FAQ: Personal Injury Law Cases

From explaining the average payout and when going to court is not worth it, this article also goes into detail of the unique service Flora Stuart offers her clients.

1. What personal injury cases usually end up in court?

As with most personal injury, law firm cases that go to court involve serious injury or death, or gross liabilities such as DUI cases with adequate insurance to collect.  Due to practicality, very few personal injury cases end up in court.  A great majority are resolved by settlement (approximately 90% of cases).  Even with litigation, jury trials are very rare.  Most cases, if not resolved prior to filing suit, will be resolved at mediation at a later date.

2. When is it not worth going to court?

It is not worth going to court when there is inadequate insurance to collect. People who have limited insurance generally have limited assets.  It is also not worth going to court if the liability is questionable or it is difficult to establish the fault of the other party.  Finally, if injuries are very minor, unless there is a DUI or some extraordinary circumstance, these cases are generally not worth litigating.

3. What is the average payout for personal injury?

The average personal injury case involves soft tissue injuries such as neck and back.  An average settlement for those cases depending on medical treatment and liability range between $10,000 and $20,000.  If treatment is minimal, such as under $5,000, then the recovery will be less.  If the related treatment is greater, such as over $20,000 then the recovery will be more.  For this reason, our law firm works hard to get our clients to reputable physicians and medical care so they can document their injuries.  At Flora Stuart Law Firm, we do everything we can to maximise the value of the case.

For major cases where an individual is permanently injured by a semi-truck who has ample insurance with good liability, a good settlement offer could be in the millions.

4. How are personal injury settlements calculated?

Personal injury settlements are determined by injuries, medical treatment, special damages such as medical bills, lack of pre-existing conditions, and liability.  Settlements vary from company to company as some are more generous than others.  The amount of insurance to collect is also considered.  Even though you may have a million-dollar case, if the defendant only has $25,000 in insurance and you have no additional insurance – such as underinsured motorist coverage – the settlement may well be for those policy limits, even though the case is valued at a greater amount.  At Flora Stuart Law Firm, we keep a record of the adjusters and insurance companies that we deal with and after 44 years of this experience, we often know approximately what will be offered in a given case.

5. How do you determine what is a good settlement offer?

The bottom line is a good settlement offer is obtained after a personal injury law firm that performs hard work get their clients to reputable physicians documenting the liability.  At Flora Stuart, they know we will fight and will go to court. With experience in personal injury cases, we can often determine if a settlement offer is reasonable.  You want to make sure that the client is made whole after payment of medical expenses.

For major cases where an individual is permanently injured by a semi-truck who has ample insurance with good liability, a good settlement offer could be in the millions.   These cases often involve litigation or mediation to obtain substantial offers.

6. How can a lawyer maximise a personal injury settlement?

To maximise a personal injury, we work from day one to maximise a personal injury recovery, whether it by settlement or litigation. An example is that if clients cannot travel to us, we travel to them and we have offices convenient for our clients throughout South Central Kentucky and Tennessee.  After meeting with our client, we investigate, which may include accident reconstruction to preserve the evidence.  In Kentucky, we have PIP insurance that can be reserved immediately for our clients so while they are treating they can get their medical bills paid since medical treatment is of utmost importance in order to make our clients better and to document injuries.  If needed, we refer our clients to excellent physicians.  When they are ready to settle, we have all their bills and medical records organised to prove their injuries and damages.  At the beginning of the case, we handle the property damage with no fee.

We leave no stone unturned.  With 44 years of experience, Flora Stuart knows how to deal with insurance companies and adjusters and with our reputation often obtain maximum recovery for injured clients.  We have collected millions for our injured clients.