Leesburg, Florida personal injury lawyer explains the one question that a personal injury client has to answer when making the decision to settle their case or go to trial.
If you’ve been injured in a Florida car accident or slip and fall, at some point in time, the insurance company will make you an offer to settle your case. The offer to settle may be before or after a lawsuit is filed. After a period of negotiation, the insurance company will give you their final offer. You have the choice of settling your case or going to trial. In the end, you will have to answer one question, are you willing to accept the risk of going to trial?
Going to trial has a lot of risks that many folks do not appreciate because they have not been through the process. Trial is expensive. It costs money to bring your doctors to court to testify regarding your injuries, medical treatment and prognosis in the future. There is a real risk that even if the jury verdict is higher than the settlement offer, the net amount that you may receive could be less than the settlement amount because of the cost of trial. The next real risk is the jury. If you decide to go to trial, you give up control of your case and put the decision in the hands of six strangers who will make the decision based on their own experiences and biases.
If the insurance company offers an amount of money to settle your case within the “settlement range” for the injuries that you sustained, are you willing to accept the risk of going to trial? The decision is always yours.
Sometimes the insurance company makes the decision easy and there is no real risk in going to trial because the offer is ridiculously low. During these times, it’s a no-brainer because there is no risk.
One thing the injured person has to remember is the risk is really on the individual not the insurance company. If you misjudge the value of your case, it’s your life. If the insurance company misjudges the value of your case, it costs the company a little more money in the scheme of things.
The decision to settle your Florida personal injury case or go to trial is an important decision that should be made in consultation with your lawyer or another person who is not emotionally invested in the case.
If you have any questions about the value of a Leesburg, Florida personal injury case, give me a call on my cell at 352-267-9168 or fill out the internet consultation form on the right.