Is There a Formula for a Car Crash Injury Case?
“There is no magic formula for car crash injury cases,” notes lawyer Doug Landau of the Herndon, Virginia law firm Abrams Landau, Ltd. “If there was, then the insurance companies would simply feed a case into a computer that would spit out a number that the injured victim would be stuck with. But that is not the case. Think about it. If an elderly retired man with significant health issues, a middle-aged pregnant woman and a 25-year-old healthy software engineer were all in a car crash that was not their fault, and they had the exact same amount of medical bills, the likelihood of a Northern Virginia jury returning with the exact same verdict is slim to none.”
There are some lazy lawyers who process their cases on the cheap. These lawyers will go with twice specials or “3 times specials” formulas. “Specials” are the medical bills in the wage loss numbers. Landau says, however, “the best lawyers investigate their claims, understand that each victim is different, look at verdicts in similar cases and understand the specifics of their client’s case.”
If the pregnant woman could not have x-rays, MRI or CT scans because of the radiation danger to her unborn child, then her medical bills would be much less than the software engineer. Likewise, if the elderly gentleman with the significant medical history had very high medical bills, the insurance company’s defense lawyer would argue that his pre-existing, unrelated conditions should not impact the jury’s verdict. Lastly, the healthy 25-year-old software engineer might have the same amount of medical bills and have significant physical pain, which can be proven in court that would perhaps yield the highest verdict of the three examples. Since the 25-year-old has the longest life expectancy, in permanent injury or disability cases, that can be the most significant piece of evidence for the jury’s verdict.
The bottom line is that there is no magic formula for car crash injury cases. The best move you can make is to seek out experienced counsel who actually tries these cases in court and will take the time and care for your specific case. If you or someone you know has been significantly injured in a car crash due to no fault of your own, please give us a call (703-796-9555) or email us at Abrams Landau, Ltd.