A Car Accident Lawyer in Hollywood FL may encourage a client to settle the case even though this person had hoped to gain substantially more compensation. The attorney is willing to bring the case to trial as part of legal representation, but it’s typically best to strongly consider this lawyer’s opinion. Injury lawyers generally have a very good sense of how much a case is worth and whether an insurance company is offering a reasonable settlement. There may be important factors limiting the insurer’s willingness to offer more money. Those factors can have an influence on a judge and jury as well.
A common reason for this more limited compensation is the insurance company’s determination that the injured person was partly at fault. In Florida state legal terminology, this is known as comparative negligence. A judge or jury is expected to consider the percentage of fault the injured person carries responsibility for, then reduce the monetary award by that percentage. If they would have awarded $75,000 if the other driver had been 100 percent at fault, they would only award around $50,000 if the injured person was considered 33 percent at fault. That person might have been less able to react effectively, for example, if he or she had been talking on the phone or driving too fast for conditions. Anyone who wants to discuss these types of issues may contact a firm such as the Law Offices of McCullough & Leboff P.A. for a free consultation.
If a Car Accident Lawyer in Hollywood FL brings this type of case to court, it’s possible that the plaintiff will receive even less than the insurance company had been offering. An experienced attorney is able to gauge what a case is worth to the client and what is to be expected considering the circumstances. The client may feel like the attorney is pressuring him or her to settle, but this actually may constitute strong encouragement and not undue pressure. One function of an attorney is to provide legal counsel and advice, and that advice can be extremely valuable in understanding how an injury scenario should be compensated.
