Personal suffering & medical settlement. How much $$$?

[Mr.Kenny]

I posted a few weeks ago about being T-Boned by a an Infiniti QX45; our Avalon being totaled, my daughter slightly injured, etc...
The insurance company occasionally checks to see how my daughter is doing and is inquiring about settling.... No, they have not been obnoxious or pushy. They have been quite civil and actually nice. (Of course)
My 18yo daughter seems to be all better; no more back pain or twinges as there was only muscle soreness from the accident and only the one hospital visit with xrays etc.
The insurance co will pay for all medical, and for 'pain & suffering.'
Okay; here's the question.... How much is common settlement for pain and suffering? A few days of soreness and stiffness plus a month of a little pain if she "turns her back just a certain way"....
We are not greedy gougers or trying to profiteer or take advantage of the situation or the system. We fancy ourselves to be honest people all the time.
Any experience or ideas?

(They gave us true retail market value for the Avalon; which was more than NADA book.)

P.S. Do you like this little red car I bought to replace the Avalon? My daughter thought it was "cute".

[TX76513]

6 to 10 times the meds. Did you (anyone) get a medical impairment rating?

[Mr.Kenny]

Originally Posted by TX76513

6 to 10 times the meds. Did you (anyone) get a medical impairment rating?

We didn't buy any of the prescribed pain meds; she wanted to stay sharp for her classes. So she ate Tylenol.
I don't know if she got the said rating.... I'll have to look at all the hospital forms & diagnosis's.

[MS Fowler]

Originally Posted by Mr.Kenny

I posted a few weeks ago about being T-Boned by a an Infiniti QX45; our Avalon being totaled, my daughter slightly injured, etc...
The insurance company occasionally checks to see how my daughter is doing and is inquiring about settling.... No, they have not been obnoxious or pushy. They have been quite civil and actually nice. (Of course)
My 18yo daughter seems to be all better; no more back pain or twinges as there was only muscle soreness from the accident and only the one hospital visit with xrays etc.
The insurance co will pay for all medical, and for 'pain & suffering.'
Okay; here's the question.... How much is common settlement for pain and suffering? A few days of soreness and stiffness plus a month of a little pain if she "turns her back just a certain way"....
We are not greedy gougers or trying to profiteer or take advantage of the situation or the system. We fancy ourselves to be honest people all the time.
Any experience or ideas?

(They gave us true retail market value for the Avalon; which was more than NADA book.)

P.S. Do you like this little red car I bought to replace the Avalon? My daughter thought it was "cute".

Get your own lawyer. The insurance company will certainly have their lawyers.

[POS]

Welcome to the gray area. Problem is that you're trying to put a price on something that possibly hasn't happened yet, or possibly might never happen. There is no set number, but before you sign away anything you'd better be sure you and your daughter are fine.

My wife still has issues from an accident she had twenty years ago; she got nothing at the time because nothing was known.

[John Doe]

Originally Posted by TX76513

6 to 10 times the meds.

Uhhh, so if you are an adjuster, and I call you up with the fact presented, you would pay out, lets be honest, even 3X meds?

edit: sorry, I was a little buzzed (watching the game when I wrote that).

BUT for pain & suffering in this matter strikes me as absolutely impossible. If I were defending, I would take that demand to trial.

[cmbdiesel]

Call one of those TV guys, the 'here's my wreck and here's my check' fellas.
That should help you set a top end number, and probably provide you with some laughs and a good story.

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by John Doe

Uhhh, so if you are an adjuster, and I call you up with the fact presented, you would pay out, lets be honest, even 3X meds?

edit: sorry, I was a little buzzed (watching the game when I wrote that).

BUT for pain & suffering in this matter strikes me as absolutely impossible. If I were defending, I would take that demand to trial.

Oh yeah? Are you an insurance defense lawyer? You sound pretty glib and arch about that.


Court or jury trial, counselor?


If jury trial, an insurance defense lawyer had better make a damn good case and do a hell of a good job with his due diligence, as regards your jury selection.....

That "jury Trial" you want to have -- if that is what you want so bad, is seen by most jurors, as a waste of their time, and you DON'T have to be a Rhodes scholar either to see it, as the injured party being forced to go to court to get his due from some lawyer hired on retainer from a big bad insurance company, that is trying to stiff the claimant out of what they owe him, or to cheap out on settlement by forcing him to go to court, often forcing the injured claimant to fight in court to get what is due him.


.... *And* further, forcing the claimant to often have to hire some contingency fee counsel to fight for him that will usually take 33% of his dollar recovery if it settles pre-trial, and up to 60% of his recovery if it goes to trial, thoguh jury instructions usually keep that fact secret because the Judge thinks it could further inflame the jury.


Those trials are just about haggling over numbers and unless you're really good, those things put jurors to sleep of boredom.


