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Injury costs |
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Question:
I am looking for imformation on the average cost for a back injury.
Any help would be appreciated!
Answer:
Lawyers are often asked the basic question that is on everyone's mind
when it comes time to discuss settling a personal injury case--"How
Much Is It Worth?" Unfortunately, it is not an easy question. While a
contract case is easy to evaluate for damages--the dollar figures are
right there in the document--it is much harder to put a dollar figure
on, say, the loss of use of one's legs.
To help explain how lawyers reach the recommendations they make in
evaluating a personal injury case, we offer, as a small portion of the
factors we consider, the following:
1. All of the factual details surrounding how, when, where and why the
injury occurred, 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 or she engaged in before the injury,
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;
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.
IOW, get an experienced personal injury attorney.
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