What Is Better for My Georgia Personal Injury Case: Settlement or Trial?

What Is Better for My Georgia Personal Injury Case: Settlement or Trial?

Do you have a personal injury case in Georgia? If so, you might be wondering about the relative merits of settling it out of court or taking it to trial. Here’s what you need to know about settlements vs. trials—and what a good lawyer can do to maximize the amount you recover.

Pros of Accepting an Insurance Settlement

A settlement offer is an agreement between a plaintiff (the person filing a lawsuit) and the defendant (the party the lawsuit is against) in which the defendant pays the plaintiff a sum of money in exchange for the plaintiff dropping their lawsuit permanently.

There are several benefits to accepting an insurance settlement instead of risking a personal injury trial. One advantage is that you stand to receive your compensation faster this way. First, going to trial means waiting for the court hearing your case to have an opening in its schedule. Second, trials involve complicated, time-consuming legal procedures even before you actually set foot in a courtroom. Furthermore, the trial itself might take months or years, depending on the case’s complexity. You can significantly shorten the timeline of your case by accepting a settlement.

Another major benefit of accepting a settlement is you have more control over the outcome. No matter how strong your case might seem, there’s no telling how a judge or jury might decide once they’ve heard the opposing side. You might get more compensation if you win at trial, but you won’t get anything if you lose. Accepting a settlement means you know exactly what you’re getting.

Pros of Taking a Personal Injury Case to Trial

All that said, there are a number of reasons you might prefer going to trial. For one, you may stand to win more at trial than you would have through a settlement. Remember, when they settle a case, an insurer is betting that they’re saving themselves money that way. Moreover, you could be entitled to pursue punitive damages at trial, which are unavailable in settlements. Meant to punish the defendant for egregiously bad conduct rather than compensate you for something you lost because of your injuries, punitive damages could greatly increase the value of your case.

Lastly, trials are public and offer a measure of accountability that settlements—the terms of which are nearly always confidential—inherently lack. An insurance settlement is not an admission of fault, and the settlement terms might prevent you from talking about the case. A verdict from a court is a public decision that the defendant acted wrongly and must compensate you accordingly.

Our Atlanta Injury Attorneys Can Help You Choose the Right Option for Your Situation

Before you decide whether to accept a personal injury settlement or take your case to trial, be sure to speak with an attorney about your options. The experienced trial lawyers at Kaufman Injury Law can help you weigh your options and find the best way forward.

Remember, you only have two years after sustaining your injuries to file a personal injury lawsuit in Alabama, so don’t wait to talk to a Georgia personal injury lawyer about your case. Call us today or complete our contact form for a free consultation.