Pros and Cons of Settling a Moreno Valley Personal Injury Case
Wondering whether you should accept a settlement offer or proceed to court with your personal injury case? The answer isn’t always clear-cut, but this post should help you decide.
What happens when a Moreno Valley personal injury case is filed?
Before we get to settlements and court dates, we need to cover what happens right after your case is filed.
Filing a case the right way means giving the defendant written notice of your case. After they’ve been given a chance to respond, you should already have a pretty good idea of whether you’ll be going to court or not (based on their response).
When you file a case with a skilled Moreno Valley personal injury lawyer, you make it less likely that your case will be tossed out due to technicalities and missed deadlines, giving you a better chance to recover the compensation you deserve.
You always have the right to go to court
Let us be clear—you ALWAYS have the right to go to court, regardless of whether the other party has offered you a settlement or not. While you should closely examine any offers sent your way, you shouldn’t hesitate to find a personal injury lawyer in Moreno Valley who is willing to go to trial if that settlement isn’t substantial enough.
Benefits of settling before a trial
Your Moreno Valley personal injury attorney should know the type and amount of payout you can expect from seeing similar cases, which will help you figure out how much compensation you’ll see from your case.
Sometimes, the insurance company will make a fair, generous offer right off the bat that takes care of all your needs. In this situation, it’s smarter to take the settlement than go to court, where it’s unlikely you’ll see better results.
One of the benefits of settling is that it’s less stressful than going to court—however, that’s never a good enough reason on its own to shy away from a better alternative that might win you a far higher payout.
Advantages of going to court
Most of the time, the first offer you receive from the other side just isn’t good enough. Insurance companies are terrible at putting a cost on intangible damages like pain and suffering, and notorious for giving injured people the short end of the stick.
That’s why having an experienced personal injury attorney in Moreno Valley on your side is so crucial.
A skilled lawyer is your only way to level the playing field, making it tough for slick insurance companies to push you around and persuade you to take a bad deal.
Sometimes, going to court is the only way to recover the damages they need to live a whole life again.
Settling versus going to court
If you agree to settle, paperwork will be drawn up. Once signed, these documents create a binding legal agreement that means you’ll be unable to return to court to seek damages years later, such as for future medical costs.
With the right lawyer, you’ll more easily be able to calculate the true cost of your injuries, and be more prepared to seek the highest possible payout for your accident.
Want the short answer for whether you should settle or go to court? It depends.
Your case is unique, and you need an equally unique approach to see the best outcome. Give us a call or fill out the brief form below and we’ll help you schedule a free consultation where we can figure out just how much your case is worth—and how to recover the maximum payout possible, whether that’s in or out of court.
If you came across this post and you are not in Moreno Valley feel free to check out all the locations we serve as we are the entire Inland Empire’s best personal injury attorneys hands down.
