Personal Injury Law Topics / Trial or Settlement?

Taking a case all the way to trial is very stressful for the client.  In a personal injury action, all three players on the plaintiff side must be at the top of their game — the attorney, the plaintiff, and the medical doctor. If any one of these three does not do well at trial, it may spell the end of receiving a favorable verdict.  I recently tried a case where the client was excellent on the stand, we had prepared and presented the case very well, but the medical doctor testifying for the plaintiff came off brash, indulgent, and somewhat disrespectful to the the opposing attorney.  In the end, the jury did not like the plaintiff’s doctor and seemed to penalize the plaintiff due to the personality of his doctor by giving him a verdict much less than what we had wanted — although it was very close to the amount offered by the defense just before trial. Although this may seem unfair, jurors seem to want everything to run well on the plaintiff’s side if they wish to receive everything they ask for.  So before actually taking a case all the way to trial, it is important for a plaintiff to understand the risk of going to trial and that everything, which includes personalities that are beyond his control, must run smoothly.  Of course, if the offer to settle the case is much less than the value, then the plaintiff has no choice but to go all the way to trial.  Only if the offer is in the ballpark of the value of the case, should a plaintiff strongly consider settling as opposed to running the risks as described above.

Should you, family member, or friend been involved in a serious injury, feel free to contact me or visit my website by clicking here which will contain all my contact information.