Personal injury lawyers usually settle cases for large sums of money. Please read on to learn more.
A personal injury lawyer is one who handles cases for clients who’ve been harmed through the negligence of another individual or company. These accidents and injuries can occur through traffic collisions,
machinery or equipment that malfunctions, doctor or hospital errors, trip-and-falls and much more. With competent legal representation, settlements are obtained from modest amounts to enormous sums of money. It all depends on how much harm was caused in the incident. Here are some examples of large settlements over the last few years.
- One million dollar case: The family members of a man who was killed on the job received this amount. In this incidence, the relatives didn’t depend on the deceased for support, yet still received compensation for the loss of their relative.
- 1.1 million settlement: This case involved a semi truck colliding with an automobile. The person who received the settlement suffered broken bones and a mild brain injury.
- $2,000,000: A delivery person was struck by the items from her truck as they were being unloaded by the receiving company. She was knocked to her back, hit her head and suffered injuries to her back, skull and assorted bones. A personal injury lawyer helped their client get a proper settlement.
- $2,000,000: A bicyclist was hit by a truck and dragged down the road.
- $2.25 million: A shopper at Pier One was bonked on the head with a falling piece of merchandise and suffered head injuries and depression.
- $3,000,000: A bus crashed into a vehicle injuring the person inside the automobile. The person in the car suffered back and head trauma.
- $5.2 million: A semi truck leaked oil on the highway which caused a vehicle to skid out of control and wrecked. This person had broken bones and brain trauma.
- $7.5 million: A tractor-trailer rig crashed into an automobile and caused bodily harm to the driver of the car. This case reportedly only took ten days to reach a settlement.
- $12.2 million: This was one of the largest verdicts in the state of Virginia that occurred in 2007. A shopper in a convenience store fell as there was something slippery on the floor.
Settlements amounts will always depend on how badly a person was hurt and how the injury adversely affected his or her life. Severe cases include those where a person died, lost a limb, suffered brain trauma or broken bones. If a person is unable to work, be mobile or participate in life in a normal way, this will cause undue suffering which will be taken into account. Pain and suffering, hospital bills, loss of wages and damage to property are all considerations when arriving at a settlement amount.
Some of the steps in this process include meeting with an attorney for a consultation, making a plan, having a demand letter sent to the responsible party, trying to settle and then going to court. These cases are paid for on a contingency basis which means that the personal injury lawyer will take a percentage of the financial award rather than be paid up front by the client.
