The majority of personal injury claims, or roughly 95 percent of them, are resolved outside of court; however, this also means that 5 percent of them do go to trial. Continue reading to learn how a judge and/or jury will determine how much money you deserve to be compensated for your damages.
Call the Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation if you have any additional inquiries or require the counsel of a personal injury lawyer.
The Judge or jury looks at the evidence
The judge or jury will examine the evidence that was given throughout the case as their first step. They will consider your medical history, your expenses, any time you missed at work, your lost wages, and other things. They will go over everything and total up all costs. This only applies to measurable economic damages, not to noneconomic losses like pain and suffering.
They will take the attorneys’ advice into account
According to studies, a jury may be swayed by the amount the plaintiff is suing for and may increase its award as the award amount increases. This is significant because the jurors base their decision-making on the amount of compensation the plaintiff expects to get. They will begin by asking, “Do they deserve more or less than the $1.4 million they are seeking?” rather than, “How much does this person deserve?”
They might think about the past
The judge may permit your personal injury attorney to mention the outcomes of previous instances in specific sorts of personal injury cases so that the jury would get a sense of how much the case might be worth. Always keep in mind that the jury lacks a legal background, therefore providing them with this knowledge might be quite beneficial.
Proportion of fault
Comparative negligence is used in personal injury cases in California. According to this theory, each party is accountable for damages in proportion to their share of the blame for an accident. Therefore, even if you are 95 percent to blame for your injury, if someone else is 5 percent to blame, they may be ordered to pay 5 percent of your injury-related expenses.
The jury will decide what portion of blame each side bears. They will evaluate the available data, take into account the arguments made by each attorney, and determine the relative fault. After that, they will give the plaintiff damages based on the overall damages they have determined, divided by the at-fault party’s share of fault.
For instance, if the jury finds that the at-fault party was 59 percent at blame and that the total amount of economic and noneconomic damages was $100,00, the plaintiff would receive $59,000. Working with a personal injury lawyer will allow you to discuss the particulars and gain a better understanding of how your case may be impacted. Contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
