{"id":16790,"date":"2023-11-20T08:44:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T13:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/?p=16790"},"modified":"2023-11-10T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T16:34:07","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-a-personal-injury-settlement-and-a-court-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/article\/whats-the-difference-between-a-personal-injury-settlement-and-a-court-award\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the Difference Between a Personal Injury Settlement and a Court Award?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Technically, there\u2019s no difference between a court judgment and an out-of-court settlement. The judge must approve both a jury\u2019s verdict and an out-of-court settlement. However, as outlined below, some significant differences exist between the two. These differences benefit victim\/plaintiffs, which is the main reason over 95 percent<\/a> of civil claims settle out of court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the majority of personal injury cases settle, most don\u2019t settle quickly. The best evidence usually isn\u2019t available until discovery, which occurs somewhat late in the litigation process. So, if a personal injury case settles too early, the best evidence, and therefore maximum compensation, is usually unavailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. A knowledgeable and experienced attorney can obtain additional punitive damages in some extreme cases. Furthermore, a third party, such as a shipping company or a commercial alcohol provider, is often financially responsible for these damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials are very expensive. Expert witnesses, like medical experts, often charge more than $500 per hour<\/a> to testify in court. The victim\/plaintiff must also pay the expert witness\u2019 travel and other expenses. This high cost significantly reduces the money victims receive from a court judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, most consulting experts charge a fraction of that amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials are also very time-consuming. Most judges are booked for months or even years in advance, so most victims wait a long time for trial dates. As mentioned, most personal injury cases don\u2019t settle quickly. However, cases usually settle before the trial date. The sooner the case ends, the sooner victims receive their checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials are emotionally costly as well. Legal showdowns make compelling scenes in movies and TV shows. In reality, they put added strain on personal injury victims who\u2019ve already been through a lot. Additionally, if a case ends earlier, victims can stop worrying about the outcome and move on with their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many cases, this benefit of a settlement is more important than the other two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unidentified tortfeasor (negligent driver) hit-and-runs are a good example. If a New York personal injury lawyer cannot locate the responsible driver, most victims file PIP (personal injury protection) claims with their own insurance companies. New York\u2019s no-fault insurance law requires motorists to add PIP coverage to their policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people don\u2019t want to take their insurance companies to court. Fortunately, this move usually isn\u2019t necessary. Insurance companies are eager to keep their paying customers happy in these situations. Therefore, these claims often settle quickly, and on victim-friendly terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technically, these matters don\u2019t \u201cgo to court.\u201d Most insurance policies include arbitration clauses. Basically, arbitration is a private trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Injured passengers also usually hesitate to file legal claims against negligent drivers. The negligent driver may be the named defendant, but the tortfeasor\u2019s insurance company handles all settlement negotiations. Most likely, the company will raise the tortfeasor\u2019s insurance rates or even cancel coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can predict how a jury will rule or how much compensation a jury may award, no matter how much experience the lawyer has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jurors often base their decisions on obscure and seemingly meaningless items<\/a>, such as how a victim dressed at trial. They often do the same thing when they award compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, if the parties settle a case out of court, they control every part of that settlement, including the amount of compensation awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In most cases, a personal injury settlement is preferable to a court award. Contact us<\/a> for a free consultation. We do not charge upfront legal fees and do not recover a fee until we win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technically, there\u2019s no difference between a court judgment and an out-of-court settlement. The judge must approve both a jury\u2019s verdict and an out-of-court settlement. However, as outlined below, some significant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[878,964,1070,1253,1397,1398],"class_list":["post-16790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-injury","tag-insurance-claims","tag-personal-injury","tag-trial-attorneys","tag-no-fault-insurance","tag-settlement","tag-civil-claims"],"acf":[],"page_builder_type":"classic","gutenberg_data":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}