In a Plymouth premises slip and fall injury case, the value of your case is determined by the jury. They do this by evaluating three things:
- Why or how you fell
- How you were injured
- The extent of your injuries
If you plan to file a slip and fall injury lawsuit, the value in damages has to be significant enough for the case to make sense. Otherwise, if you go ahead and file a lawsuit based on your feelings, you won’t get much out of it in the end. This is why you should talk to a Plymouth slip and fall injury lawyer before filing a lawsuit.
So let’s get down to how much your slip and fall injury case is worth.
Slip and Fall Accident Settlement
If you decide to settle, you will receive much less than you would if you went to court. If you think you deserve more than what the insurance company is offering you, you can decide with your slip and fall lawyer to take your case to court. Your lawyer should be able to advise you as to whether your case has a chance of succeeding at trial.
However, before you refuse a settlement offer, take some time to evaluate it. Sometimes slip and fall accident victims are known to refuse an offer out of anger or some other type of emotion. So before you commit to the risk of trial, listen to your lawyer because they are able to make a more objective decision.
At the Trial
Estimating how much your case will be worth at trial is not so easy. This is because the jury is the only entity responsible for deciding how much in damages the insurance company will pay you.
Damages like medical bills and lost wages are easier to calculate because they are easy to document. But for damages like pain and suffering, it is much harder to put an exact dollar value on them. At most, the jury will make a guestimate as to how much you should be awarded in damages.
CDC has a more detailed report about the cost of falls among older adults.
One more thing you must remember as you prepare for the litigation process is that even though every jury is different, their main role is to determine if you should be awarded damages in the first place. The judge will give the jury details about the duty of care the owner of the premises owed you and then they will decide if they breached their duty.
For instance, the jury will determine if the owner of the property took extra measures to prevent the accident such as maintaining the property on a regular basis and putting up visible warning signs to warn people of a slippery floor.
The jury will also determine how strong your case is and if you played a part in causing the accident. For instance, what were you doing before you slipped and fell? Were you talking on the phone and missed a step, which caused you to fall down the stairs?
If the evidence in your case is weak but the damages are high, the amount you will receive in damages will be much lower. Make sure you consult with your Plymouth slip and fall lawyer because they are in a better position to help you build a solid case.
The Extent of Your Injuries
You may have been injured in your accident but how have the injuries affected you? For instance, if you work as a construction worker and you fell down and broke your leg, you obviously won’t be able to go to work until your leg completely heals.
This means you will have a high medical bill and you will miss a significant amount of wages because you aren’t able to go to work. The valuation of your case will be much higher than a person who simply scraped a knee and was able to go back to work immediately after leaving the hospital.
Your Plymouth Slip and Fall Lawyer Will Impact the Value of Your Case
If you go to an attorney who has a track record of only accepting settlements and not going to trial, you will most likely receive very little in damages. We recently wrote a post about how to identify settlement mill lawyers.
At Kevin P Landry, we are not in the business of convincing our clients to accept low settlement offers. We have an open track record of ensuring our clients get the compensation they deserve.
If you have suffered a slip and fall accident in Plymouth, you can contact us by calling 508-746-2700 or visiting our Plymouth offices to schedule a free initial consultation.
