Since each personal injury case is highly personal and unique, it is challenging to offer an average settlement amount. Your best bet is to consult your lawyer. They will take into account the circumstances of the case, the impact on your health and well-being, and other key aspects to offer an informed estimate.
How To Get a Settlement Estimate?
Some people prefer to calculate Georgia personal injury awards based on their specific circumstances, while others just want a dollar-based guideline. You can use an online calculator to get an estimate or consult your lawyer for a more personal approach.
Online calculators are usually sponsored by legal funding companies, which obviously understand the issues involved. These resources consider the following when estimating a potential settlement:
- Lost wages
- Loss of consortium
- Emotional trauma and loss of interest in your favorite activities
- The specific venue where your case will be adjudicated
- Compensation for exceptional negligence
- Pain and suffering
- Total medical expenses and estimated future medical expenses
- Disruption of your life and career
- The severity and prognosis of your injuries
- Property damages sustained
No system is perfect or 100% accurate in estimating potential Georgia personal injury awards, but this is a comfortable option for estimating some of the specifics of your settlement or serving as a guideline to know which settlement offers might be acceptable.
Another viable option for a settlement estimate is your personal injury lawyer. In fact, they can give you an approximation even during the initial consultation. The more data they have to work with, the more accurate predictions they can make. Furthermore, your lawyer can help you get information on personal injury law in Conyers, GA.
The General Approach to Estimating Georgia Personal Injury Awards
The problem with estimating personal injury settlements or court awards lies in the fact that often these vary considerably from averages based on the specifics of your case. However, these averages provide a useful guide to what you might receive.
Although it shouldn’t matter, you can increase your court award or settlement offer by becoming more sympathetic to judges and juries. That means testifying in a calm, organized manner and stating the real-world problems that your injuries cause without exaggerating or trying to milk the jury’s sympathy.
Your lawyer should serve as your primary advocate – that’s their job. Ideally, your attorney should come across as an unbiased trustee seeking redress of a tremendous wrong. Your attorney can argue for empathy and a high sense of moral and legal obligation. That can help observers understand the true hardships of the case.
Average Georgia Personal Settlement Awards
According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average claim for auto accident injuries settled for $18,417 in 2019, and property damages averaged a claim amount of $4,525. One useful strategy is to multiply your total damages by two for a reasonable estimate of pain and suffering damages.
Most lawsuits settle out of court. The median award in 2019 was $95,000, but the average award was $1,775,759. Product liability cases received the highest award average – $4,030,868. These were national figures and not for Georgia specifically.
Getting back to average Georgia personal injury awards finds an average award amount of $52,900. Settlement amounts ranged from $3,000 to $75,000. About one-third of Georgia cases received no money at all.
About 37% of claims received between $3,000 and $10,000 and 21% received between $10,000 and $25,000. 10% of claims received settlements between $25,000 and $75,000, and 16% received more than $75,000.
Aspects That Affect Your Claim
Everyone has heard tales of multi-million dollar settlements and awards, but these are rare cases involving extreme negligence, catastrophic injuries, or punitive damages for medical malpractice.
Hiring a lawyer can raise your settlement by $60,000 – from an average of $17,600. Even after deducting the lawyer’s fees, you can receive about three times as much money by hiring an attorney.
Getting Legal Help for Your Case
You might be able to file a lawsuit and receive compensation for any injuries, property damages, and non-economic damages like pain and suffering and emotional damage. In rare cases, you can even receive punitive damages to punish defendants for certain types of extreme negligence.
Author:
Early in his journalism college years, Kerry Tucker had a revelation: there were not nearly enough law communicators. Peoples’ difficulties in understanding the law, procedures, and how the justice system worked stemmed from the fact that no one took the patience to explain complicated matters to them. Therefore, he took upon him the task of helping people navigate legal matters easier. He works with attorneys and other legal journalists, and spends time doing research so that everyone can find the actionable answers they are looking for.
