Personal Injury FAQ: Your Questions Answered

Anyone quoting you a figure before reviewing your medical records is guessing. Value is driven by the severity and permanence of the injury, the strength of the liability evidence, the available insurance limits, your lost income and earning capacity, and the state whose law applies. Available coverage is often the hard ceiling: a catastrophic injury against a minimum-limits policy is limited by the policy, not by the harm. A realistic range can usually be given once treatment stabilizes and the records are in.

It depends on your state and the type of claim, and the range is wide. Many states allow two or three years for a general negligence claim, medical malpractice often runs shorter, and claims against a city, county, transit authority, or state agency can require formal notice within 90 days. Missing the deadline ends the claim regardless of how strong it is. There is no cost to having your deadline confirmed and no repairing one that has passed.

Not always, and we say so when the answer is no. A minor claim with clear fault, completed treatment, and an insurer already paying fairly does not need a lawyer taking a percentage. Representation earns its fee when the injury required surgery or left a permanent limitation, when fault is disputed, when multiple policies may apply, when future income is in question, or when a commercial, government, or hospital defendant is involved.

Nothing upfront. Injury lawyers work on contingency, so there is no retainer and no hourly billing, and the fee is a percentage of the recovery with nothing owed if there is no recovery. A common structure is about one third before a lawsuit is filed, rising to 35 to 40 percent in litigation. Case costs such as records, filing fees, and expert witnesses are separate, and whether they come out before or after the fee is calculated should be spelled out in your written agreement.

In most states you still recover, reduced by your percentage of fault. Pure comparative negligence states allow recovery even at a high fault share. Modified comparative states bar recovery once you cross a 50 or 51 percent threshold. A small number of jurisdictions still follow contributory negligence, where any fault at all can end the claim. Remember that a fault percentage assigned by an adjuster is an opening position, not a finding, and it is negotiable.

A minor claim with clear liability and finished treatment can resolve in three to six months. Serious injury cases usually run one to three years, and cases tried to a verdict often take longer. The main driver is medical rather than legal: a case cannot be valued until your condition stabilizes and physicians can state what is permanent. Settling before that point risks leaving future surgeries and long-term care unpaid.

Probably not. The large majority of injury claims resolve through negotiation or mediation. If a lawsuit is filed you may attend a deposition and a mediation, both of which take place in conference rooms rather than courtrooms. Only a small share of cases reach a jury. That said, the willingness to try a case is exactly what moves settlement numbers, so preparing for trial is not wasted work even when trial never happens.

Economic damages cover losses with documentation: past and future medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs. Non-economic damages cover pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. A spouse may have a claim for loss of consortium. Punitive damages are available in limited circumstances involving reckless or intentional conduct, and are capped in many states. What is recoverable and whether any cap applies depends on your state.

Almost never without having it reviewed. First offers are opening positions, typically made before treatment is complete and priced to be accepted quickly by someone worried about bills. Accepting is permanent: once you sign the release you cannot come back for more, even if the injury turns out worse than anyone expected. Have the number checked against your actual medical picture and the available coverage before you agree to anything.

Usually some combination of your health insurance, medical payments or personal injury protection coverage on your auto policy, workers compensation if the injury happened at work, or providers who agree to treat on a letter of protection and wait for the settlement. The at-fault party's insurer does not pay your bills as you go; it pays once at the end. Whatever source pays in the meantime will generally have a right to reimbursement out of your recovery.

Your own uninsured motorist coverage may pay, and underinsured motorist coverage can cover the gap when the at-fault driver's limits are too low. Both are first-party claims against your own carrier, which becomes your adversary on value. Other possibilities include an employer if the driver was working, an umbrella policy, a commercial policy, or a third party such as a bar that overserved a driver. Finding coverage nobody else looked for is often the whole case.

Not to the at-fault party's insurer. You have no contract with them and no obligation to be recorded, and you can decline politely. Your own policy is different, because it contains a cooperation clause that may require a statement or an examination under oath, and refusing outright can jeopardize your coverage. When a statement is actually required, give it with your attorney present rather than cold on the phone.

Yes. The eggshell plaintiff rule means a defendant takes the injured person as they find them, so an unusually vulnerable person who suffers greater harm still recovers the full extent of it. What you can recover is the aggravation of the condition, not the condition itself. The critical part is disclosure: a prior injury your lawyer knows about is manageable, and one the defense finds in old records after you denied it turns a medical question into a credibility problem.

Compensation for a personal physical injury or physical sickness is excluded from gross income under federal law, which covers the medical expenses, pain and suffering, and even the lost wages in an injury case. Punitive damages and interest on a judgment are taxable. So is emotional distress with no physical injury behind it. Medical expenses you deducted on a prior return and later recovered come back as income. Confirm your own return with a CPA.

A deposition is sworn testimony given in a conference room while a court reporter records every word, with your attorney beside you and no judge present. If a lawsuit is filed you will almost certainly give one, usually running two to four hours. It is a day you prepare for rather than a day you show up to, because the transcript can be read to a jury. Three rules carry the day: tell the truth, answer only what was asked, and say so when you do not remember.

Yes, and the two proceed separately. A criminal case punishes the defendant and rarely compensates the victim beyond limited restitution. A civil claim is where a family is actually made whole, and it uses a lower standard of proof, so a civil claim can succeed even when a criminal case does not. A civil case can also reach defendants a prosecutor never charges, such as a bar that overserved a driver or an employer that put an unfit driver on the road.

Two claims can exist. A wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family and covers their losses, and a survival action covers what the person themselves endured before death. Who may bring each claim, what is recoverable, and the filing deadline all vary significantly by state, and in most states an estate representative must be appointed before suit can be brought. That appointment is a first step families rarely know about, and we help them start it.

Yes. You have the right to change counsel at any point, and you do not need permission from your current firm. In a contingency case the former firm typically asserts a lien for its time and advanced costs, which is resolved between the two firms out of the eventual recovery rather than by increasing what you pay overall. Have the new firm review the file before making the change, since a dissatisfying case is not always a mishandled one.

Get evaluated even if you feel fine, because spinal, internal, and brain injuries frequently present days later. Follow the treatment plan without gaps. Photograph the scene, the vehicles or hazard, and your visible injuries. Get witness names and numbers. Report the incident to your own insurer. Decline a recorded statement to the other side's carrier and do not sign a blanket medical authorization. Keep every bill and discharge instruction, and stay off social media about the injury.