….her girlfriend got $100,000.00 dollars for an injury case just like mine.
When I hear comments like that I often times think of Saturday Night Live when Seth Meyers & Amy Poehler do their "Really?" skit.
- Your Friend’s Friend’s Baby Mama’s Uncle’s Girlfriend said that she got $100,000.00 dollars for an injury case like yours. Really?
- When I ask you to go out find another attorney that can guarantee you a monetary amount, you come back with nothing. Really?
- When I ask you detailed questions about this "other" case, ie year, state, attorney or insurance company involved, you come back with nothing. Really?
- Once I have gotten a fair settlement on the table and you remind me of this large amount this person received at some point in time, I ask you to bring back a signed piece of paper from any surrounding attorney verifying they can get you a higher settlement and you show up two days later with nothing. Really?
Every person’s injury claim is different and many factors determine the actual outcome or valuation. One of the biggest factors would be the actual jurisdiction, or venue, in which the case will be brought. A very general definition is provided by Wikipedia:
Venue is the location where a case is heard. In the United States, the venue is either a county (for cases in state court) or a district or division (for cases in federal court). Venue deals with locality of a lawsuit, that is, with questions of which court or courts with proper jurisdiction may hear a specific suit.
South Carolina is known to be more conservative than say California, New York, or Illinois so please understand you are comparing apples to oranges when you start finding large verdicts and/or settlements on the internet in a different state.
What REALLY matters are:
- the circumstances in which you were injured;
- parties involved;
- legal issues;
- insurance coverage; and
- the amount of witnesses or evidentiary pieces that support your perspective of the event.
You may very well have a six figure case but don’t come to that conclusion through hearsay and the real life version of the "gossip game". Talk to a competent attorney that consistently goes to court in the venue of your injury.