How Much Can I Expect to be Compensated For My Injuries?

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Today’s blog post gets to the heart of the matter. How much can I expect to be compensated for a personal injury suit?  As with almost any legal question, the answer is that it depends. I will discuss these determining factors, and walk through some of the bigger concepts to consider. I will talk specifically about medical bills, wage loss, pain and suffering, subrogation, and attorney’s fees.

Medical Expenses

One of the biggest portions of many personal injury claims is the medical bills portion. You will be able to recover the cost of your medical treatment related to the incident in which you suffered your injury. A personal injury attorney will contact health care providers on your behalf and assemble all of the medical information regarding your injury. The attorney will then compile it into a digestible format, and send it to the insurance company on your behalf to try to get a settlement. If the insurance company decides not to settle the case, the personal injury attorney will use the medical bills as proof of damages suffered to a jury in a trial.

Subrogation

Medical bills go hand-in-hand with subrogation interests. Subrogation is a big scary word. Some lawyers and law students might not even know what it means. Basically, subrogation interests are any party that paid money on your behalf resulting from the injury that wants to get that money back and has a legal right to it.  For instance, if you do not have health insurance, and a hospital has paid for your health care during your treatment, the hospital will collect the portion of their unpaid bills as part of your settlement. That is subrogation.

Compensation for Other Losses

Perhaps, when you get hurt, your injury will cause you to miss work. An attorney will work with you to figure out how much wages you lost because of being unable to work while hurt. This data will then be presented to the insurance company as an additional harm suffered.
Getting injured hurts and recovering from an injury is no fun either.  It can be hard to quantify, but you will be compensated for the pain and suffering that your injury causes. This will be a portion that the insurance company would pay in a settlement, or it can go to a jury for an amount in a trial.

Attorney Fees

There is a lot of work that goes into a personal injury lawsuit and lawyers need to be compensated somehow. Thus, attorney’s fees will be taken out of your total settlement. Most Milwaukee personal injury attorneys, including this office, operate under a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid if we win at trial or settle. Attorney fees will likely be discussed during the initial consultation.

Bringing It All Together

So the final answer can be found in a sort of mathematical formula: Medical Bills + Wage Loss + Pain and Suffering – Subrogation – Attorney’s Fees = Total Compensation. These are the major factors that determine the total amount of compensation you will receive. Having an experienced and dedicated attorney can help you prove the damages your suffered so that you receive the maximum compensation you deserve. If you’ve been injured, schedule a free consultation and case review today.

Get in touch with us today to get started with your FREE case review. We’re only a call, click, or short drive away.