When you’ve been injured in a Salt Lake City accident, it’s only natural that you’d want to know how much your personal injury settlement claim is worth. The money you receive from your personal injury settlement can help you rebuild by covering medical bills, replacing lost income, and helping pay other expenses associated with your injury and recovery.
The best way to get information about your specific Salt Lake City personal injury claim is to talk to an experienced local injury lawyer. You can schedule a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer at Allred, Vogt & Stuart right now by calling 801-876-7771 or filling out our contact form. In the meantime, the information in this post will give you an overview of how damages are determined in personal injury cases.
Is There an Average Salt Lake City Injury Settlement?
In theory, you could add up all of the personal injury settlements in Salt Lake City and calculate an average. But that number wouldn’t tell you anything about your case or what you can expect from your personal injury settlement. That’s because every personal injury case is different and there are a lot of variables. Some of the factors that play a role in determining the value of a personal injury claim include:
- The amount of your medical bills, including projected future medical costs
- Lost income due to the injury, including projected future loss of earning capacity
- Whether the injury is short-term, long-term, or permanent
- Whether you were partly responsible for the accident and to what extent
- How the quality of your life has been impacted
- The quality and clarity of the evidence of your losses
Other factors that may not be obvious can also play a role. For example, your age at the time of the accident can have a significant impact on the value of a claim if losses like the cost of ongoing medical care and diminished future earnings are at issue.
The settlement offer you receive may also depend in part on factors such as the law firm you hire, the insurance company on the other side of the case, opposing counsel, and even the judge whose courtroom your case will be tried in if you can’t reach a settlement.
Can I Use a Settlement Calculator to Estimate the Amount of My Personal Injury Settlement?
If you searched for information about the typical personal injury settlement range, you may have seen online calculators that claim to estimate the value of your claim. Or, you may have seen formulas like “multiply your monetary damages by 2 or 3.” Unfortunately, those types of calculations don’t provide meaningful information any more than an average would.
First, they simply don’t incorporate enough information. For example, a young person with permanent scarring or injuries that create permanent limitations may receive a settlement that is out of proportion to their actual expenses. At the same time, someone who had one very expensive but successful surgical procedure and returned to work and other regular activities in a matter of weeks can’t necessarily expect to recover 2-3 times the cost of that surgery.
Consult an Attorney about the Possible Value of Your Claim
An experienced Salt Lake City personal injury attorney can give you information about the typical personal injury settlement range for cases like yours in your area. However, it’s important to understand what an attorney can and cannot tell you about the value of your case.
A Salt Lake City personal injury lawyer can tell you:
- What factors may play a role in determining the amount of your personal injury settlement
- The strengths and weaknesses they see in your case and how those factors may impact the value of your claim
- How similar cases the firm has handled have been resolved
- How local courts have treated similar cases in the past
All of this can help you understand the potential value of your case and what variables will affect the final settlement. They can also help you make good decisions about whether to accept a personal injury settlement or fight your case in court.
Here’s what a personal injury lawyer can’t do:
- Guarantee you a specific outcome, or a minimum settlement amount
- Suggest that past results the lawyer or firm has achieved indicate that you can expert the same
A personal injury lawyer who makes promises about the settlement they can secure is violating the Rules of Professional Responsibility. You should be very wary about working with them.
The Right Personal Injury Lawyer Can Make All the Difference
The facts of your case and the damages you suffered obviously play a huge role in the amount of your personal injury settlement. But, as you’ve seen here, there’s much more to securing a fair settlement. The right Salt Lake City personal injury lawyer can help by:
- Thoroughly investigating your claim and gathering compelling evidence
- Making sure all possible responsible parties have been identified
- Choosing and working with the right expert witnesses to establish both fault and the extent of your damages
- Knowing what to expect from the insurance company and attorneys involved in your case
- Having a track record that lets opposing counsel know they are prepared to fight for you in court if that’s the best way to pursue fair compensation
The personal injury lawyers at Allred, Vogt & Stuart have the skills and experience and dedication necessary to help you secure the best settlement possible. We know how difficult the time after an injury is and how difficult it can be to know what to do next. We’re committed to making the right decision for you, whether that means accepting a settlement or taking your personal injury case to trial.
We also know how important it is for you to have reliable information before you make any decisions about how to move forward with your Salt Lake City personal injury claim. That’s why we offer free consultations to Utah injury victims. You can schedule yours right now by calling 801-876-7771 or filling out our contact form.
