When you’re hurt on the job, it can be difficult to know what to expect in settlement discussions. Surely you are owed something through your worker’s comp insurance, but what happens if the insurance company refuses to cut the check you want? Many people get an attorney for this reason. How much you will get with a lawyer by your side during the final settlement will depend on your injuries. Those who suffer lower back injuries can expect significant compensation. This injury tends to take a person out of work and make it difficult to do many of the things they loved to do before. While you may receive significant compensation for this injury, the actual figure still depends on the specific circumstances of your case.
Did you have surgery on your back?
The settlement will be significantly higher if you had to have surgery as a result of your back injury. Often times, an injured lower back can lead back fusion surgery. At the very least, it can lead to lumbar procedures to fix a slipped disc. The severity of your injury, combined with the number of surgeries needed, will go a long way to determining just how much you will receive.
Understanding potential recovery at trial
If you had to actually go forward with a trial against your employer or the workers comp insurance provider, then you’d have potential recovery through a jury-issued judgment. Settlement value is often based on the potential amount that you might recover at trial. In most cases, lawyers with experience in settling these issues will consider your chance of winning at trial along with the range of recovery. This allows them to then come up with a settlement figure that you will shoot for.
Juries can vary wildly on judgment amounts. If your injuries were severe and you will have a difficult time working in the future, then juries will often award several hundred thousand dollars. If you suffered greatly, you can expect that number to tick higher. However, if you can only show slight injuries, then juries may see your lawsuit as being somewhat frivolous. It is true that juries tend to favor plaintiffs in workplace injury cases, but the circumstances of your case will go a long way to determining this outcome.
Settlements reflect a discount off of potential trial recovery
In order to settle, the other side will have to believe they are getting some discount off of what they might expect to pay at trial. This means that if they could potentially get hit with a $200,000 judgment, they may only settle the case for $50,000. As the settlement demand creeps higher, it makes more sense for the insurance company to try to win at trial.
It is difficult to predict how much you will get in a final settlement with your lawyer present. Some walk away with $20,000 or so. Others, who have especially serious injuries, can walk away with a settlement check well into the six figures. It will depend in part on your case and the quality of your attorney.
Jim Treebold is a North Carolina based writer. He lives by the mantra of “Learn 1 new thing each day”! Jim loves to write, read, pedal around on his electric bike and dream of big things. Drop him a line if you like his writing, he loves hearing from his readers!