How much is a Georgia personal injury case worth? The answer depends on several factors, including the severity and extent of your injuries, the at-fault party’s insurance policy limits, and your degree of fault for the incident that harmed you.
A personal injury lawyer at Bayuk Pratt can help determine your claim’s potential value.
How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help Me Seek Maximum Compensation?
The best way to seek maximum compensation through a personal injury lawsuit is to hire an experienced lawyer.
When you hire an attorney at Bayuk Pratt for your personal injury case, we will first investigate the accident that caused your injuries. Through our investigation, we can identify the at-fault party or parties and gather evidence connecting their actions to the harm you suffered.
Next, we can calculate your damages by adding your medical bills, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses. We can also estimate your non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and permanent disability.
Your attorney can submit a demand letter to the at-fault party’s insurance company and negotiate on your behalf. And if the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement, your lawyer will proceed to take your case to trial to seek maximum compensation for you.
What Evidence Could Prove My Injury Losses?
To prove your injury losses, Bayuk Pratt may gather and review several items of evidence and use them to build a strong case, including evidence such as:
- Police reports – Police reports aren’t always admissible in personal injury cases under Ga. Code § 24-8-803(8). Even if it is inadmissible, you can use the crash report to persuade the insurance company to agree to a higher settlement.
- Witness statements – Witnesses can provide observations that help an investigation, corroborate your version of events, or provide additional details about how the accident occurred.
- Photos and videos – Photo and video evidence from the accident or accident scene can help your lawyer demonstrate how the accident occurred, such as surveillance video showing you slipping and falling in a grocery store.
- Medical records – These documents are critical for establishing the severity and extent of your injuries. They may include the treatments that your doctor prescribed and other relevant notes.
- Expert testimony – Consultation with expert witnesses is common in cases involving severe injuries. Knowledgeable professionals can analyze your case, provide valuable insights, prepare reports, and testify on your behalf, lending credibility to your claim. For instance, a doctor could testify about your injuries, or an accident reconstruction expert could testify about how a car accident occurred and caused your severe injuries.
What Factors Could Affect the Amount of Compensation in My Injury Case?
Several factors can affect the compensation you could recover through a personal injury lawsuit in Georgia, including the following:
- Severity of injuries – Generally, the more severe your injuries are, the more your case will be worth. Serious injuries lead to more extensive medical treatment than minor injuries, require more time off work, and lead to more disruptions in your life.
- Medical expenses – The value of your medical treatment is a key part of determining your compensation. Working with a lawyer who can properly estimate your future medical costs and calculate your past expenses is essential.
- Lost wages – If your injuries prevent you from working or impact your ability to work in the future, you could recover compensation for the income you lost or will lose.
- Pain and suffering – While placing a value on the pain and suffering you experience can be challenging, an experienced and compassionate lawyer can help estimate this value, which could significantly increase your compensation.
- Insurance limits – Insurance companies will not pay an amount higher than the insured party’s coverage limit. It may be challenging to recover compensation beyond what insurance provides. The liable party may lack personal assets to cover your damages.
- Degree of fault – Under Ga. Code § 51-12-33, your compensation can be reduced if you are partially at fault for the accident. Your damages will be reduced by a percentage equal to your assigned degree of fault. You cannot recover anything if you are 50 percent or more at fault.
What Damages Can You Seek in a Georgia Personal Injury Claim?
“Damages” refers to the compensation that an experienced personal injury attorney can seek for you in a personal injury settlement or judgment. Three types of personal injury damages are
- Economic damages – Your tangible losses, including past medical bills and future medical expenses, lost wages, future lost income due to your loss of earning potential, and out-of-pocket expenses.
- Non-economic damages – Your intangible losses, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent disability, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- Punitive damages – These damages are a bit different because they don’t compensate you for your losses. Instead, these damages punish the at-fault party for particularly dangerous or reckless behavior.
Does Georgia Have Caps on Injury Damage Awards?
Georgia law (Ga. Code § 51-12-5.1(g)) caps punitive damages at $250,000. However, the state does not cap economic or non-economic damages.
Does Georgia Have a Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims?
Yes, Ga. Code § 9-3-33 sets out the statute of limitations for personal injury cases, giving victims two years from the date of their injury, in most cases, to file a personal injury claim against the party or parties responsible for harming them.
It’s critical to file your lawsuit within the allotted time. You don’t want a missed deadline to block you from recovering compensation. We can assist you by filing your lawsuit while you focus on recovering from your injuries.
Get Help from an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer in Georgia
The battle-tested Atlanta personal injury lawyers of Bayuk Pratt have more than 50 years of combined legal experience handling personal injury, wrongful death, and civil litigation cases. We have extensive experience going up against insurance giants and have recovered more than $300 million for deserving Georgia injury victims throughout the state.
Thanks to our founding partners having previously served as senior partners for two of the world’s largest and most elite defense law firms, our firm has insider knowledge that we can use against opposing defense attorneys to seek maximum compensation. Contact us today to learn more in a free consultation.
