EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR PERSONAL CAR CRASH CASES IN FLORIDA

1. “Liability" means who is at fault? In automobile crash cases liability is paramount. If liability is clear in terms of the defendant being clearly responsible for having caused the accident which resulted in the automobile crash injury, then the case shifts in the plaintiff's favor.

2. The second factor is medical bills. Medical bills are substantial evidence that can be used against a defendant in a jury trial. As long as the medical bills are reasonable in amount and are reasonably related to the injury that was sustained, they can serve as leverage against the defendant for the purpose of negotiating and evaluating a personal injury car crash case.

3. Another factor is the collision damage. If the injury resulted in substantial collision damage to the car, the insurance adjuster and the defense attorney will look at that case differently than a case in which an injury crash basically resulted in very little to no physically observable crash evidence to the vehicle itself.

4. The quality or credibility of both the plaintiff's and the defendant's testimony is also a significant factor. For example, if the defendant is a habitual drunk driver who has had multiple car crashes and has had his driver's license suspended prior to the crash but the plaintiff is a local minister, that may be a considerable issue that both the defense attorney and the plaintiff's (victim’s car accident) attorney will have to ponder over in determining what the settlement value of the case is.

5. The quality of the witnesses will be examined carefully during deposition testimony by a competent defense counsel as well as the plaintiff’s (Car accident injury victim) attorneys. More credible witnesses could mean being taken more seriously by the jury, which in turn, could be a crucial variable in determining the outcome of a case.

6. The reputation and ability of the plaintiff’s attorney is another very considerable factor in determining the value of the case. If you are being represented by an attorney who has a reputation for being a settlement lawyer and who does not have the skill, ability, desire or intent to prepare your case for the purposes of trial, you may not be able to get maximum value for your case. In contrast, an attorney who has a reputation for being aggressive, ethical, well-trained and who has the ability, intent, desire and motivation to prepare your case all the way through to jury trial, generally gets verdicts in the client's favor.

7. Lastly, are the quality and characteristics of the defense counsel. Competent, ethical , well-educated, well-trained defense attorneys will be able to calculate the value of the case and perhaps to convince their clients (Car accident injury tort doer) to make a fair offer. Defense attorneys who are strapped for cash and are worried about their billable hours may fail to inform their clients (Car accident injury tort doer) of the risks of going forward with litigation. One more factor is the insurance company itself. Some insurance companies are more conservative and are unwilling and unable to settle cases that ought to be settled. They must be forced to pay to defend a case headed to trial before their internal rules will authorize a settlement. Other insurance companies are reasonable and have the reserves that are necessary to settle cases amicably and fairly. Which type of insurance company you find yourself up against is as much a luck of the draw as anything else I suppose.

8. Another factor is venue. By venue I mean the actual location where the lawsuit is being brought. Statistical evidence and research has shown that some geographic locations are more likely to skew in the plaintiff’s favor than others. Lucky for Floridians involved in car accident car crash litigation, Florida happens to be one of the jurisdictions that typically tends to award large value for injury victims.

9. The type of car accident injury is the next criteria. The type of injury and whether it is a permanent injury or a severe injury that is not permanent are considerable factors when deciding to settle or take a case to trial. If the car crash injury victim has a soft tissue injury versus a broken bone injury, automobile crash adjusters will perceive the risk differently, and will assign different values for the purposes of settlement.

10. The next factor that should be considered is the loss of income. If a defendant in an automobile injury crash can demonstrate that there is a loss of income in so far as they have been unable to work and have sustained financial loss as a result of inability to work , that is one more significant factor that could be used to settle in automobile injury crash case or used as evidence to present at a jury trial to the client’s benefit.