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How Much Can You Get in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

By California Business Journal Editorial Staff

If you are considering whether to file a personal injury lawsuit, the key things you probably want to know are how much money you can expect to get and what are your chances of winning. In this post we will answer these questions by looking at your chances of winning and average compensation in 2 of the most common types of personal injury cases: auto accidents and medical malpractice.

The Median Value of a Medical Malpractice Claim is $250,000

The median compensation payout for a medical malpractice lawsuit is $250,000. The average compensation in malpractice cases is around $900,000. The reason the average is so much higher is because there are a small number of malpractice cases that result in huge verdicts.
The potential value of your individual malpractice case will depend on a number of variables including: how serious your injuries are, what state or jurisdiction your case will be in, and who the defendant is.

If you can get a medical malpractice lawyer to bring your case, you have around a 70% chance of getting some compensation. Somewhere between 65-75% of malpractice cases settle out of court. If your case goes to trial, however, your chances of success drop considerably. Plaintiffs only win 20% of the time in medical malpractice trials.

The Median Value of an Auto Accident Case is $50,000

The amount of compensation you can get for an auto accident lawsuit depends on the level of physical injury resulting from the accident. For purposes of settlement value, auto accident attorneys often classify injuries as light, moderate, or serious:

Light Injuries = $10,000 – $25,000
Moderate Injuries = $40,000 – $150,000
Serious Injuries = $175,000 – $2,000,000

In many auto accident cases, the amount of compensation you can get in a lawsuit may be limited by the insurance limits of the at-fault driver. You might have an injury worth $1 million, but if the other driver only has a $50,000 auto liability policy then $50,000 is probably the max you can recover.

Your chances of success in an auto accident lawsuit are somewhat higher than a medical malpractice case. If you file a lawsuit in an auto accident case, your chances of eventually getting compensation are over 90%. Many auto accident cases get settled before a lawsuit is even filed.

How Much Will the Lawyers Get?

If you get a settlement or verdict you lawyer will receive a contingent fee between 30-40%. In addition to this fee, your lawyer will also get reimbursed for any expenses that they paid to bring the case. Expenses in a medical malpractice cases can be very high, often in the 6-figure range.