Is Your Case Worth Anything? If So, How Much? How Do You Know?
Personal Injury Lawyers in Alabama Answers: “How much is my case worth?”
Part Three (3)
We are glad you have returned for this empowering discussion and overview of factors that impact the value of your case and help in accessing the value of your claim.
III. In Alabama, necessary medical care, treatment, and therapy related to your injuries fall into the category of compensatory damages and will impact the value of your claim. In general, injury victims that suffer serious and catastrophic injuries require greater treatment like surgical procedures and rehabilitation services, resulting in greater compensatory damages than someone with relatively minor injuries, which would normally mean less treatment, such as a few doctor and therapy visits. Therefore, the case with greater injuries and treatment would typically hold a greater value than the case with fewer injuries and treatment.
Further, if medical insurance or some other source pays the vast majority of the medical and treatment-related costs that can positively or sometimes negatively impact the value of the case depending on the facts and circumstances. In some cases, having the bills paid by medical insurance or another source and then paying the negotiated subrogation interest will help facilitate a resolution, but in others, this can hurt the case value. However, in some instances, it helps drive the value when there are significant outstanding necessary and related healthcare bills unpaid, but in many cases, it can hinder the value.
Gaps in treatment will negatively impact the value of a claim. A gap in treatment occurs when there is a lapse in time with necessary and or prescribed medical care, treatment, and therapy.
A gap in treatment can occur at the time of the accident or injury. In this instance, an injury victim might be injured but for whatever reason not seek treatment right away. Sometimes, the injured might wait hours before seeking help, and sometimes, the injured might wait days. This might be due to a busy work or family schedule or an attempt to tough it out in the hope it will get better. However, it is not in an accident and injury victim’s best interest to take this approach. This can lead to undiagnosed injuries, especially nerve and brain-related, as well as hurt the value of the claim.
A gap in treatment also occurs when an injury victim has sought medical treatment and then does not comply with the prescribed course of treatment or follow-up properly to receive the necessary treatment, therapy, and care.
In both instances, this creates a gap in treatment of hours, days, weeks, and sometimes months. This creates the illusion that the injury victim is not really hurt, when in fact, they are. This compromises the health of the injury victim and the value of their case.
It is imperative for your lawyer to shepherd and guide your medical treatment and care to help you navigate through this process with the best available medical treatment, care, and therapy for your health and for the sake of your claim. Our vast experience with personal injury claims and cases has revealed that many medical and treatment providers do not really want to provide care for personal injury patients. As a result, these providers are not considerate to these patients or their attorneys. Further, these medical providers are not always willing to advocate for their injury patients or properly document their injuries. We do our best to steer the injured to medical providers that advocate for their patients and provide top-notch necessary treatment in a considerate and caring environment, which facilitates healing and recovery and protects their legal rights.
We hope you enjoyed this article and will be back for the next installment. Please, remember the Alabama lawyers at the Gartlan Injury Law are always available to answer questions about your injury case or claim.
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Aaron Gartlan is a graduate of Troy University and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law who focuses his practice exclusively on representing those injured by the wrongdoing of others. He is member of the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition to his legal practice, Aaron teaches Business Law as an adjunct instructor at Troy University’s Sorrell College of Business and serves as a field artillery sergeant in the Alabama National Guard.
