It is always the injured claimant’s decision to settle rather than go to trial. The claimant makes that decision on an informed basis with advice and consults from their car accident attorney. It is their decision to decide whether they are going to accept or reject any settlement offer. The insurance company has to be willing to offer enough to make it worth their while to resolve the case rather than go through litigation and go to trial.
Getting to a settlement offer requires careful planning and presenting all of the information regarding the injured claimant’s damages in a careful way to the insurance company. However, often, insurance companies are not willing to offer full value for the case because they like to see whether the claimant will accept a lesser amount.
Sometimes, despite a lawyer’s best efforts in trying to reach a resolution outside of litigation, they have to file a lawsuit and go through that process. When a lawyer has to file a lawsuit and go through that process, it becomes clear that they have to engage in that process thoroughly and aggressively, in a way that hopefully results in the best outcome for the client. Reach out to an experienced attorney to learn about the reasons to settle a car accident case rather than go to trial in Rock Hill.
Reasons to Settle a Claim
Someone might look to settle than go to trial because the litigation process is costly in terms of time and money. Unfortunately, there is not an express lane for serious cases. When they file a lawsuit, they are automatically going to incur greater costs in terms of how long the case takes to resolve. There are things that have to occur in the litigation process, and those things do not recur on a short timeline. They take place on a much longer timeline.
For instance, after a lawsuit is filed, the first couple of months are taken up with the party sending interrogatories back and forth, which is list of questions that both parties are required to answer. The lawyer has the opportunity to send the defendant questions, and the defendant has the opportunity to send the other side questions. It is almost like doing homework in that they have to go through those lists and provide all the information that the other party is requesting.
Scheduling Depositions
Just that process can take a couple of months by itself. After that point, they have to schedule and take the depositions of the parties involved in the case. The common parties who give testimony in a deposition include:
- The injured claimant
- The defendant
- Witnesses
- Treating physicians
- Friends or family members who have observed changes in behaviors, changes in the way of life, standard of living, or quality of life for the claimant
They have to schedule those depositions on the plaintiff’s attorney’s timeline, the defense attorney’s timeline, the court of order’s timeline, the client’s timeline, and other party’s timeline. It sometimes stretches out all those meetings over the course of several weeks or months. Then once those are complete, or at some point during that process, they also have to schedule the mediation that the courts would require before getting to trial.
The only thing that is true is that the time involved also takes a certain amount of money of each one of those steps. To take a treating physician’s deposition, for instance, requires paying that treating physician according to their time. A lawyer also has to pay a court reporter to record and provide a transcript, and that can be costly.
Not to mention, there are often situations that require the use and hiring of expert witnesses to provide testimony in the trial to help prove the case. Expert witnesses can range in prices depending on the subject or expertise. Every case is different, but after filing a lawsuit, the cost will be much greater than it would be if they are able to resolve the case outside of litigation.
For a free legal consultation with a reasons to settle lawyer serving Rock Hill, call 1-803-366-0333
Refusing a Settlement Offer
A good reason to refuse a settlement offer is if the offer does not make the injured claimant whole again. When there is liability, which is when a breach of duty causes someone else to incur significant harms and losses, the at-fault party has a duty to make the claimant whole again. They owe that person a certain amount of money according to the amount of damages that they have suffered or occurred.
If the other party refuses to do that, then the injured claimant would not want to accept the settle amount that does not make them whole again. If they are just not offering an amount that reflects the value of the case, then they would probably prefer to go through the litigation process. However, in making that decision, it is an economic decision, and they also have to take into account the amount of cost in terms of time and money.
Even though an offer may not truly reflect the full value of the case, it may be in someone’s best interest to resolve a case once they take into account the extra time and money of going through the litigation process.
Rock Hill Reasons to Settle Lawyer Near Me 1-803-366-0333
Seek Help from a Car Accident Attorney
If a negligent party causes someone to suffer harm and losses, they could be held liable in court. They may also be required to pay the injured victim compensation that covers the full value of their damages. If they refuse to do so, then thankfully, the court allows a lawyer to seek recourse by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Speak to an experienced attorney to learn about the nuances of a car accident case. They could also provide reasons to settle a car accident case rather than go to trial in Rock Hill. Call today to discuss your case and legal options to recover compensation.
Call or text 1-803-366-0333 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form