The number of personal injury cases filed in the United States in 2019 was 7% higher than the previous year. That 7% adds up to 3,000 additional cases, which means that the total number is more than 40,000.
These numbers have likely dropped somewhat due to COVID 19, but the threat of personal injury is still very real. Plus, the decline is likely temporary, because people will be returning to work after the virus has subsided.
Injury law tends to be a very complex field, and it has many strange surprises to offer. We’ll talk about a few odd facts about injury law in the paragraphs below.
1. Many Cases Don’t Go to Trial
A large portion of the law involves settlements, and personal injury is no exception. The legal system is designed so that it’s easier to settle disputes yourselves than to go to court.
Both parties benefit from a settlement because between the cost of retaining lawyers and taking various actions to get what you want at negotiation, you’ll far exceed any money you could lose in a settlement.
2. Settlements Can be Unfair
Settlements are not always fair to both sides. One side may come out paying significantly less or winning significantly more than the other. Both sides are trying to secure the best result possible for them, so they’ll be reluctant to meet the other side’s demands.
To ensure the best result, you’ll need a good personal injury lawyer. If you’re wondering how to find a good lawyer, you can see more here.
3. Compensation Can Cover a Lot
Though settling out of court may be a better solution sometimes, other times it’s better to pursue a case.
One of the most famous instances of this was the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit, in which a 79-year-old woman suffered 3rd-degree burns when a cup of coffee she had ordered from McDonald’s spilled in her lap. The coffee was heated to 180-190 degrees, which is enough to cause severe burns in three seconds.
The woman initially asked McDonald’s to pay her medical bills, amounting to roughly $20,000. She also asked them to slightly reduce the temperature of their coffee so others wouldn’t be hurt.
McDonald’s offered her $800 and made no promises about their coffee. This wasn’t even the first time this had happened.
4. Evidence
Like all forms of law, injury law revolves around proof. Your claim means basically nothing if you can’t provide convincing evidence that you were significantly injured, and that the other person was at fault.
In the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit, several hundred people had been burned by their coffee before. The company was never held accountable for their actions and assumed that some people were going to get burned by coffee.
McDonald’s was forced to pay the woman nearly half a million dollars. The initial estimate of how much McDonald’s owed was almost three million, but a judge later reduced it.
What to Know About Injury Law
There are a lot of things to know about injury law before pursuing a case. We’ve talked about some of them in this article, but there may be others to consider. You may want to do more research, just in case.
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Rene Bennett is a graduate of New Jersey, where he played volleyball and annoyed a lot of professors. Now as Zobuz’s Editor, he enjoys writing about delicious BBQ, outrageous style trends and all things Buzz worthy.
