Is There A Formula For Determining The Amount Of A Personal Injury Settlement?
Most people are under the impression that there is a formula used by insurance companies
and attorneys to determine how much a personal injury accident settlement should be. The truth is that there is no magic formula. While some insurance companies may have an internal set of criteria that they use to evaluate a personal injury demand, a universal formula does not exist. Many personal injury attorneys will tell you that ultimately the value of a personal injury accident case is what a jury would think the plaintiff deserves for her injuries.While a magic formula does nor exist, there are ways that an attorney will evaluate a personal injury case. In most states there are two basic categories of damages. States may use different terminology such as actual and special damages or economic and non-economic damages but the basic concepts are the same. In California for example economic damages are damages that can be easily quantified. In other words, something that you easily prove the value of - for instance a medical bill, Other items in the economic category include things such as the cost to repair a vehicle or lost wages from a job. The first, and easiest, step in determining the value of a personal injury accident is to determine the total amount of economic damages. While the defendant may challenge the total amount, the amount of economic damages is certainly a far more objective number than non-economic damages.
The more complicated portion of the evaluation process comes in when non-economic damages are assessed. Non-economic damages include things like emotional distress, mental anguish, humiliation and suffering. This is where it would be almost impossible to apply a formula. Each plaintiff is unique and an accident affects every plaintiff differently. For instance, an accident that causes the plaintiff to suffer a permanent scar on her leg may be somewhat embarrassing and traumatic for the average female, but it could be the end of a career for a professional model or dancer. The same can be said for the emotional impact an accident has on a plaintiff. One victim may suffer very little in the way of long-term trauma as the result of an accident while another victim may suffer from serious post-traumatic stress as a result. For this reason, a magic formula is simple not realistic when determining the amount of a personal injury settlement. Non-economic damages are subjective by their very nature and therefore cannot be plugged into a mathematical formula.
At the end of the analysis, a personal injury attorney will also have to factor in what a jury would likely award the plaintiff if the case went to trial. Juries can return surprising verdicts and awards - both in the plaintiffs favor and not in the plaintiffs favor. A good attorney will have experience dealing with attorneys in the jurisdiction where the lawsuit will be filed and will have some idea what a jury would be likely to do, but there is never a guarantee with a jury.
The bottom line then is that there is no all-inclusive formula whereby a plaintiff can determine the value of her case. In the absence of an agreed upon settlement between the plaintiff and defendant a jury will ultimately determine what the case if worth.
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