Settling or Going to Trial: What’s the Better Option?
If you have a personal injury claim, settling or going to trial is not an option when you want the best results. You need to prepare for trial to show the defendant you’re serious. Although settlement is likely, it’s best to push the case forward to get the fastest trial date possible. The Orange County personal injury law Hicks Law Firm PC will discuss how getting ready for trial can make for a better settlement, and when’s a good time to get off the trial track and settle your case.
Orange County personal injury lawyer Aaron Hicks has helped thousands of clients litigate and settle their legal claims and he can help you too. Aaron knows when it’s time to move ahead for a trial and when you should take settlement seriously. With your help, Orange County personal injury attorney Aaron Hicks and the personal injury Hicks Law Firm can obtain the injury compensation you deserve.
You Can’t Have One Without the Other
You can’t negotiate a fair settlement with an insurance company without leverage. That’s using the strength of your case and the legal system to your advantage. If you don’t prepare for a trial and take the steps necessary to make a trial win more likely, you have less leverage to bear on the insurance company during negotiations, reducing your chances of success.
Many things can give you more leverage, including:
- Strong evidence supporting your claims. Without evidence substantiating your claim that the insured’s negligence caused you harm, your claim may be short-lived and have a low value. You won’t get much in settlement and will have little chance of success at trial. The better and more credible the evidence, the greater the chance a positive outcome will come your way
- State law favors your case, given the evidence. You don’t want your case to pose a new or challenging legal issue. You want the facts to line up behind tried and true interpretations of California laws that favor plaintiffs. Judges usually follow past court rulings when deciding outcomes. You want there to be earlier cases where plaintiffs like you in similar situations had favorable legal decisions and won damages. Complex or tricky legal issues are great to discuss and debate in law school, but that’s not what you want for your client
- Pressure you can put on the defendant by having the case approach trial as quickly as possible. Pushing a case forward to trial can make an insurance company’s life more difficult, so it may be more inclined to settle your case. As the difficulty and expense of a trial increases, the more an insurance may offer as a settlement to put its resources into other cases. You don’t need to have the strongest case to get a good settlement, you want your case to be the one the insurer most wants to settle
The facts and law may be more favorable for the insurance company, so they have more leverage, making a positive outcome more difficult and less likely.
Times Will Come When Trying to Negotiate a Settlement Will Be a Good Idea
Nearly all cases are settled through agreements. Very few are decided by a trial.
Settlement isn’t a sign of weakness or defeat. It’s the realization that you can get a positive outcome without needlessly risking losing your case or obtaining less than you want. Both sides concluded that risking a total loss to get a total win isn’t worth it.
Every trial is a gamble. A case with substantial evidence may not impact the jury. They might dismiss your case or award you much less than you expected. Legal rulings may not go your way, so proving your case may be difficult. The insurance company may have these problems too, so they may be more motivated to resolve your case.
Good times to try settlement are the following:
- When both parties have all the relevant information about your case through the discovery process. We can fully evaluate it and come up with a fair settlement value
- When an important ruling during the litigation process goes your way. It strengthens your leverage, and you could try to take advantage of that
- The case is close to trial. The parties understand the effort and resources it will take to go to trial, while they risk an all or nothing decision by the jury. The parties may settle for a fair amount so they can prevent a loss
This assumes the parties are being reasonable. If you’re unreasonable and demand an amount you have little chance of getting from a jury, the insurance company would prefer a trial because even if they lose, they’ll probably pay less than you’re demanding.
If the insurance company is unreasonable and offers nothing close to your case’s value, you have little to risk by going to trial. If you lose your case, you haven’t lost much given how little you were offered to settle.
Aaron Hicks is an Orange County Personal Injury Lawyer You Can Trust
Some cases have very straight paths that lead to settlement, while other cases’ paths look like pretzels. No matter how your case is resolved, it may take a combination of active litigation and intense negotiation by your personal injury attorney to get the most compensation possible for your injury.
Orange County personal injury law Hicks Law Firm PC helps our Orange County clients regain their lives by obtaining the most compensation possible for their injuries. Call us at (949) 541-9944 or fill out our online contact form so we may discuss your case.
Aaron Hicks is a civil trial attorney and founder of Hicks Law Firm, based in Orange County with offices in San Diego and Tennessee. His practice includes representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases including motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, dog bites and wrongful death. Mr. Hicks is and AV Rated attorney, Super Lawyer and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association where he serves as 1st Vice President.
