How an Attorney can Increase the Value of a Settlement
When you finally take your time to file a personal claim and hire an attorney, you must have suffered a critical financial hardship because of the damages you’ve experienced. It is your lawyer’s work to build a case that is a confident win for a maximized settlement value.
While it is undoubtedly that an attorney does this for his clients, there are some techniques that he or she can use to increase the settlement value, especially in criminal and personal injury situations. These cases’ value for compensation can be increased when the attorney can prove that their client was seriously injured or suffered immeasurable damages.
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What Is A Settlement Value?
A settlement value is what the jury would order for your compensation for what you have been suffering, including financial loss. The payment covers your bills, pain experienced, lost job due to injuries, and your physical suffering.
It is common practice that juries grant more money to plaintiffs’ cases they can relate to, can identify with, and have full knowledge of. If an attorney has a credible case, he or she should work the most out of the situation and put in the effort to boost the settlement value of his/her client.
Below are some tips that an attorney can use to help increase the value of a settlement:
Is It Wise To Accept The First Settlement Offer?
It may not be wise to accept the first settlement offered. An insurance firm might take advantage of a victim’s desperate situation and offer a lower value than what should actually be compensated.
Remember the amount of money that is to be awarded is very important as it will cater to all a victim’s bills and assist in getting back to his or her feet.
Keep in mind that many insurance firms trick victims around until it is too late for them to engage an attorney. As an attorney, it is crucial to advise your client not to submit medical bills to insurance firms as they only pay a small percentage of the bill.
Increasing the Defendant’s Risk
One of the most effective ways of increasing a client’s case value of a settlement in the absence of a court trial is increasing the defendant’s risk. As an attorney, it would be against your norm to stand before a jury, and you are assured your client will not win from a case a substantial amount or when you are concerned that the defendant will be granted with a verdict not-beyond their initial appraisal.
In this case, an attorney can persuade his or her client not to go to trial as it will result in a value that does not meet expectations of loss suffered or damage experienced. An attorney should advise the victim to settle for a reasonably larger amount out of court.
Materialize the Plaintiff’s Injuries
Although it sounds biased, it is fair if your client’s injuries are distressing. For example, if a client suffered from back or neck injuries, an attorney can order various diagnostic tests such as MRI’s, PET, and CAT scans, to give the jury a depiction of the pain a client is going through.
Attorneys at Kaplan Lawyers can even go beyond, to the point of asking for neuropsychological testing to show how serious the injuries are, in that they go beyond the physical body and will harm: quality of life, relationships, and career paths.
Search for experts that can testify to the reality that the plaintiff needs ongoing treatment for the anticipated future.
If it can remain proved that a client needs ongoing treatment, then the defendant will find it difficult to sway a victim for a lower amount of compensation. If a defendant’s attorney cannot estimate the jury’s verdict, then the case can remain settled out of court at a higher value.
Establishing Gross Negligence
If you want to increase your client’s value settlement, you have to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant’s actions were grossly negligent. You have to convince the jury that the defendant’s action was more of carelessness and less of an accident for them to charge the defendant a higher amount. If a jury finds the defendant full of fault, they will probably favor a plaintiff by increasing the value of the settlement.
Ensure that you steadily focus on the defendant’s wrongdoing in addition to their negligence, especially if the case arose from a criminal act and personal injury. Such, the jury is justified in granting your client a favorable verdict of a larger amount settlement.
How to Help Your Client before Working for a Higher Value of Settlement
Obtaining a higher value of settlement may take time. While you are vying for a case to stay settled for a larger amount, your client is trying to pay medical bills and other living expenses.
Sometimes, a client might push you to accept any offer, but this is against your professional practice.
It is advisable to not try to rush the case even if your client is in need of immediate funds. Instead, get a case advance settlement from financial service providers, which will help your client pay for pending expenses.
An attorney should not settle for less and should always focus on making a client satisfied and happy. He or she must ensure that client gets a higher settlement value at all costs so that they can be able to pay daily expenses and get back on their feet.
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