Personal Injury Settlements

Sent to you by soni via Google Reader:

Personal Injury Settlements

via Joseph P. McClelland, LLC by admin on 7/22/11

Personal Injury Settlements is a post from: Atlanta wrongful death law firms motorcycle laws car accidents
This post is about staying on track in personal injury settlements in car accident case.  What you are staying off of is the track towards litigation, and you do not want to litigate personal injury cases with the insurance company's outside legal counsel.  The reason is because it will take much longer than you want to finish or wrap up your settlement.  So, how long does it take to sue the insurance company and get paid?  I would tend to say around over a year.  Some cases can move quickly if both sides want that to happen, but time is money.
As a Georgia personal injury lawyer and Georgia accident lawyer, I read a lot of legal books about car accident and motorcycle accident negotiations.  I was reading a book on insurance negotiations the other day by James Publishing about settling auto accident cases.  The article discussed tips to stay on track to settlements for car accident lawyers.

Tips To Settle Personal Injury Lawsuit

First, I agree that litigation is  failure of attorneys to properly value their cases and properly negotiate their personal injury settlement.  Sometimes personalities get in the way.  Sometimes clients get in the way, but it is their case and their life.  Therefore, this is one situation that is fine, although I will speak more on client expectations later.
Back to insurance settlement negotiations.  The insurance adjustor's  job is to settle cases.  That is exactly what they are there for.   They are not the litigators who may one day try the case, they are the ones who can settle it.  They have a lot of cases, and staying on one forever makes for bad business.  On the other hand, they can't settle them all or the boss will wonder what is going on.  Hence the conflict and the opportunity.
So, how to keep the personal injury settlement negotiations on track?  Keep them on the same page.  Keep them updated with all new medical bills and reports.  That way, they can put all the information into their system to move them along.  Remember, they must get authorization to settle each case for a certain dollar amount based on the information they receive and put into their computer system.  Help them.  If your medical bills start to climb higher, the adjuster can go and get additional reserves to help settle the car accident case at the right time.

When Settling Injury Cases Are Difficult

Some injury cases will either automatically settle or will automatically have to be tried in front of a jury and judge.  I am referring to wrongful death cases.  The reason why, and as an Atlanta wrongful death lawyer I know, is the value of the case is so extremely high.  So, there is insurance to cover it or not.  So, the individuals who would be the defendants if we brought suit might be rich.  In that case, we would not settle with the insurance company and get a judgment.  That way the insurance company would be forced to pay their policy limits and the individuals would have a judgment that we could collect against them personally after the trial.  If they are broke, then the case will be quick because the insurance company will cut the check.  If they are rich, look for a long wrongful death trial.
You see a similar event when you are dealing with trucking or 18 wheeler accidents.  Again, sometimes the key is how much insurance is available for the injuries from the wreck.  In a car accident case, you might be working with the legal minimum insurance requirements of twenty-five thousand per person and that is it.  On the other hand, if were injured by a commercial vehicle or van or truck, then call a Georgia tractor trailer injury lawyer because the insurance company will play hardball.  For many of the same underlying reasons that we looked at in Georgia wrongful death cases.

Another Car Accident Settlement Tip

Allow time to pass for the best offer.  What the insurance companies offer on their first call will not be the same quality of offer that you will get after time.
On the flip side, the insurance company may want to settle the personal case right away.
The Law Office of Joseph P. McClelland represents clients across Georgia in Atlanta, Roswell, Marietta, Stone Mountain, Sandy Springs, Jackson, McDonough, Griffin, Stockbridge, Monticello, Decatur, Jonesboro, Macon and Butts County, Henry County, Spalding County, Jasper County, and Clayton County.  Thanks for reading this article on personal injury settlements.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Joseph P. McClelland, LLC using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites