The answer to that question is that it’s a bad thing many times:
– It’s bad if your case is really worth $250,000. I’m shocked at how often I see of an attorney convincing a client to settle for way less than what the case could be worth. $100,000 is a lot of money, but it’s not that much when you can’t work anymore.
– It’s bad when you need a lot more medical treatment and the settlement will close out your medical rights. If you need to have a back surgery and no longer have insurance to pay for it because you settled, that 100k is going to disappear pretty quickly.
– It’s bad when to get that amount you have to settle all of your open cases, but it’s not close to full value for all of your open cases. A caller to my office had a 100k offer for a knee injury. He had a separate case where he needs shoulder surgery, but the insurance company (and his lawyer) want him to settle both claims. Terrible idea.
– It’s bad if that’s the absolute worst you can do at trial. When we represent clients, we let them know what a possible range at trial could be. If the worst case is $100,000 and the best case is $175,000, settling for 100 is only good for the insurance company and the lawyer who is too lazy to actually spend the day in court.
– It’s bad when you used to make $60,000 a year, can’t go back to your old job and haven’t found new work. Until vocational rehabilitation has been completed and you’ve found work that is at or near your old wages, settling could cost you a ton.
In some cases, getting a $20,000 settlement is huge. In other cases, 100k is really low. Don’t focus on the dollar numbers or what someone else you know got. Try to figure out what your best and worst case scenario is and use that as your guide for determining what a fair amount is. If your attorney tells you to take a certain amount, make sure that they explain why.
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