Generally when you are injured at work the best the injured client could hope for is a good workers’ compensation claim. But I recently saw an interesting blog post from the Illinois Workers Compensation Blog that described how a worker actually received over $15 million in a personal injury suit against multiple companies involved.

After an investigation it was determined that the companies has several safety violations and the worker successfully pursued the case against all of them. As pointed out in the article by Michael Helfand, this situation is unique. But it does point out the importance of speaking with an experienced injury lawyer who can weigh all the circumstances of your case and determine potential liability issues with all involved.

Most clients want to know how much their personal injury case is worth. When I first started practicing law, you would often hear lawyers and insurance adjusters say claims were worth three times the amount of medical bills. The reality though is the value depends entirely on the facts and circumstances of your individual case.

The type and extent of your injuries has a enormous impact on the value. It goes without saying that the more serious your injuries, the more value your case will have. But other things to consider include:

  1. Do you have permanent injuries that may not fully resolve? If so, this increases the value of your case.
  2. Do you have scarring or disfigurement? These types of case often have an increased value in relation to the medical bills.
  3. Liability is a significant factor. If there is doubtful liability it may significantly decrease the value of your claim, even sometimes when the injuries are quite severe. But on the other side, the value of the claim may be increased if the responsible party’s conduct is particularly egregious.

Often it is not immediately known how much your case is worth. You may need to take some time to determine the extent of your injuries and whether there will be long lasting impact. It is important though to speak with experienced attorneys who can help you sort through these issues.

Here’s a secret, this is not the first article to discuss how to find the right personal injury lawyer for you. In fact, you could find article after article on this topic all over the Internet. And time and time again you will usually see some variation of these three things:

  1. Select an experienced personal injury lawyer;
  2. Choose someone who has extensive trial experience;
  3. Find one that has a history of high verdicts and settlements.

All three of those things are important and we don’t want to minimize those points. But our trial team will tell you that you need more than that. One of the biggest issues to consider (assuming the lawyer has the requisite competence) is whether you feel comfortable with the lawyer. Litigation can be very stressful. Do you trust the lawyer?  Did you get your call returned right away?  Is the attorney easy to talk with?  Does the lawyer care about you and your claim?  Does the relationship feel right?  There are many competent and experienced personal injury attorneys in Iowa so make sure to trust your instincts.