Why Is It So Hard To Get A Verdict In Your Favor In A Personal Injury Case?

Most legal cases do not play out the way they appear in movies and on television.  There is almost nothing that lawyers and witnesses can say during a jury trial that will surprise the judge; before the trial, the judge has carefully reviewed all the evidence that either side plans to present and perhaps even resolved disputes between the two parties about which evidence to include in the trial and which to exclude.  Most cases end without a jury trial, anyway, both in civil court and in criminal court.  Therefore, most of what personal injury lawyers do to help injured people get the money they need to pay for their medical expenses and injury-related lost income does not involve trying to persuade a judge or jury to decide that the plaintiff is entitled to the money.  Not only does this mean that you might be able to get the money you need without the public scrutiny involved in a trial, but it also means that a Columbia personal injury lawyer can get you a fair settlement more quickly than you think.

Personal Injury Lawsuits Only Happen When Sufficient Insurance Settlements Are Not Available

Except in the case of injuries where the medical bills are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or where the injured person will never again be able to work in a job that pays as well as the job he or she held before the accident, it is often possible to get the relevant insurance companies to pay a big enough settlement to cover your accident-related medical expenses and lost income.  It is possible, but this does not mean it is easy; in fact, insurance companies profit from the fact that most people do not have the time and energy for the research and persistence required to persuade insurance companies to pay all the money to which the injured people are entitled.

Car accident lawyers, by contrast, are knowledgeable about all the laws and loopholes addressed in the fine print of insurance policies.  By speaking on your behalf with one or more insurance companies which have issued policies applicable to your accident, your lawyer might be able to get you enough money to cover your accident-related losses without you ever having to set foot in a courtroom or threaten to sue.

Most Personal Injury Lawsuits Settle Before the Case Goes to Trial

Don’t believe the advertisements by personal injury lawyers who say that they never settle; if this were true, they would be wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars of clients’ money each year.  Only a small minority of personal injury lawsuits go to trial, and when they do, the defendant usually wins.  The defendant will not refuse to settle unless they are sure there is a good chance that the court will rule in their favor.  (Similarly, most defendants in criminal cases plead guilty; the ones who go to trial are the ones who are confident that there is reasonable doubt about their guilt and that they can persuade the jury of this.)  Some defendants offer a settlement as soon as your lawyer says that you are planning to sue; a big part of your lawyer’s job is negotiating with the defendant about a fair settlement amount to compensate you for your accident-related losses.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you get enough money to compensate you for your medical bills and other accident-related losses, usually without going to trial.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.