Questions You Should Ask Your Personal Injury Attorney About Compensation and Settlement

Questions to Ask Attorney for Injury Compensation

So you had a slip and fall injury and ended up in the hospital, you can't work and the bills are piling up. You contacted an attorney specializing in your specific injury and they are working on the case. How much should you expect in compensation? Well the best way to find out, is to ask. Besides determining if your case is litigatable, your attorney should be able to estimate any compensation for you based on past successes.

Compensation for injury is usually based on the severity of the injury, i.e., pain and suffering, as well as distress and humiliation caused by the injury or the recovery process of the injury. You may also receive compensation for medical bills, present and future, compensation for current lost wages as well as compensation for loss of ability to earn in the future.

Attorney Fees

You should also ask how much your attorney will charge for their services. They will receive a portion of the settlement as their fee for services, and most injury attorneys do not require a cash retainer but rather will wait until settlement is reached for their payment.

After an award amount has been reached, collecting the money may be another issue to address. Often times if the defendant has insurance, your attorney will simply contact the insurance company and they will cut a check for the amount or for an amount equal to the maximum they will pay on the policy. Any amounts beyond that will require other means to collect, as will if the defendant has no insurance.

If the defendant has no insurance it is often more difficult to collect damages. You will have to have the judgment entered in court and seek to have the judgment enforced. In that case you should then seek the assistance of another attorney, one that specializes in collecting judgments.

Your Right to Know

If your award is paid by an insurance company you should not hesitate to ask your attorney for a copy of the check as well as a settlement "breakdown" of the compensation awarded. It is within your rights to see this information, any attorney that refuses to provide this information is in violation of law themselves.

Your attorney will typically collect their fee from your award; this fee may be as much as 40% of the awarded amount. You may find an attorney that collects less than the maximum, but expect that you will not. You should consider that it may be better to pay 40% to a highly skilled and successful attorney, rather than hire one with less experience that will collect a lower fee. A lower fee from a lesser award amount may give you less money that paying 40% from a higher award amount.

Do Your Research

As with anything else, it is always wise to do your research prior to making a commitment. Seeking the assistance of an attorney that has a proven track record and has references to prove this will yield a higher likelihood of a successful litigation.