They will be second nature to your attorney.
For example, do you know how to calculate lost wages both during your recovery and potentially afterward if your injury will have a permanent impact? Are you aware that in some states, if a car insurance company rejects a reasonable offer to settle and goes on to lose the case, the company—not the driver—is required to pay all damages even in excess of the policy limit?
That means that if you and your attorney make a good faith offer to settle that’s below the limit, there’s an incentive for the insurance company to accept.
If you’re working with a personal injury attorney who specializes in one particular type of injury—as most personal injury lawyers do—they will have a lot of experience negotiating with various insurance companies. It’s even possible your lawyer will have a relationship with the insurance company lawyers, as well.
This isn’t to suggest any sort of improper arrangement, but more working together frequently can lead to a working relationship of respect and relatively fair dealing.
Filing or Threatening a Personal Injury Lawsuit
If the initial settlement negotiations—often part of the claims process—fall through, the plaintiff really only has one recourse, and that is to file a lawsuit. Lawsuits can be expensive and time consuming, and generally insurance companies would prefer to avoid them.
As mentioned earlier, there’s a legal team representing most insurers. Legal teams are not cheap, however, and the more time a case requires the more expensive it becomes.
As a non-attorney, the company may not be too worried about you filing a successful lawsuit on your own. If you have an experienced personal injury attorney working on your behalf, however, the threat to file a suit can become much more potent.
Contact Caruthers Law Firm for a Free Consultation
If you’ve been injured in a car accident, don’t try to take on the insurance companies alone. Contact Caruthers Law Firm in Houston for a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney. We will review your case, answer your questions, and explain your legal options. If we take on your case, we will fight tirelessly to get you the maximum compensation you deserve.
Spanish Speaking Car Accident Lawyer in Houston, Texas
Spanish-speaking individuals can have a more difficult time seeking justice in their personal injury cases due to language barriers. This causes them to not take action against those who have left them with financial devastation and physical trauma. At the Law Office of Beverly R. Caruthers, our team refuses to let a language barrier affect your right to justice and compensation. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident and is in need of Spanish-speaking legal advice, our team is here for you.
Personal Injury Lawyer in Houston, Texas
If you or someone you love has been involved in a car accident and suffered an injury, experienced loss of income, or are unable to work due to a car accident, you can benefit from the services of a Houston car accident expert in your personal injury case. Whether you missed work due to an injury or due to not having access to a vehicle, Attorney Beverly R. Caruthers can help you!
Caruthers Law Firm
Address: 4141 Southwest Fwy,
Suite 400
Houston, TX 77027
(713) 526-9557
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