Personal Injury Lawsuits: The Advantages Of Settlements
When you have suffered harm due someone else's negligence, it's only natural to file a lawsuit to get compensation for your injuries. One of the key questions involved in filing a civil lawsuit is whether to accept a settlement from the defendant or to go to trial. Although going to trial is clearly your right under the law, there are certain advantages to resolving your case out of court. The article examines some of the primary advantages of settling civil suits before a trial.
Public vs Private
In many civil cases, both parties may have some information that they would rather keep private rather than having it revealed publicly. Unfortunately, the discovery process in civil suits often leads to the exposure of certain facts you might want to remain private, such as financial records or various information about your personal life.
One of the main benefits of out-of-court settlements is that the details of the agreement are not made public. The opposite is true with a civil trial, where the records of the trial are open to the public.
Damage Award
With a settlement agreement, you know exactly how much money you are going to receive for your injury. The defendant, or the lawyers for their insurance company, offers you a certain amount of money for your injuries and are legally bound to give you that amount if you accept. Even if the amount is not as much as you originally hoped, you still have the satisfaction of knowing the exact figure. If you take your case to trial, however, you have no guarantee of winning the case, and, even if you do, the amount of damages awarded might be less than you could have gotten in a settlement agreement.
Length of Process
Going to trial is inevitably a lengthier process than settling. Many courts have very crowded schedules and you might have to wait quite a long time before your case comes to trial. In addition to making your case more expensive to pursue, the wait will generally add extra stress to your life due to worrying about the possible outcome of the lawsuit.
Agreeing to settle, by contrast, avoids a long wait for a court date and lets you get on with your life.
Settling your personal injury case is not something you should do before getting the best legal assistance available. For more information about settling personal injury lawsuits before trial, contact an experienced injury lawyer in your area.
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