How Many Personal Injury Claims Go to Court?

Steven A. Bagen | December 5, 2024 | Personal Injury

Providing an exact number of how many personal injury claims go to court is impossible. Claims fluctuate annually based on accident type, severity of injuries, state jurisdiction, length of treatment, and other influencing factors. However, most personal injury claims are settled without going to trial.

If you or a loved one have suffered an injury in an accident that wasn’t your fault and suffered injuries, consult a Gainesville personal injury attorney immediately. You’ll want to discover a plan to recover financial compensation for financial losses and pain and suffering. 

 

To Minimize Costs

Cost reduction is a significant factor in why most personal injury claims do not go to court. Trials can be expensive due to costs associated with your legal representation, expert witnesses, private investigators, subpoenas, courtroom exhibits, court fees, and transcription.

To Minimize the Time it Takes to Settle

Taking a personal injury case to trial is time-consuming, and time equals money. Minimizing the time it takes to settle a claim is another way to reduce costs. Court cases can be lengthy, requiring many months or years for full resolution.

When insurers and attorneys agree outside of court, they both reduce costs, making it beneficial for them to avoid trial. This also allows the injury victim to recover and move past the accident.

To Minimize Public Exposure

Minimizing public exposure is a significant reason individuals, companies, and other entities want to settle personal injury claims outside of court. Privacy is a driving factor for quicker settlements, especially when the case involves sensitive, embarrassing details that may damage reputations and public relations.

The Case Has Solid Evidence

When personal injury lawyers have clear evidence demonstrating negligence and liability, insurance companies have no reason to opt for going to trial. Personal injury evidence such as victim statements, expert witness testimony, and photographs and video evidence of the accident scene and injuries are compelling in proving a need to compensate for damages.

A liable insurer will avoid adding additional litigation costs to personal injury claims with solid evidence. Remember to provide your personal injury attorney with any evidence relevant to helping them build a strong case on your behalf.

Reasons Why Some Personal Injury Cases Go to Trial

While there are many great reasons why personal injury claims don’t go to court, there are a handful of reasons why some do. Common reasons your personal injury case may require trial involve setting a legal precedent, disputed liability, an insurer’s bad-faith tactics, compensation demands exceeding insurance coverage, and an injury victim’s principle.

Setting a Legal Precedent

The at-fault party’s insurance company may take a personal injury claim to court to set a legal precedent despite costing them more money. This practice helps establish a boundary for future claimants.

An insurer may set a legal precedent to prevent future injured parties from pursuing claims. However, this is less common with certain personal injury case types, such as motor vehicle accidents.

Disputed Liability

Unclear or disputed liability occurs when both parties cannot agree on who is responsible for the accident. If the evidence does not clearly define liability and the parties can’t agree, their personal injury claim will go to court. A judge and jury will decide fault and award or deny damages.

Bad-Faith Insurance Tactics

While bad-faith tactics are generally reserved for unrepresented injury victims, some insurers may employ them with your attorney. Examples of bad-faith insurance tactics include:

• Unreasonably delaying claims 
• Seriously undervaluing claims to minimize loss
• Failing to investigate your personal injury claim
• Denying valid claims 
• Misrepresenting insurance policy coverage
• Using abusive language with injured parties
• Making threatening statements to injury victims

If you know or believe an insurance company is acting in bad faith, speak with an attorney. They may file a complaint with your state’s Department of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) before filing a lawsuit to recover fair compensation for your losses.

Compensation Demands Exceeding Insurance Coverage

Accident victims with severe injuries, disability, and lengthy recovering times may incur damages that exceed what liable parties’ insurance policies cover. This may cause them to take a personal injury claim to court.

However, while a court may award you additional damages at trial, it doesn’t mean the at-fault party will have the means to pay for them. Still, it’s a valid reason for some personal injury cases to go to court.

An Injured Party’s Principle in Pursuing a Lawsuit

Sometimes, injured parties have a moral principle guiding their need to take a personal injury claim to court. These accident victims aren’t about money; they are about seeing justice prevail, for example, in cases of intentional negligence, harm, or wrongdoing.

Should You Push for Your Personal Injury Claim to Go to Court?

Whether you should take your personal injury claim to court largely depends on the circumstances of your case. However, most of the time, it is unnecessary, lengthy, and exhausts financial resources. Your attorney will advise you on whether it’s beneficial to your case.

How a Lawyer Will Settle Your Personal Injury Claim Without Court

Personal injury attorneys confidently handle claims without going to court—all of the time. It’s what they do. Your attorney will protect you from insurers, gather evidence to prove liability, work with expert witnesses, evaluate your damages, and demand a fair settlement from all liable parties before deciding whether or not going to court is necessary.

Provide Protection Against Liable Insurance Companies

In addition to bad-faith tactics, liable insurance companies have a playbook for handling unrepresented injured parties. Claims adjusters will do whatever they can to minimize insurance company losses. That means they need you to do or say something they can use to deny partial or total liability of your personal injury claim. These practices include:

• Acting like a concerned friend.
• Pressuring you to provide them with a recorded statement before you’ve fully experienced the impact of your accident, including pain.
• Asking you deliberate questions with the intent of getting you to admit liability.
• Asking you to have their doctors medically evaluate you.
• Pressuring you to release your medical records so they can attribute symptoms to pre-existing injuries or conditions.

Liable insurance companies commonly advise injured victims that they do not need a personal injury lawyer to protect their rights. Unfortunately, they understand that unrepresented parties are less inclined to negotiate and more likely to accept their first low-ball settlement offer.

