The most frequently asked question that we get is, “How much is my case worth?” That question can never be answered in the beginning of the case. As the case develops and as time goes on with your case, there are opportunities where you can determine what you think the case is worth. The value of a case depends on the responsibility or liability aspect of the case, meaning whose fault was the accident; how easy is it to prove that the person was at fault for your accident? What is the injury? Obviously, a simple injury such as a minor sprain is not worth as much as an injury where there is a compound fracture. A person who does not lose income is not going to be compensated as much for loss of income as a person who does lose a great deal of income.
There are a lot of factors to take into account when you are determining the value of a case. In the beginning we have an idea of what we’re shooting for; we have an idea of what the injury could be. A doctor needs the opportunity to look at you, diagnose your condition, treat you for that condition, and make some opinions about your future need for care. Until we have that and we know that you are in a position where you are pretty much stable, we’re not able to make a decision as to how much your case is worth. However, at some point, when we get to that point of a plateau in your medical treatment and we’ve gotten an idea what your loss of income is, what your lost future earnings are, and we’ve determined how much you’ll be affected in the future by virtue of the injury you have sustained, we can make a determination as to how much a case is worth.
That comes because of experience. If you have enough time, have enough cases that you’ve worked on, you’ve seen enough decisions, you’ve seen enough jury verdicts, you’ve been involved in trials, and you’ve been involved in arbitration, with that experience you get to develop a sense of how much you believe you would be able to get in the trial of a case. The only way to do that, is to hire someone or to consult with someone who has experience in the area of personal injury because they’re the only ones who know what you can successfully hope to achieve in terms of a recovery.
The law firm of Mattleman, Weinroth & Miller, P.C., is composed of experienced personal injury attorneys throughout the state of New Jersey. Please contact the office for a free initial consultation and get any questions answered regarding your specific case.