How Much Is Your Case Worth?

Fact: Your case’s worth is not based on how much you need or what your financial situation is! Just because you need a certain amount of money at the time doesn’t mean that this would be the value of your case.

Let me be clear about this! There is no secret formula (technically) or any possible way to predict the possible outcome of any case. I do not care how much your stupid cousin got from his accident or how much you think you are going to get just because you saw a misleading attorney advertisement. Prior results do not guarantee future outcomes. Why? Because every single case has hundreds of different factors, which determine the possible outcome of the case. I will go over the top factors, but there are hundreds:

Liability:

Liability is who is at fault. This is almost a straightforward factor but has its own parameters on how cases are evaluated and weird case laws. These parameters are calculated by percentage and determined by either case law, or, if it is a car accident in NYS, it may be determined by Vehicle Traffic Laws (VTL).

Example: Let us assume that a vehicle that hit you is partially at fault and ultimately, for argument’s sake, is 80% at fault and puts you at 20% at fault. Let us also assume that the overall case value is $1, 000. That would mean you would be receiving an $800.00 settlement evaluation. However, in theory, even if the other driver is only 1% at fault, you can be entitled to a lot more money.

Case in point: I had a case once when our client was pretty much at fault. He was riding a scooter with no license and without a helmet. The story is a bit sketchy, but it looks like the defendant was making a turn and eventually raised a question of fact. The defense filed a motion for summary judgment; we opposed the motion and raised a question of fact. They lost the motion, and we got a small percentage of liability. The policy limits were $50, 000, and his injuries were significant. The client had to undergo Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF) on his ankle. ORIF is worth a lot of money. Even if it were just one percent, it would exceed $50, 000 limits. I eventually got the insurance company to fork over the full policy limits.

Damages (Injuries):

Damages are injuries or pain and suffering as well as economic loss. Even though injuries or pain and suffering are technically the major factor for settlements in most cases, economic loss can be the largest component of the verdict during the trial. I have seen many cases where the jury awarded clients X amounts of money for pain and suffering and triple the amount for economic loss as well as past and future medical expenses. In New York State, the injuries and the pain and suffering factors, as well as economic loss, are determined by the New York State Serious Injury Law: Article 51 Section 2, commonly known as the New York State threshold laws.

For settlement purposes, there are four different types of categories for injuries. At least unofficially. I say unofficially because it all depends on where the case goes. I’ve seen fracture and surgery cases settle for tens of thousands of dollars and a herniated disc settle for hundred thousand dollars, yet in trials, you can get a verdict of $100, 000 for a knee surgery such as meniscectomy and $1, 000, 000 for a herniation. Why? It all comes down to economic loss and the extent of treatment. Meniscectomy is a quick fix, and there is no long-term treatment and, in most cases, minimal economic loss. At least that is the short story. Disc herniation is a progressive injury. Even after surgeries, it will eventually progress into something worse. Longer treatment and a much longer recovery time may be needed. Once you get that disc bulge, it will eventually progress to herniation with nerve impingement and create a chain reaction for the rest of your spine.

The four major components of damages or pain and suffering are: Death, Dismemberment, Fractures & Broken Bones, Surgeries, and Soft Tissue, which include ligamental tears, disc bulges, and herniations, and sprains. There are other components, but they may fall under different sets of laws.

Causality:

Are the injuries a direct result of the accident, or are the injuries aggravated from a prior accident? Is it degenerative? This is by far the most confusing factor to explain to a client. Remember, most clients are stupid. Thinking back, out of 10 clients I try to explain causality to, maybe 1 or 2 will get it. I will try to cover the details about causality as much as I can in hopes that more people understand how significant this factor is in determining the overall value of a case. I will try to bring out my crayons and my coloring books for this one (figuratively speaking), and I will start with a story…

Case-in-point: I had a 70-year-old male client once who was involved in a minimal impact motor vehicle accident. The impact was minor, but the client’s MRIs showed disc bulges and herniations all through his back. From C2-3 to L5-S1. For the most part, these would be considered degenerations. Typical wear and tear of the spine throughout the years. The client complained about pain in his back since the day of the accident. But no one bought his bullshit. Not even me. The key term for this kind of situation is, “The injuries which he was claiming is not a direct result of the accident.” However, after few months of negotiations, I still managed to get a $10, 000 settlement offer after arguing exacerbation or re-aggravation of prior injury or medical condition. For the most part, if the injuries claimed are not directly a result of the accident, the value of the case significantly drops by as much as 90%. Sometimes even down to zero if you do not have any exacerbation arguments.

Legal Precedence:

Legal precedence is when there were prior decisions made by the courts based on the various factors, which decide the value or possible outcome of the case. Examples range from threshold issues to liability. An instance is if there were prior decisions made by the appellate court that a two-bulge case does not pierce threshold, then there is a good chance that the defense will have a solid argument to file a motion to get the case dismissed.

So, the short story on how much your case is worth may depend on whose fault it is. Was there a fracture or broken bone? Was there a surgical procedure? What are the policy limits? Who is the carrier? Who is the examiner? There is no clear answer or a cookie-cutter formula in calculating a claim, but by default, all attorneys usually overshoot the value of the demand in case the examiner is stupid enough to fork over a lot of money. If I had a dollar for every time I demanded an exorbitant amount of money on a case, and the case happened to be a shit case, the examiner thought I was serious about litigating the case and actually met my demands! On that note, most examiners don’t understand the litigation process. They have no idea what is defensible and what is not. Mainstream carriers find people on the street and literally provide zero training. That is simply because there are many car accidents and other negligent accidents and not enough trained legal professionals to hire. I take advantage of that lack of knowledge. But no one can possibly predict the possible outcome of the case.