Personal Injury Law

Outcomes of Personal Injury Cases ? And What They Mean to You

By Flaxman & Lopez

Personal injury cases may stem from car accidents, property-related injuries (such as swimming pool injuries), or product defects. However, you have sustained your injury, however, once you hire an attorney, your case will work its way through the court system. This usually involves investigations and negotiation between your attorney and any other parties involved in the case. Ultimately, your case may end in one of four ways:

1) Your case may be settled out of court. Many personal injury cases are ultimately settled out of court. What this means is that your attorney and the liable parties (the parties legally responsible for your injuries) have reached an agreement that you and your attorney feel is acceptable. When this happens, you are paid your settlement and you use your settlement money to pay your attorney fees, if the Florida personal injury you have been working with has worked on a contingency basis.

2) You could win a settlement. If your case cannot be settled through negotiation outside of court, your case will go to a court. There, a judge or a jury will decide the case. Usually, this type of case is more involved, as it will involve both sides presenting arguments in court. If you go to court, the court may decide in your favor, at which point you will be awarded a settlement that matches or comes close to the settlement your attorney has been seeking.

3) You could lose a settlement. If your case goes to court, there is also the possibility that the court will not find in your favor. If this happens, it means that the court decides that there is not enough evidence that someone else was liable for your injury. In this case, you may get no settlement for your injuries.

4) You may choose to drop a case. In some cases, plaintiffs choose to drop a personal injury case. This can happen for several reasons. In some cases, a plaintiff may simply not be able to handle the emotional turmoil of a case. In other cases, new evidence comes to light which reduces the chances of a successful settlement in favor of the plaintiff. When you drop a case, you effectively decide not to pursue it further, which means you also relinquish your rights to a settlement.

Before you start a personal injury claim, you may wish to discuss all these eventualities with your attorney. Your Florida personal injury attorney may be able to give you a sense of which outcome is most probable in your case. If your attorney is working on a contingency basis, you will also want to confirm that your attorney will only collect fees if you win your case or settle out of court. In many cases, personal injury attorneys will not collect fees from you if you lose a settlement.

Full post as published by Florida Injury Lawyer Blog on May 18, 2010 (boomark / email).