A Guide to Injury Suit Settlement Process -

What is an Injury Suit Settlement?

Typically, when you are injured, you assess your immediate injuries and evaluate if the injuries may lead to something more serious in the future. You also try to see whose fault it was that caused your injuries. If you have a strong case, then you may want to file a lawsuit against the person or entity that caused your injuries.

When you do not want to undergo the travails of a lawsuit and trial in court and wait for a judgment from the court, you can opt for an out-of-court settlement. This would constitute an injury suit settlement.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, data from jurisdictions that provided totals for both trial and non-trial tort dispositions in 2005 show that nearly 4% of all tort cases were disposed of by trial. This means that 96% of all tort cases were disposed of by settlements or otherwise.

Thus, the probability of going to trial is very low. The reasons could be many but it pays to learn about how to settle out of court an injury claim you may have made. Personal injury lawyers, such as The Levin Firm based in Philadelphia, will be very useful to consult and you should visit their website to learn about their expertise and make a decision to employ them for your case.

If you are opting for a settlement, you need to ensure you follow the steps outlined below:

You can settle out of court any time

The first thing to know is that a settlement can occur without going to trial at any time during the claim process. You could perhaps settle even before making a formal claim. The opposite party could approach you for a settlement. Often, insurance companies assess their liability based on their experiences and try for an out-of-court settlement.

Prepare your case well and assess the costs and damages as accurately as possible

During the preparation stage, you should make all efforts to strengthen your case by collecting the necessary evidence in respect of your injury. Then, you would assess the costs incurred immediately and the costs in the future to take care of the injuries to you and others, including equipment involved in the incident causing the injuries.

Once you have assessed the contours of your claim, you can then think of a settlement.

Get an order of settlement from the court

If you decide on a settlement, you have to get an order of settlement from the court. This will detail the settlement agreement between you and the opposite party. If you do not, then the case will continue. Therefore, make sure the terms of the agreement include the compensation amount, the payment date, and other details. The opposing party may want to protect its rights and hence you should be ready for a mutually agreeable settlement.

Insurance Company Involvement

The involvement of insurance companies and the attorneys connected with you and the opposite party is inevitable, and therefore there will be a lot of giving and taking before the final settlement terms.

Offer of judgment and demand for judgment

There is a certain amount of control for both sides in a settlement as opposed to a trial. If during a settlement process, one of the sides declines a settlement offer from the opposite side and the trial proceeds, then the outcome of the trials imposes certain costs on the side that declined subject to conditions as per this Florida Statute 768.

A settlement is a popular form of settling personal injury claims. The advantages of a settlement over trials include the following: