If you’ve been injured in a personal injury matter, you’ll be in a position to negotiate for a settlement, which can reimburse you for nearly all the damages you sustained. Most plaintiffs are interested in winning the highest settlement possible, so what steps can you take to negotiate for a higher settlement in your personal injury case?
Following Your Attorney’s Advice
Your best course of action is to follow your attorney’s advice. Your personal injury lawyer is a competent expert in this field, and they owe you a fiduciary duty, acting in your best interests so that you can get the best possible results. Your attorney will also likely be personally incentivized, as their payout is going to depend entirely on their ability to win a settlement for you.
Because of these factors and others, you should trust your attorney’s advice. They may recommend following certain negotiation strategies, set your expectations for what you can recover, or encourage you to take a certain settlement offer. If you have strong convictions to the contrary and logical reasons to push back, feel free to engage your lawyer in conversation or even decide on a different course of action entirely. However, for most people, you’ll see the best results by simply doing what your lawyer tells you.
The Objective Factors
You can optimize for a higher settlement by preparing the objective evidence. The more evidence you have in your favor, and the more damages you can show, the more you’re likely to recover. These are some of the most important pieces of evidence to present:
- Photos and videos. Photos and videos can illustrate many aspects of negligence, potentially showing how the breach of duty happened, the causational link between the breach of duty and the injury, and the extent of the injuries. If you’re involved in an accident, make sure to take as many photos and videos as possible So you can show what the scene looked like in the immediate aftermath.
- Witness statements. Witness statements aren’t always reliable, but they could be instrumental in helping you build a case. If you have multiple people who recount the same version of events, and they all align with the official police report, you’ll be in a much more favorable negotiating position.
- Receipts. Make sure you keep adequate documentation of all the expenses you incur as a result of this accident, from medical bills to receipts from car repairs and beyond. The more itemized receipts you can show, the more compensation you’re likely to win.
- Medical/expert statements. It may also be a good idea to have medical professionals and other expert witnesses testifying to the extent of your injuries.
Negotiating Better
You can also improve your negotiating. These are some of the best strategies here:
- Hire the best lawyer you can. By far the most important factor to your success is working with a good lawyer. Compare different personal injury lawyers in your area and hire the best lawyer you can afford. Skilled, experienced attorneys can tilt the odds in your favor.
- Know your personal priorities. To negotiate effectively, you need to know what you want. You may not have a specific dollar amount in mind, but you should at least be able to determine whether you’re more interested in a quick, efficient resolution or a higher payout, even at the cost of longer negotiations.
- Recognize reality. It’s common for people to hear about personal injury cases that pay out millions of dollars, but these tend to be the stark minority. Most personal injury cases are resolved with much lower settlement offers. While there’s nothing wrong with seeking the highest possible settlement, you should also ground your expectations in reality.
- Be patient. You also need to exercise patience during this process. It’s likely going to take months to complete your investigation and even more months to negotiate a settlement, even if things go smoothly. If your case is especially complicated or high in nominal value, it could take even longer, especially if you go to court. If you’re willing to tolerate this process, you’ll have a stronger negotiating position, and you may walk away with more money as a result.
- Be ready to go to court if necessary. Similarly, you should be ready to go to court if it means getting the compensation you deserve. Both parties are strongly incentivized to avoid court, so being willing to adopt this last resort may put you in a stronger negotiating position overall. As always, trust your lawyer’s advice here, as going to court isn’t always in your favor.
With more evidence in your favor, a good lawyer at your side, and excellent negotiating abilities, you should be able to push for a much higher settlement payout. You may not be able to recover every dollar you want, but you can maximize your compensation, given the constraints of your existing circumstances.