What is my Accident Case Worth?

Another question that’s very important to potential clients is, what’s my case worth? That’s a difficult question to answer, particularly at the beginning of the case. Cases are valued based upon the injuries and the treatment the client undergoes. There are a number of other factors such as, out of pocket costs, liens from health care providers, including the Department of Public Welfare and Medicare. All of these elements add up to provide us with a sense of the valuation of the case. Medical treatment and the records reflecting that treatment are a main driver for the damages that the client has sustained. In Pennsylvania there are two general areas of damages that are recoverable, there’s economic and non-economic.

Economic damages are those damages that consist of things that you can calculate, lost wages, liens, out of pocket costs. Non-economic damages are those damages that relate to the clients individual pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement, the lost of the enjoyment of life as a result of somebody else’s negligence. Of course, those elements and damages are important to review specific to each clients case. So, what I often tell my clients, when they ask me, when they retain me, what’s my case worth?, I often tell them that once I have all of the medical records and they’ve concluded their treatment, either by reaching maximum medical improvement or released from treatment, that I will review all of the records and the economic damages and prior to making a demand upon the negligent party I will contact them and tell them exactly what I think the value of their case s worth.