How Hard Is It To Win An Injury Case?
One of the most common questions a personal injury attorney will hear relates to how hard it is to win a case. A lot depends on the nature of what happened and who's handling the claim. These three aspects of a case tend to influence whether a personal injury lawyer thinks it's going to be difficult.
Insurance
Despite what you might hear from some of the more aggressive commercials for injury attorneys, insurance companies are rarely a bad thing in a case. If someone is insured, there's a good chance they've thought about the risks they face and won't make poor decisions.
Also, the insurance company has incentives to settle every claim that's legitimate, not the least of which is they could lose more money in a lawsuit. Juries are known to award large judgments, especially if they think the defendants are not just negligent but downright wrong.
The Extent of the Injuries
On the low end of the scale, some injuries may be so minor that a claimant can't legally seek damages for them. If you had a few scrapes and bruises, for example, that's not enough to justify a claim.
At the other end, catastrophic injuries may knock down some of the barriers to pursuing a large claim. Some states have restrictions on how much compensation a plaintiff can claim. The restrictions are almost always nullified if you have catastrophic injuries, mean ones that altered your life permanently or dramatically. For example, losing a limb or suffering brain damage would count as a catastrophic injury.
How Liable the Defendant Is
Liability is a legally-defined form of responsibility. In most cases, liability applies only if the defendant had a duty to prevent you from being harmed. An individual passing by an apartment complex that is on fire, for example, doesn't have any legally-binding relationship with anyone inside who might be harmed. Therefore, they don't have a duty of care in the incident.
Conversely, many choices assume a duty of care. If you take a car on the road, a duty of care comes with that decision. Stores and other public accommodations take on a duty of care when they allow folks to enter their premises. Homeowners assume a duty when they invite someone in. Most professionals do, too, when they ply their trades.
Some events may undermine the liability of a defendant. Unexpected weather, in particular, is a good example of what's called force majeure, uncontrollable circumstances. Force majeure isn't a free ticket to avoid liability, but it's a factor in winning or losing some cases.
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