Gather Evidence to Prove Liability

The evidence in your personal injury claim is critical for proving negligence and establishing liability. Depending on the nature of your personal injury claim, evidence may involve:

• Police reports
• Witness statements
• Photos demonstrating the severity of your injuries
• Pictures of the accident scene or unsafe condition
• Video footage of the accident
• Debris from the accident scene
• At-fault driver’s cell phone records
• At-fault driver’s GPS data at the time of the accident
• Large truck black boxes
• Truck maintenance books

Another viable piece of evidence that helps a personal injury lawyer prove pain and suffering damages is a post-accident journal. Accident victims should document pain levels, sleep disturbances, emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and other aftereffects of the accident.

Work With a Network of Expert Witnesses

Personal injury lawyers have a network of experts they work with to prove negligence, cement liability, and maximize your compensation claim. Depending on the specifics of your personal injury claim, these experts may include:

• Accident reconstruction specialists
• Engineering experts (auto, truck, mechanical, chemical)
• Highway and vehicle safety experts
• Medical experts (internists, surgeons, general practitioners)
• Rehabilitation experts (physical, vocational, and occupational therapists)
• Mental health experts
• Economists
• Life care planners

Having expert witnesses provide testimony on your behalf makes your injuries and subsequent damages more credible. It also leads to insurers paying more significant settlements than they do for injured parties without expert witness testimony.

Provide a Comprehensive Claim Valuation

An invaluable service of a personal injury lawyer is their comprehensive valuation of personal injury claims. Calculating losses and determining damages involves proving all areas of monetary and intangible, resulting from an accident, such as:

• Medical Costs—hospital admissions, emergency services, surgeries, primary care, imaging services, medical devices, medical equipment, home healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, transportation to and from medical appointments, and future medical costs. 
• Rehabilitation Expenses—chiropractor adjustments, therapeutic ultrasounds, traction, physical therapy, massage, post-accident rehabilitation therapy, occupational and vocational therapy, and future rehab expenses.
• Disability Damages—wheelchair-accessible vehicles or transportation modifications, like hand controls for brake and acceleration pads, steering devices, and seatbelt adjustments. Home mobility modifications, including ramps, chair lifts, widened doorways, lowered cabinets and counters, and other mobility devices or modifications.
• Professional Damages—hourly income or annual salary, tips, commission, bonuses, paid time-off, vacation time, sick leave, benefits, pension, lost job opportunities, diminished earning power, and future earnings.
• Property Damages—vehicle repairs or replacement, cell phones, handheld electronic devices, scanners, GPS systems, stereos, car seats, bicycles, helmets, glasses, clothing, scooters, mailboxes, fencing, and other personal property damages incurred in an accident.   
• Household Services—hired assistance with activities you’re unable to perform due to injuries, such as daycare, in-home childcare, housecleaning, laundry, cooking, lawn maintenance, and senior care for injured parties responsible for caring for loved ones who cannot perform their duties while injured.
• Delivery Services—grocery delivery services through local grocers or Instacart, meal delivery, and prescription delivery services.
• Non-Economic Damages—pain and suffering, mental anguish, psychological trauma, PTSD, sleep disturbances, decreased quality of life, generalized anxiety, post-accident depression, permanent impairment, and shortened life expectancy.

Wrongful death is another area of personal injury claims with compensatory damages your attorney may recover in addition to those listed above. Wrongful death damages often include:

• The decedent’s final arrangement costs (funeral and burial or cremation)
• The decedent’s final medical expenses
• Pain and suffering of decedent before their passing
• Pain and suffering for surviving spouses and children
• Loss of earning capacity from the time of injuries to the time of death
• Loss of financial support (salary, benefits, expected future income)
• Loss of household services (childrearing, cooking, housecleaning)
• Loss of consortium (love, companionship, and spousal relations)
• Loss of parental guidance and support
• Loss of inheritance

If you have suffered the tragic loss of a loved one due to the negligence of someone else, you may have a legal right to compensation. You don’t have to do this alone.

Consult a local personal injury attorney to determine a solid strategy to secure a financial settlement for your loss. While it won’t fix what’s been taken from you, it may alleviate the financial burden that shouldn’t fall onto your shoulders after wrongful death.

Demand and Negotiate a Fair Settlement

After valuing the economic and non-economic damages in your personal injury claim, your attorney will send a demand letter to all liable insurance companies. The letter will generally initiate negotiations, as most insurers don’t concede to the demand.

Negotiations may involve several rounds of back-and-forth exchange before all parties agree on settlement terms. Once you accept their settlement offer, funds will be distributed to attorney contingency costs, liens from medical providers waiting on payment, and you.

What if My Personal Injury Claim Goes to Court?

If your personal injury attorney and liable insurance companies cannot determine settlement terms that you agree with, the next step will be to take your personal injury claim to court. The steps to securing compensation in court include:

• Filing a personal injury lawsuit
• Pre-trial procedures, including the discovery phase, where legal teams exchange interrogatories and depositions
• Further attempts to negotiate and settle outside of court
• Trial (opening statements, expert testimony, presenting evidence, and closing arguments)
• Verdict delivery

A judge and jury will determine who is liable for the personal injury accident and if there is a need to compensate for damages. They will also clarify the damage amounts awarded in the case.

Schedule a Free Consulation With a Personal Injury Attorney Now

If you have a personal injury claim, schedule a free consultation with a local personal injury lawyer to discuss your legal recourse. You’ll want to discover if you have a viable case and a right to financial compensation.