Truck accident lawsuits are time-consuming and often stressful ordeals. It can take years for pre-trial processes like discovery and depositions to finish and longer still for attorneys to carry out all of the pre-trial procedures. All of this time spent means more uncertainty and more legal fees. Because the legal process can take so long, many plaintiffs may wish to try and settle the lawsuit before it goes to trial. In many cases, settling is a viable alternative to a lawsuit, and potentially even a superior one.
It is difficult to determine exactly what most truck accident settlements are worth in Maryland. This is because many parties choose to keep the details of their settlement private, and law firms may be more willing to publish impressive settlement amounts on their websites than to provide an accurate representation of average settlements. Accordingly, the most important thing to consider in a Maryland truck accident settlement is whether it is a good fit for your situation or not.
For a free case review, call our Maryland truck accident lawyers with Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291.
What is a Settlement in a Maryland Truck Accident Lawsuit?
A settlement is when the parties involved in a lawsuit agree to resolve the case without a trial. In a settlement, you don’t argue your case before a judge or jury. Instead, the parties mutually agree to terms regarding the issue. Usually, a party is not held liable for anything in a settlement, but the settlement terms can include an admission of liability by one of the parties without such a thing being proven in a trial.
Are Public Settlement Amounts an Accurate Sampling of Truck Accident Settlements in Maryland?
When people want to know the average value of something, they first probably try and do some light research into the topic. The same holds true for average truck accident settlements in Maryland. Indeed, you can enter a search query and get an average as well as links to many settlement amounts published on the websites of various law firms. However, this information is not necessarily representative of what most truck accident settlements in Maryland are worth.
The information you find online about truck accident settlements can be misleading for a couple of reasons. First, many settlement offers are kept private according to the wishes of the parties involved. Settlement offers sometimes have as part of the stipulations an agreement to not talk about it. This could be to save their reputation, put the whole ordeal behind them, or other reasons. Second, amounts for lawsuits and settlement agreements that are found on law firm websites are likely to be on the higher end. This is because law firms have an interest in showing off their best settlement amounts and damages awards in order to attract clients. Thus, you should have a skeptical eye towards many truck accident settlement amounts you find online.
Things that Make a Good Maryland Truck Accident Lawsuit Settlement
When going over whether you should accept a settlement offer or not with our Aberdeen truck accident lawyers, there are a number of things that you need to take into account as to whether the settlement is acceptable to you or not. Every plaintiff is different, and their varied situations mean that one settlement that may be acceptable to one plaintiff may not be a good offer for another. Below, we’ll go into some of the things that you should think about when looking at a settlement offer in a truck accident lawsuit.
Meeting Your Needs
The most important, and some would argue the only, factor that you should consider when examining a settlement offer is whether it is a good fit for your situation. For example, a settlement offer that covers all of the expenses for your injuries and takes into account pain and suffering may be an offer worth accepting. On the other hand, a settlement offer that does not meet your needs, even if the offer is quite large, is probably not worth accepting.
Time
Time is another important factor when evaluating a truck accident settlement. Lawsuits can take a very long time to fully resolve themselves. In fact, most cases that go to trial take at least a year before there is any kind of resolution between the parties, and it is not unusual for lawsuits to take much longer than that. On top of all that, more time involved in a lawsuit means more legal fees. For some plaintiffs, continuing a legal fight may not be financially tenable.
Relative Strength of Case
You should also take into account the relative strength of your case and the defendant’s case. For example, if the defendant has a weak case, you may favor not accepting a settlement offer because your chances of winning at trial are high. Conversely, if the defendant’s case is rock-solid, it may be advisable to accept a settlement offer.
Do not be tricked, however, into thinking that a defendant will only offer to settle if their case is weak. For reasons similar to why plaintiffs wish to settle, defendants may also want to end legal proceedings amicably. Many defendants with strong cases will make settlement offers even though they are likely to win at trial.
While the strength of cases is important to consider, it is not the end-all-be-all. At trial, liability is always decided by the jury, meaning that even the “strongest” cases can lose, and even the “weakest” cases can win.
Talk with Our Maryland Truck Accident Lawyers
For a free case review, call our Baltimore truck accident lawyers from Rice, Murtha & Posras at (410) 694-7291.