Usually, when you first contact a personal injury attorney, you are still being treated for the injuries you sustained in the accident. At this point, it is extremely difficult for any personal injury attorney to estimate accurately how much your case might be worth, because a large part of your personal injury case will depend on the overall cost of your medical treatment and your long term prognosis, which is often difficult to know early on.
How much compensation you can actually seek will depend on:
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What kind of injuries you sustained.
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How much damage you suffered.
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How easy it is to establish liability for your injuries.
The Importance of Your injuries to Your Oklahoma Personal Injury Case
Your injuries play a large part in how much your Oklahoma personal injury case is worth in terms of two general considerations:
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The nature of your injuries.
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The extent of your injuries.
The nature of your injuries is in reference to the type of injuries sustained and whether or not you had any pre-existing injuries to the body parts in question. In most cases, you can only hold a person fully liable for injuries directly caused by his or her actions, and you will not be fully compensated for accidents that compound pre-existing injuries.
The extent of the injury refers to the amount of medical treatment you will require, and whether or not you will suffer any long term or permanent impairment. This will significantly affect how much your Oklahoma personal injury case is worth. If you will require long term treatment or will be permanently impaired, your case will usually be worth much more.
Damages
Damage, perhaps the largest determining factor in the worth of your Oklahoma personal injury case, refers to any losses, economic or non-economic, that you incur because of the actions of another person.
Economic damages refer to any quantifiable expenses or financial losses you incur or will incur. These include, but are not limited to, your medical expenses, lost wages, property damage or any other quantifiable financial expense or loss.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are damages which are difficult to quantify monetarily. They include factors such as pain and suffering, emotional trauma and diminished quality of life. These are often the issues over which an injured party and the responsible party’s insurance company haggle, and must often be determined by a judge or jury in a court of law.
Liability
Liability refers to a person’s legal obligation to compensate you for your loss. In terms of personal injury law, this means how much fault the individual shares for the accident in which you were inured. A case in which a defendant is clearly liable to you is worth more than a case in which liability is disputed.
On the other hand, any liability that you share for the accident that caused your injuries will decrease the value of your Oklahoma personal injury case. In fact, anyone 50% or more at fault for an accident in Oklahoma will be barred from ever receiving compensation for any injuries they sustained in that accident.
Those who are less than 50% at fault will be compensated at an amount discounted by their own percentage of fault. For example, if you are determined to be 40% at fault for a loss in value of $1000, you may only be awarded $600 in compensation ($1000 – 40%).
Summary
It is difficult to predict how much any personal injury case will be worth until a number of factors have been analyzed, among them the kind of injuries you sustained, how much damage you suffered and how easy it is to establish liability. It often takes going to court to establish and be awarded the full value of your personal injury claim, for which you will benefit from the expertise of an experienced and knowledgeable Oklahoma personal injury attorney.
Free Consultation: Oklahoma City Personal Injury Attorney
If you have been injured in an accident, consult with an experienced Oklahoma City personal injury attorney to get the compensation you deserve. A call to Personal Injury Law Office of Oklahoma City costs you nothing, but the information you receive could be invaluable. You can reach a skilled personal injury attorney at (405) 716-HURT (716-4878).
If you prefer, you may send your question via e-mail using the form at the top right of this page. We’ll get in touch with you as soon as possible. Don’t wait another minute to find out what you may be owed. Call Personal Injury Law Office of Oklahoma City today!