In just about every Illinois injury case we get contacted about, the top question on everyone’s mind at some point is “What is my case worth?” We hear that a lot in the beginning of a case and can’t answer that as we don’t know what your ultimate recovery will be. And of course we hear these questions later on and usually can give a better answer.

A client recently asked a different version of this question by saying, “What would be a good settlement for this case?”

That’s a great question. The answer requires an understanding of how these cases work in reality.

The first thing to know is that just because a friend or someone else got a certain dollar amount for a certain injury, that case has no bearing on yours as every case is factually different.

There are three big factors that play a role in what a case is worth. The first is what are the facts and how much liability do you bear versus the other person. If you get rear-ended at a stop light, it would seem like you have no fault. But if it’s dark out and you didn’t have your lights on, you could have some fault. If you are 30% at fault for an accident, a $100,000 case becomes worth $70,000. In every case you can bet the insurance company is trying to put as much blame on you as possible even when it seems ludicrous. Giving you even just 10% fault saves them money.

The second factor is damages. The more serious you are hurt, the more a case is likely worth. Someone who has to miss six months of work will have more damages than someone who misses none. Someone who breaks there leg and just gets a cast will have a case worth less than someone who needs surgery. And the higher your medical bills, the more often the case is worth more.

But it’s the third factor that often ultimately determines what a case is worth. That is how much insurance is available to go after in this case? The reality is that if you are hit by a city bus or a semi truck and suffer a serious injury, that case will be worth way more than if you get hit by a teenager who has a $30,000 insurance policy. Even if you have a half a million in bills, the chances of collecting any more than the insurance policy are almost none unless the person who hit you is somehow worth a lot of money or there is someone else to sue.

This all can be very unfair. Some cases that would be worth millions end up being worth just thousands. Medical liens can eat up all of that if you don’t have a good lawyer advocating for you to reduce them.

There are other factors too that you wouldn’t think about. The value of a catastrophic case with a lot of insurance – or if you are going against a big company, no limit on insurance – is worth more in the hands of some law firms than others. In other words, one firm might get $2 million on a case where a better, more experienced firm could get $5 million.

Some firms are just more experienced and better at this than others. In one case we got involved with, a small firm was telling someone to take a $100,000 settlement, telling them that is all that’s available. We got them to a more experienced firm who discovered there was an additional $1 million insurance policy.

Overall the answer is that the goal should be to get the most that a case can be worth. We can help you find the right Illinois injury attorney to make that happen. If you’d like a free consultation, please call us at 312-346-5320.