And yeah, "Doe", insurance company defense lawyers are considered the lowest of the low amongst corporate lawyers, ...... any wet behind the ears law school raduate with a brand new degree and who passed the bar but can't get a job doing anything else, usually can start out by getting a job as a insurance defense trial lawyer.

Lowest of the low, on the prestige scale, among good professional lawyers.

(edit: "sorry" -- haven't had my morning coffee yet)

[MTI]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

And yeah, "Doe", insurance company defense lawyers are considered the lowest of the low amongst corporate lawyers, ......

Yes, everyone knows what a sterling group "corporate lawyers" are.

Lowest of the low, on the prestige scale, among good professional lawyers.

(edit: "sorry" -- haven't had my morning coffee yet)

While you may be correct about comparing on species of slimy toad against other slimy toads . . . I believe that if you examine hiring practices a bit closer, you'll find that many more "insurance defense lawyers" come from the ranks of local prosecutors and . . . gasp . . . public defenders offices, as they have the requisite trial experience, case load experience and are usually quite happy to climb the professional evolutionary ladder.

[cmbdiesel]

Enough of this, Call the guy on TV - The pinnacle, the apex, the absolute zenith of lawyerly ambition. I really just want to hear what kind of pitch one of those shysters would use, and how huge a number could they dream up.

[aklim]

Well, as I am reading it, they haven't been jerks with you at this time, YET. As such, I would be loathe to take them to the cleaners just for the hell of it. OTOH, if they are trying to shaft you, I would find the most aggressive lawyer (read biggest scumbag, ex politician, etc, etc) and sue the hell out of them.

Try this approach. After it is all said and done, let them know you prefer not to go thru an attorney. After all, the attorney takes about 35% of the thing. So if you get 100K, after all the dues and what not, you might end up with 60K. Tell them that they could make you an offer you cannot refuse. 1 time only. If you like it, you settle on the spot. If not, you seek legal advice.

Edit: Here is the perfect quote

Tony Montana: I never fawked anybody over in my life didn't have it coming to them. You got that? All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break them for no one. Do you understand? That piece of **** up there, I never liked him, I never trusted him. For all I know he had me set up and had my friend Angel Fernandez killed. But that's history. I'm here, he's not. Do you wanna go on with me, you say it. You don't, then you make a move.

[John Doe]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

Oh yeah? Are you an insurance defense lawyer? You sound pretty glib and arch about that.


Court or jury trial, counselor?


If jury trial, an insurance defense lawyer had better make a damn good case and do a hell of a good job with his due diligence, as regards your jury selection.....

That "jury Trial" you want to have -- if that is what you want so bad, is seen by most jurors, as a waste of their time, and you DON'T have to be a Rhodes scholar either to see it, as the injured party being forced to go to court to get his due from some lawyer hired on retainer from a big bad insurance company, that is trying to stiff the claimant out of what they owe him, or to cheap out on settlement by forcing him to go to court, often forcing the injured claimant to fight in court to get what is due him.


.... *And* further, forcing the claimant to often have to hire some contingency fee counsel to fight for him that will usually take 33% of his dollar recovery if it settles pre-trial, and up to 60% of his recovery if it goes to trial, thoguh jury instructions usually keep that fact secret because the Judge thinks it could further inflame the jury.


Those trials are just about haggling over numbers and unless you're really good, those things put jurors to sleep of boredom.


And yeah, "Doe", insurance company defense lawyers are considered the lowest of the low amongst corporate lawyers, ...... any wet behind the ears law school raduate with a brand new degree and who passed the bar but can't get a job doing anything else, usually can start out by getting a job as a insurance defense trial lawyer.

Lowest of the low, on the prestige scale, among good professional lawyers.

(edit: "sorry" -- haven't had my morning coffee yet)

Thanks for the lecture, but things are certainly relative, and based on what you have shared about your "life" here, I'll stick to my own advice on such matters, given what it appears your perceptions of normalcy are.

[John Doe]

Originally Posted by MTI

Yes, everyone knows what a sterling group "corporate lawyers" are.



While you may be correct about comparing on species of slimy toad against other slimy toads . . . I believe that if you examine hiring practices a bit closer, you'll find that many more "insurance defense lawyers" come from the ranks of local prosecutors and . . . gasp . . . public defenders offices, as they have the requisite trial experience, case load experience and are usually quite happy to climb the professional evolutionary ladder.

Corporate lawyers and insurance defense lawyers are two different things, as you probably know but a lifetime fact checker for a local trial judge probably wouldn't.

My primary vocation has been suing insurance companies for bad faith failure to defend/indemnify. The only capacity in which I have ever 'represented' an insurance company, is by virtue of a retainer agreement in return for not suing them for a number of years.