How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
If you have been hurt by the fault of another, the burning question in your mind is likely, “how do I get compensated, and how much is my case worth?”
When you visit a personal injury attorney, you should understand that it is nearly impossible for the attorney to come up with an estimate of your case’s value, without considering many factors that are specific to your case. Yet, before an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney can give you an estimated value, he or she will need determine whether to take your case. This analysis also helps the attorney assess the value of your case.
Will a Personal Injury Attorney Take My Case?
Taking a case places a financial burden on the attorney, who will likely put a lot of time and money into your case to prepare it for trial or settlement. It is in your best interest for your attorney to conduct an economic analysis of the case, in order to determine if the case is worth the financial risk to prosecute. If the attorney believes that there is legal merit to the case and that it is financially worth the risk of prosecution, he or she will take the case.
Evaluating the Value of a Potential Personal Injury Case
Once the attorney decides to take your case, he or she can dive into the facts of your case and start to make judgement calls on what certain aspects of your case may be worth. There are many factors to consider.
- What Are the Facts of the Case? What is the Evidence? The attorney needs to consider all of the facts of the case, including evidence as well. The attorney will interview you to better understand your side of the case. The attorney may also seek out additional information or evidence, which can include things like police reports, medical records, and physical evidence. The attorney will consider all of these things in developing an estimate of your case’s value.
- What Law Applies to the Facts of this Case? It is important for the attorney to determine which legal theories best support your case before giving you an estimate of its value. Certain causes of action, or grounds for a lawsuit, can have upper limits on how much in damages can be sought. Your case could provide the appropriate facts to support multiple legal theories on which you could win damages, and sometimes certain causes of action can warrant double or treble damage awards if certain elements can be proven. An experienced personal injury attorney should formulate a plan for how to approach your case before providing an estimated valuation of your claim(s).
- What is the Locale of the Case? Which Court is Best for Your Case? Sometimes there is a strategic advantage to you based on where you bring your case. There are certain rules concerning where a case can be brought to court, and a seasoned personal injury attorney will be able to recommend which courts would best suit you, based on the facts of your case and the laws that would be applied by that court if your case went to trial. There are also certain situations in which you might be able to bring your case before multiple courts and on separate legal theories, and your attorney will need to analyze these things for you.
- What Types of Damages Does the Case Warrant and How Much? The specific facts of your case will enable your attorney to forecast an approximate range of damages that you could seek in court. Damages can include things like past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages, damages for pain and suffering, disability or loss of a normal life and disfigurement. Once your attorney can determine what damages for which you may be eligible, he or she can take this information, in conjunction with all of the other considerations, to place an estimated value on your claim(s).
