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Every personal injury case is unique in that each person is different and each fact situation has to stand on its own merit. Personal injury attorneys through experience learn how to evaluate cases for the best guesstimate of a potential outcome. There are factors that are analyzed in every case.
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LIABILITY
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The first factor that must be analyzed is liability. In order to get to the other factors the liability factor must be one in which the personal injury victim may prevail. Violations of rules or laws can be very powerful evidence in a case. In a nutshell, the question is what did the potential defendant do wrong? Balanced against what the defendant did wrong is how the plaintiff or personal injury victim acted.
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51% RULE IN TEXAS
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In evaluating the conduct of the defendant, the prudent attorney will evaluate the conduct of the potential plaintiff. What, if anything, did the injury victim do that was legally wrong? In Texas, we have a 51% rule, which is if the jury finds that the cause of the accident was 51% the fault of the plaintiff and the plaintiff does not collect money from the personal injury lawsuit.
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DAMAGES
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Assuming that make careful consideration of the accident comes to the conclusion that the plaintiff did nothing wrong and the accident was caused solely by the defendant, in that case, the evaluation proceeds to damages. Legal damages in Texas can include such things as lost earning capacity, disfigurement, disability and pain and anguish as well as other potential damages depending on the case.
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The reason the damages are considered in a case evaluation is because litigation is a very expensive proposition. Clearly some cases are more expensive than others to pursuer for Texas personal injury attorneys. Cases such as product liability or medical malpractice can be extremely expensive. Even smaller car accident cases can have substantial out-of-pocket expense to pursue given doctors depositions and the fees they charge. A careful evaluation will balance a reasonable cost to pursue the claim against the potential recovery for the personal injury victim.
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ABILITY TO PAY
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Finally, the personal-injury evaluation needs to include the ability to pay damages. There are many very serious cases where an accident was clearly the fault of the defendant and the personal injury victims damages are great, yet there is inadequate or no insurance coverage available to the injury victim. An old saying comes to mind?you can?t get blood from a turnip. That applies to Texas personal injury cases. Careful evaluation will conclude with can damages actually be paid. Ending up with a worthless piece of paper that says you one the lawsuit is no justice at all.
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One of my law school professors told our class that in many instances a lawsuit can end up being a ?personality contest? in other words, the more likable of the parties is more apt to prevail. This flies in the face of what justice in America should look like; it is a harsh reality to 12 strangers deciding a case.
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If you?ve been in a very serious accident you may want to consider speaking with a Texas personal injury attorney about evaluating your potential personal injury lawsuit.
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Source: http://www.texastriallawyers.com/blog/factors-in-personal-injury-case-evaluations/
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