Hasner Law | Personal Injury | May 18, 2024
One of the most common questions Atlanta personal injury lawyers receive is: How much is my case worth? After being harmed in an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, it makes sense that you want to know what to expect from your claim.
After all, you have bills piling up while you are trying to recover. An attorney can discuss the potential value of your claim and how they can help when you contact them for a free consultation.
What Can You Receive Compensation for in an Atlanta Personal Injury Claim?
In a personal injury claim, you can typically request compensation for:
- Medical expenses, including emergency treatment, follow-up care, hospitalization, medication, assistive devices, rehabilitative care, home health aides, and travel for treatment. It’s crucial to accurately assess and seek compensation for medical bills as part of the overall settlement process.
- Lost income, including lost wages, diminished earnings, and the loss of promotional opportunities
- Property damage costs to repair or replace property damaged in the accident
- Pain and suffering and emotional distress
- Difficulties with family and social relationships
- Loss of enjoyment of life
There are several factors that can affect the potential value of your claim.
Factors That Can Affect the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim
Every personal injury case is different, emphasizing the unique nature of each personal injury claim, so there is no such thing as an average settlement.
Several factors can potentially increase or decrease the value of your claim, including:
- The nature and severity of your injuries – The type of injuries you sustained and their severity can directly impact the potential compensation you can recover. The more serious the injuries, the more compensation you are generally entitled to. This is especially true if you are not expected to make a full recovery from the injuries.
- Fault – Georgia uses a modified comparative fault system if the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the accident. This means that the victim can still recover compensation for the accident as long as they were not 50% or more at fault. However, their recovery is reduced in proportion to their degree of blame. For example, if they are found to be 10% at fault, their damages are reduced by 10%.
- Individual factors – Other factors, such as your age, health, pre-existing conditions, earning capacity, and previous claims history can also affect the value of your claim.
Because most personal injury cases are resolved through insurance claims, the defendant’s available coverage may also impact the potential compensation you can recover.
Calculating a fair personal injury settlement amount involves considering various factors such as the type and severity of injury, emotional harm, lost wages, impact to quality of life, and pain and suffering, highlighting the complexity of ensuring the settlement comprehensively covers all costs related to the injury.
Potential Deductions from Your Settlement Award
Once your case settles, certain deductions might be taken from your settlement, including:
- Attorney’s fees – Your attorney’s contingency fee agreement will indicate the fee they will charge you if they recover compensation on your behalf. This is typically between 33% and 40%.
- Costs – You may also be responsible for costs related to your case, such as medical records requests, copy charges, postage, or court costs.
- Medical liens – If your insurance paid for your treatment after your accident or a medical provider agreed to treat you in exchange for a lien on your potential case recovery, these medical liens will have to be resolved before you can be paid. However, your personal injury lawyer will try to negotiate the liens with the insurance company so that you keep as much money in your pocket as possible, especially in the context of a car accident claim.
Your Atlanta personal injury attorney will work to maximize the amount of money that goes into your pocket, emphasizing the importance of negotiations with the insurance company to ensure fair compensation for your car accident claim.
An Example of an Atlanta Personal Injury Settlement Breakdown
Here’s an example of how your car accident settlement might work:
- Settlement amount – $100,000
- Attorney’s fees – Your attorney did not have to file a lawsuit in the case and charges you 33 ⅓% according to your fee agreement – $33,333
- Costs – You did not have to pay any court costs, but you incurred $400 in medical record request costs and $667 in copy charges – $1,067
- Medical liens – You originally were billed for $25,000 of medical costs, but your lawyer successfully negotiated those costs down to $15,000 – $15,000
- Your final recovery – $50,600 ($100,000 – $33,333 – $1,067 – $15,000)
Your fee agreement will explain what deductions will be made to your settlement check and in what order.
Contact an Atlanta personal injury lawyer today if you were hurt in an accident and would like to know how much your claim might be worth.
