March 2009 Archives

The trial value of a auto accident case is a lens toward the case's settlement value although a settlement is a compromise so that the trial value is usually more than the settlement value. 

The Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog reports tha median - as opposed to average compensatory award Maryland auto accidents is $11,925. Victims usually win: auto accident plaintiffs receive compensation in 71 percent of cases that go to trial.

It important to remember this is a median.  The average is at least 10 times higher than the median, which takes out many of the larger cases from the equation.  Morever, even more important statistically, the best auto accident cases settle before trial.

Another interesting tidbit from the Maryland accident lawyer blog is is that rear-end collisions made up 37 percent of car accident verdicts in Maryland. Intersection  car accident accounted for 13 percent of Maryland accidents that went to trial. Turning collisions are 9 percent; chain reaction collisions and pedestrian suits account for 5 percent of the total Maryland accident lawsuits that went to verdict.

Again, it is important not to get bogged down in the numbers when you are evaluing the value of your Maryland auto accident claim.  Each Maryland auto accident case is its individual case with its own merits.

A judge in San Mateo awarded $45 million in a auto accident that left the Plaintiff a quadriplegic. Of the verdict, $20 million was for pain and suffering and $25 million was for estimated past and future wage loss and medical bills.

Judge Beth Labson Freeman verdict was against the driver of a pickup truck and Division 1 All Service, a small demolition and hauling firm owned by the driver and members of his family.

But the case is hardly over. The question is whether Lincoln General and Colony Insurance provided insurance coverage in the case. Otherwise, the verdict is merely symbolic. The coverage case which involves the question of whether the truck driver was working in the scope of his employment, has yet to be resolved.