Going to court to receive damages for a personal injury lawsuit seems almost American these days. If you have been injured, you expect the guilty party that caused your injury to legally compensate your pain, suffering, or disfigurement in some fashion or other. But is going to court all it is cracked up to be? Will the injured party truly come out ahead? Here are some factors to consider before jumping feet first into taking someone to court for a personal injury claim.
The Defendant Lacks Money and Assets
If you are seeking damages for a personal injury case, it is generally smart to ask yourself if the defendant appears to be in any position to pay out. Does the defendant have a job, own a home, or have any assets even worth going after? If not, you may be spending tons of money on a court case that will never lead to you receiving any significant amount of compensation. As Bachus & Schanker Law say, wasting money on a legal claim where you know you will get virtually nothing is simply a bad investment of your time and money. Sure, you might win the court case in principle, but it begs the question of what you have gained from doing so.
Winning the Judgment
So you took another party to court for a personal injury claim, and you even won a judgment against them for a sizable amount of money. A few years after the fact, you still have not received one cent for all your trouble. People win judgments against defendants only to realize that getting paid is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. They imagine that simply winning the judgment should mean they will be paid off. Though, according to a Denver personal injury lawyer, this is often not the case at all. In fact, after spending large sums of money on an attorney to win the case, this outcome generally leaves people with less money in their pocket than when they started out. Because people generally do not understand all the legal issues behind judgments, this often means they are stuck paying attorneys even more money to do the hard work of collecting on the original judgment. This in turn eats further and further into their compensation amount the more difficult it is for them to collect the monetary damages owed them.
The Personal Injury Cap in Tennessee
In a recent legislative move in Tennessee, a law was ushered through that sets a cap on how much a personal injury case can obtain for a claimant. At a cap of $750,000 the hope is that the new law would discourage higher medical costs, and help to better moderate excessive settlement amounts. Unfortunately, if the courts are able to set an artificial cap on a personal injury case before the case is heard, this could potentially lead to significant monetary losses for a person seeking damages for their pain and suffering. According to the Tennessee Law Center, this cap extends into the domain of injury-related death cases as well. It was further noted by the Tennessee law group that the cap was adjustable to a higher amount in certain situations, such as when the decadent is remained by minor aged children.
Although there are many scenarios where going to court over a personal injury claim is warranted, the truth is, many times it is more cost effective to not waste your time and money. If you honestly believe there is something to gain from winning this type of a case, then try to determine if such a court case will work in your favor. Keep in mind that to spend massive amounts of time and money to win a personal injury case that will never pay out, person is really nothing short of adding insult to injury.
Editor’s Note:
In some cases (i.e. small claims court) you can handle the case yourself without the help of an attorney. If you win the judgement you can even handle the collection process yourself i.e. get a lien against personal property such as a car or truck or even computer. In some states, for a small fee, the Sheriff’s department will deliver an official notice of the lien for you and assist in collecting on it. This drastically reduces the out-of-pocket costs and can make it worthwhile to pursue smaller cases.
Image courtesy of SmokedSalmon and FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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