- Past and future medical costs
- Past and future lost earnings
- Past and future pain and suffering
Although items 1 and 2 can sometimes be calculated with a degree of precision, item 3 is very subjective. For this reason, many personal injury attorneys, myself included, utilize online subscription data bases to search for the history of jury awards and settlements in similar cases. These subscription services allow the attorney to input information such as:
- — Type of Injury
- — Amount of medical bills incurred thus far
- — Estimates of earning loss
These programs will then print out a list of jury awards and settlements for cases with above parameters. Searches can be conducted nationally or for a single state.
This information assists the attorney and her client in determining what the fair settlement value of a case is. If the insurance company fails to offer a settlement amount in that range, it lets the attorney and client know that it will necessary to file suit and proceed to trial to properly compensate the injured person for her injuries.
A major caveat is in order here. These computer programs can only provide a useful range of figures. This is true because every case is different, and it is not possible to totally quantify the value of an injury case. For example, if a car crash case involves some facial scarring from broken glass, that component can be added to the information plugged into the verdict search program. However, what if the injured client works part time as a model, and the disfigurement causes her to lose this job? In such a situation, the “average” settlement figure would not be realistic.
For these reasons, no computerized verdict search can take the place of a competent personal injury attorney applying his years of experience to assist the client in arriving at the property settlement range for a case.