Legal Question in Personal Injury in Georgia

Re: Don't know what to do

I handle a lot of these cases. The insurance won't make any meaningful offer until you are through with treatment because they want the benefit of knowing the maximum improvement of the state of your health as well as the final dollar amount of your bills. "Reasonable", as you might imagine, can mean different things to different people. Remember that you are a lay person dealing with professional claims people who get bonus points for settling cases for as little money as possible.

Typical

I infer from your message that you probably had a relatively minor "soft tissue" injury without significant longterm effects. Please let me know if that inference is incorrect.

You did not identify the insurance company. Some insurance companies are especially notorious for arbitrarily low-balling all such claims, forcing you to either accept a minimal amount in exchange for a full release, or take the case all the way to a jury trial. Allstate is the most notorious of those companies, but there are others.

The value of your case depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

(a) The nature and extent of your injury and treatment, and strength of the evidence presented on that. A minor fracture is generally of greater settlement value than a soft tissue injury with greater long-term effect because insurance companies know it takes exceptional advocacy skills to get a jury to award adequate compensation for soft tissue injuries. Treatment by an MD who takes your injury seriously is generally of greater value than treatment by a chiropractor. Whenever economically feasible, I videotape the doctors and use professional medical illustrations for the doctors to explain the injury to the jury.

(b) The amount of visible damage to your vehicle. I realize that there is little or no correlation between property damage and injury to the occupants of the vehicle. However, defense lawyers always argue that if there isn't a lot of visible damage to the vehicle, the person inside couldn't possible be hurt. They even have "biomechanics experts" who testify to a bunch of invalid research on that point. Pure junk science. It takes better than average advocacy to get an adquate award for any injury, especially a soft tissue injury, where there was minimal visible damage to the car. There are ways to address this, but it's always a challenge.

(c) The venue of the case. A case is worth more in some counties than in other counties. Of Georgia's 159 counties, Gwinnett is probably the worst. Most of the suburban counties are conservative in most personal injury cases, especially if you are suing an individual rather than corporate defendant. Fulton and Dekalb are the least conservative, but they will give you peanuts too without strong advocacy to prove liability and injury.

At this point in my career, as a matter of economics I simply don't take cases of pure soft tissue injury. If there is more to it -- mild brain injury, fractures, etc. -- then I may. Nor will I, as a general rule, waste my time on anything other than a catastrophic case in Gwinnett County.

Good luck.

Re: Don't know what to do

The insurance company is saying they will make you a settlement offer after your medical treatment is concluded. "What is a reasonable offer?" is a good question. The answer depends on the following factors:

1. The nature of your injury. In other words, how serious are your injuries from the wreck? The more serious the injury, the more your case is worth. Fractures and surgery will increase the value of your case; soreness and "soft tissue" injuries have the least value.

2. The amount of your medical bills. Same concept as above.

3. The type of medical care provider who has treated you for your injuries. A Medical Doctor is preferable to a chiropractor, etc.

4. The property damage. You said your car was totaled. Do you have pictures of your car after the wreck? If not, do everything you can to get photos immediately. Good photos of property damage will increase the value of your case.

5. Location of a lawsuit. In Georgia, you have to sue the other driver in the county of his residence. Some counties are o.k. for personal injury cases (Fulton and DeKalb), many are not good. See where the other driver resides. If it is a rural county, your case is worth less.

6. Do you have any pre-existing injuries, or were you completely healthy before the wreck?

7. Did you lose time from work because of your injuries?

These are some of the main factors that must be considered when determining what is a "reasonable" value for your case. I'd suggest that you call an attorney in order to get the best settlement possible. Good luck!