Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania

Re: Accident settlement amount for pain/suffering

Another attorney has written an excellent listing of the factors which go into evaluating a fair settlement; these also explain why it would be foolhardy to try to deal with the other insurance company directly. They are only interested in trying to get rid of the claim as cheaply as possible, and won't hesitate to take advantage of an unrepresented claimant.

Here's the PI factor FAQ:

A bodily injury claim cannot be properly evaluated by anyone other than a skilled and experienced attorney with knowledge of all relevant information, including the following:

1. All of the factual details surrounding how, when, where and why the injury occurred in order to determine if there is any liability for the injury at all and, if so, to assess what defenses may be available and to estimate the degree of fault which may be assessed against the injured person, as well as the prospective defendant(s);

2. Whether it is a tort claim, a worker's compensation claim, or both;

3. The details of the injured person's medical history, both before and after the injury;

4. All medical expenses, including hospital, physician, drugs, therapy bills and other expenses incurred or expended to date for diagnosis and treatment, and all such expenses which may be incurred in the future;

5. All past and predicted future loss of income arising from the injury;

6. All other past and projected monetary losses and expenditures arising from the injury;

7. How the injury has affected the injured person's ability to perform the various activities he engaged in before he was injured, including work, sports, social, household and recreational;

8. Whether the prospective defendant has insurance and, if so, how much; or if there is no insurance, information concerning the ability of the prospective defendant to pay;

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Re: Accident settlement amount for pain/suffering (cont)

9. The injured person's work history, marital status, educational history, and appearance, credibility and demeanor as a witness;

10. The capacity and willingness of the injured person to train for and perform other work, the cost of any such retraining and the income which might be earned after retraining;

11. The prospective defendant's appearance, credibility and demeanor as a witness;

12. The availability and credibility of both expert and non-expert witnesses on all liability and damage issues;

13. The law which would be applied to the case in the state(s) where it would or could be filed;

14. Whether the case could be filed in or removed to a federal court and, if so, which one(s);

15. A history of jury verdicts which have been rendered in similar cases in the court(s) where the case would be filed and a "feel," for how a jury in that jurisdiction would be likely to react to the case;

16. The anticipated expense of prosecuting the case through trial and possible appeal.

Depending on the particular case, there will be a number of other factors to consider before a proper settlement evaluation can be made. These include the existence of medical and other liens against the claim, the willingness or unwillingness of the injured person and the prospective defendant(s) to engage in what could become a lengthy legal battle, the relative skills of the attorneys, judicial attitudes, etc., etc.