Deciding whether or not to settle in a nursing home abuse, can be difficult to do alone. The decision in accepting a settlement or taking a case to trial is always yours, but a nursing home abuse lawyer could be an invaluable asset. The attorney could take you through certain aspects of DC nursing home abuse settlements and help you come to a decision that works best for you.
The likelihood of success at trial depends on the facts of the case. If the case is particularly egregious, strong on the law, has particularly big damages, or the offer of settlement that the insurance company makes is low, the case should probably proceed to trial. Typically, a person should consult with a lawyer about the viability and the potential value of the claim. It is always the victim’s decision to take the case to trial, but there are situations where lawyers know it is a good idea to settle. A person should consider settling if the offer is fair and reasonable under the circumstances.
Lawyers will look at jury verdicts and sustainable values, or what a certain judge has sustained for a certain type of injury. Hypothetically, someone could think their case is worth $10 million but if a similar case has gone to trial and a jury gave $500,000, the judge sustained it for $300,000, and the insurance company offers $250,000 to settle the case, you could know that that is actually a rather good offer. It is more of a science than an art because there are many kinds of verdicts a lawyer can research and advise the victim on.
The biggest aspects of DC nursing home abuse settlements to consider in a settlement offer are risk tolerance and the reasonableness of the offer. Someone always has the right to go trial to prove a point, at the end of the day the result of the case will be based on the value. That needs to be considered along with the possibility that the jury does not want to award money for whatever reason. The judge can also offset part of the value.
One of the aspects of DC nursing home abuse settlements to keep in mind is that a person often does not receive a settlement overnight. The length of time it will take to receive a settlement depends on the case. There are cases where the conduct on behalf of the nursing home is so bad that it settles quickly. There are also cases where the value of the case is just not that large and the liability is very strong so it settles quickly. However, it takes about six months to get medical records and investigate the claim, and then it takes somewhere between a year and a year and a half to get a case to trial. A person is looking at two to three years to get a case from start to finish. On average, it probably takes one to two years to obtain a settlement.
The process gets prolonged when the nursing home does not think they are at fault or if the insurance company thinks the demand is unreasonable. Also, the longer someone takes to talk to a lawyer, the longer it will take for the case to settle. The length of the case depends a lot on the individual nursing home itself. The only thing someone can really do to speed their case along is to get a lawyer involved as soon as possible.
Part of a D.C. nursing home abuse lawyers’ job is counseling people on the proper decision that they should make in the face of an offer of settlement. When making these decisions, there are certain aspects of DC nursing home abuse settlements to keep in mind, and an attorney can help you do so. Nursing home lawyers could obtain medical records, do an investigation, and send a claim letter to the insurance company and the defense lawyer. Work with a qualified attorney that could advocate for you and could help determine which decision is right for you.
