Injury Lawsuits: When To Settle

For victims filing claims in injury lawsuits, one of the hardest questions to answer is “when should I settle my injury lawsuit claim?” Each victim, alongside the advice of their legal counsel, must make these determinations on their own, and in most cases, the decision to settle will be an entirely personal decision, often outside of any general legal strategy. The following outlines some considerations victims should make when considering the right timing of a settlement agreement.

Factors Relevant to Accepting Settlement Offers

Each injury victim must determine for him or herself whether a settlement offer meets their expectations and needs to recover from an injury. Alongside the advice of legal counsel, the determination on whether to accept a settlement offer or not is often a highly personal decision influenced by countless outside factors, which may include all or some of the following:

• Does the settlement offer adequately compensate an injured person for his or her injuries, at least from a financial perspective? Does the settlement offer also compensate victims for the perceived amount of non-economic injuries they have suffered?

• Does any settlement offer that an injured person is inclined to accept include costs of legal fees, which will ultimately be subtracted out of any settlement offer ultimately paid out to the injured party? Depending on the specific attorney-client payment agreement, victims may need to factor in a large percentage of any settlement amount being paid out to their legal counsel.

• Does an injured person need the compensation immediately or in the near future? Some injuries and the ensuing treatment may leave injured parties in a dire financial situation, and in these cases, the decision to settle may be entirely out of the impending financial obligations a victim has currently.

• Are future settlement offers most likely to surface? In most cases, an initial settlement offer will be rebuffed by a victim who will likely make a counter-offer. If negotiations have come to a standstill, the victim may consider settling, but should future developments be expected, it is often in the victim’s interest to hold off.

• Does the injury claim appear to possess the relative strength to win a jury award in court? By waiting until a trial is imminent, but without actually incurring the costs of going to trial, a victim may receive a last-ditch settlement offer from a defendant wishing to mitigate the risks of a jury award in a trial.

• Can the victim afford to continue litigating a claim, from the perspective of his or her own financial needs at the time in light of injuries, as well as from the perspective of the legal costs associated with continued litigation?

• With the advice of counsel, can a victim obtain exponentially larger awards in court in light of a given settlement offer and the costs of going to trial? Contrary to media reports, huge verdicts are relatively uncommon, and more importantly, several credible legal journals have found in recent years the majority of injured parties receive less in court awards (when factoring in the expenses) than they would have if they accepted the last settlement offer from defendants.

• If a victim has a relatively weak claim, or more information is likely to surface weakening the legal claim made by a victim, they may want to settle as soon as possible.

• Is the true and future value of an injury claim known by the victim and their legal counsel? Many injuries pose future risks for medical and physical issues, which need to be documented or at the very least, investigated and valued by a medical professional, which can take time.

Getting Legal Help with Settlement Offers

An essential element in any favorable claims litigation will be an attorney representing the interests of a victim. The negotiation process is one involving complex arguments and counter-arguments seeking to explain the true value of a claim, as seen by both parties. By using legal counsel in any negotiation, a victim will be infinitely better off than if they attempt to settle injury claims on their own behalf.