Chances to Win a Personal Injury Lawsuit & How to Improve Them?

Today we will talk about the final settlement amount process and how to maximize your winning chances. It’s crucial to take into account two different aspects and two distinct types of cases: what was your first demand, how many back and forths there were, and sort of like, what was the procedure and how did you obtain that settlement?

How To Win a Personal Injury Lawsuit? Low Stakes & Serios Case Settlements 

Low-Stakes Case Settlements

If you have a soft tissue case, for instance, where someone is injured, receives medical attention, recovers for two to three months, and then wants to settle the case, I would handle it the old-fashioned way by creating a settlement opportunity letter and initiating negotiations with the insurance company. Typically, I would let the client complete treatment before I began the negotiations.

I would gather all of their medical records, send them to the insurance provider along with the settlement letter, and then call them. If they had received only one type of treatment, such as acupuncture or physical therapy for a bulging disc over the course of two to three months, I would probably say this after about a month of sending the records. 

I would call the adjuster, who would ask what my demand was. I don’t like the word demand because it makes me feel like I’m demanding or pleading for a number, but I would simply say, “Look, the lowest settlement amount I would accept is $35,000,” and then we would begin to negotiate. 

If they offered, say, $15 or $20, I would start there. When it comes down to it, would I want to go to trial on a case like that? Probably not, and probably even I wouldn’t want to go to trial because, first of all, we have a serious injury rule in New York. You could lose the case because there are just a lot of problems, and it may not be worth it to call the doctor to come to court and pay five or ten thousand dollars for the doctor. 

However, it’s not bad that you could settle it because the case just isn’t really worth much. It also depends on the limits, so that’s how I would handle that kind of case. In terms of how many back-and-forth phone calls there are, typically there are only two or three. If I started out at 35 and they started out at 5, I would say, “Look, five is too low, that’s ridiculous, you got to give us something,” to which they might respond, “Okay, 10,” and then I would say, “Look, I’m at 35.”, i’m not actually 10, which is a little light, but he does have that persistent bulging disc, so when they get to like 12 or 15, you’d definitely settle it. You can check how much other people got for similar injuries and conditions to your in the search

Serious Case Settlements

If the situation is more serious, If the case involves, say, a spinal fusion and a larger policy, like a $5 million policy, then it’s different. I wouldn’t even make a demand at all, and I wouldn’t really settle it in the same manner. Instead, what I would do is, once everything is known—that is, once the liability is established and you have access to construction safety engineering experts and/or accident reconstruction specialists if the case involves a car crash—then I would proceed.

You and the client have completed the client’s medical treatment, so you are aware of the liabilities and that since the client had a spinal fusion, they won’t require any further surgery. When everything is obvious and you are likely in the discovery phase or have already scheduled a trial, I would send a letter outlining a settlement possibility.

And I would say that the lowest amount I would consider is one million dollars. You have 30 days to accept this demand, or you can respond by making me a good faith offer. For instance, if I say a million dollars and give them 30 days, and they reply that they know that’s too much, but that we think the case is serious because we can see that your client had a fusion, then we believe the case is serious.

We reviewed all of the medical data you sent, along with the liability information and the safety experts, and we think the starting offer we could make is 375 000. For instance, I would say, “Well, that’s something that isn’t nothing, you know, you’re not saying 35,000 right, you’re saying 375 so you’re being reasonable. Let’s go to a mediation and at the mediation, perhaps we can bridge the gap and perhaps we can settle it perhaps we can settle it for like 750 or 850.”

If they tender the million, obviously that will satisfy it as well, but if they don’t say anything right, if they offer a ridiculous amount like 35 000, or if they don’t say anything at all, then it says in the letter that I sent that if 30 days pass and you fail to give us this minimum settlement amount listed in the letter, the new minimum amount will be 3 million.

And the only cases I do this on are cases where I want to go to trial because I’m confident that if I go before a jury, I’ll get 3 million, maybe more, but the policy limits may only be like one million, so I’ll say, “Look, I’ll take the one million, I’ll take your policy limit, and if they don’t offer it, fine, then let’s go to trial that we’ll get more. It might take longer, but I consult with the client to ensure that they are on board and give them the amount that I believe it is worth. If they want to pay it, they should pay it. If they don’t want to pay it, well, if their limits are only a million and I said I would take a million, now what I’ve done is given them an opportunity to negotiate. Get in touch now and we can see how much your case will be worth.

How To Improve Your Chances of Winning a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

If you want to improve your chances of winning, find instances of situations where you could envision yourself receiving a jury verdict alongside the client, such as cases involving life-altering injuries where you trust the client and they have a compelling human story. If you want to settle, you should pursue these cases in court.

If you don’t pay within 30 days, the minimum amount will be like 5x this amount; if it’s a million, it’ll be 3 million or whatever five million; if it’s a half-million fine, pay me a half-million within 30 days. This is how to write the “running with the bull” type letter, the settlement opportunity letter.

If you don’t, that’s fine, but it’ll be 1 million or more, which worries the insurance companies because they see their financial situation; they’re trying to save money right; they’re for profit; they want to push you and whittle you down to nothing, and you’re flipping the script on them; you’re telling them, “Hey, pay me x,” or “If you don’t, great, I’ll go for three times more.”