Shoulder injuries can make life difficult. Not only will you likely be in a cast, sling, or both for a long time after getting a broken shoulder, but depending on your injury, you may have long-term or permanent problems with your shoulder, including chronic pain or lost range of motion. When pursuing a lawsuit for your injuries, you need to take into account not just your current condition but also how those injuries will affect you in the long term.
Every lawsuit will have slightly different facts and circumstances. Your shoulder injury is legally unique from any other plaintiff’s shoulder injury. Thus, there is no set amount for how much a settlement offer should be for a fractured shoulder. Because each case is different, averages are not very helpful in determining what a good settlement offer is for your case. Only you and our lawyers can figure out whether a settlement offer is good or not.
If you have a shoulder injury and are looking for legal assistance, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 to have our Maryland personal injury lawyers look at your case.
What Factors into Damages for a Fractured Shoulder in Maryland?
A number of things can influence the amount of damages you ask for in a lawsuit for a fractured shoulder. Not only can you request damages for your medical treatment, but you can also ask for damages due to any adverse effects your shoulder injury has had on your life. When you talk with our Aberdeen personal injury lawyers, we can examine your unique situation and come up with a fair and appropriate amount to ask for in damages and can evaluate settlement offers from opposing counsel based on your injuries.
Medical Treatment
When you ask for damages in a lawsuit or consider a settlement offer, one of the things you need to take into account is the cost of your initial medical treatment. This would include emergency surgeries, hospital stays, follow-up care like MRI scans of your shoulder, and other short-term medical procedures. These costs can be evidenced by invoices, insurance statements, or other bills and receipts.
Long-Term Care
Another important consideration is potential long-term care. If your injuries are such that you will need long-term or permanent medical assistance, you may not necessarily have a full picture of what this will cost. However, you can work with our Towson, MD personal injury lawyers to estimate what the costs of longer-term care, such as physical therapy or a permanent medical aide, may be.
Lost Range of Motion
In addition to actual medical costs, you can also factor your changed physical condition into your damages or settlement offer consideration. It is not uncommon for people with serious shoulder injuries to not regain their full range of motion in the affected arm. This can impede their ability to do their job, recreational activities, or even basic tasks. Part of the goal of damages in a lawsuit is to bring the plaintiff back to where they were before they got injured and, failing that, financially compensate them. You should consider how your injuries have affected your quality of life when evaluating a settlement offer.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is also not uncommon among plaintiffs with shoulder injuries, especially if nerves were pinched or damaged. This pain could be permanent or diminish over time. Consider how any chronic pain you are experiencing will affect your life when determining whether a settlement offer is fair or not.
Average Fractured Shoulder Settlements in Maryland
Average settlement amounts are usually not helpful in determining an appropriate settlement offer for any given plaintiff. This is because settlements are extremely injury-dependent. Even if the average settlement is hundreds of thousands of dollars, that does not mean that your injuries necessarily warrant that amount in a settlement offer. For example, someone who merely dislocated their shoulder with no lingering side effects will not get the same settlement offer as someone with permanent loss of the use of their arm. On the other hand, if your injuries are severe, the average amount may not be enough to fairly compensate you for how the injury will affect your life.
How Damages and Settlement Offers are Calculated in Maryland
An early step in a personal injury lawsuit is figuring out how much you want to ask for in damages. Understanding how damages are calculated can help inform whether a settlement offer you receive is fair or not. If the settlement offer is much lower than what you are asking for or does not meet your compensation needs, you may not want to accept it. However, if a settlement offer does meet your needs or is higher than your proposed damages, it can be worth considering.
Multiple Method
The multiple method of calculating damages simply takes the cost of medical expenses and multiplies it by a given factor. For example, if you had $50,000 in medical expenses and multiplied it by a factor of 3, you would come up with a request for $150,000 in damages.
“Per Diem” Method
The “Per Diem” or “daily” method places a value on the difficulties of dealing with your injuries for each day you were affected by them and then adds up that value for each day you were injured. This method is more frequently used for injuries that will fully heal because a permanent injury would have an infinite amount of damage, which no court would award.
Why This Matters for Settlement Offers
If you understand how damages are calculated, you can use that information to determine whether a settlement offer is fair. In considering a settlement offer, our lawyers can work with opposing counsel to come up with a deal that is fair to both parties.
Talk to Our Maryland Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Discuss your case for free by calling our Ocean City, MD personal injury lawyers from Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291.