Approaching settlement talks for any injury can be intimidating for victims, and our attorneys can help them assess proposals and distinguish good offers from bad ones.
Settlements should cover all hospital expenses from hand and wrist injuries, including immediate and long-term medical costs. Our attorneys can tally these damages for you after an accident so that you do not lose track of your total losses. Good settlements generally cover victims’ lost wages due to negligence, and we may get your physicians to give supporting statements explaining how hand and wrist injuries prevent you from working. Victims can also get non-economic damages from good settlements, but doing so is often challenging. We must convince the opposing side we can meet the burden of proof and show our pain and suffering in court, and we may leverage key evidence during negotiations to achieve that goal.
Call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers at (803) 451-4000 for a confidential and free case assessment from our Columbia, SC personal injury lawyers.
Will a Good Settlement Cover Lost Wages Due to Hand and Wrist Injuries in South Carolina?
Hand and wrist soft tissue injuries or fractures could prevent victims from returning to work right away, affecting their incomes. After assessing these damages and confirming when you can resume operating at your previous earning capacity, we can negotiate a settlement covering your lost wages.
First of all, do not try to return to work too soon after sustaining hand or wrist injuries, especially not against doctors’ advice. If you do, the defendant might refuse to cover some or all lost wages you request compensation for in a settlement, prolonging negotiations or leading to an unanticipated trial. Though missing out on wages can be disconcerting, it’s important for your financial recovery to follow your treatment plan, including taking time away from work if necessary.
We may rely on statements from medical experts to support compensation requests for lost wages, which we will base on recent tax returns and paychecks. Physicians can review victims’ medical records and explain how their hand or wrist injury would prevent them from resuming workplace duties, even if much of that entails typing on a computer.
Good settlements cover victims’ current lost wages from injuries and future missed income. In their statements, medical experts can estimate when you can return to work based on your injuries and anticipated recovery timeline, and our lawyers can use this as leverage to improve settlement offers.
What Medical Damages Should a South Carolina Hand and Wrist Injury Settlement Cover?
Good settlements for hand and wrist injuries, which victims might sustain during slip and falls or car accidents, should cover all medical damages a victim incurs, including future costs not yet sustained.
To help the negligent party understand your medical damages before they offer a settlement, our lawyers will organize proof of all treatments for your hand and wrist injuries and their costs. We can also explain that we will seek compensation for future damages and offer support for those requests, like statements from medical experts.
Even in an out-of-court settlement, the defendant should cover all medical damages caused by their negligence. We can commit to proceeding with a trial and proving the defendant’s liability if they refuse to cover reasonable and necessary hospital expenses for hand and wrist injuries. If you delay medical treatment after sustaining an injury and it worsens, the defendant might refuse to cover additional expenses due to that delay in care. Because of this, go to the hospital at the first sign of pain or discomfort and follow the treatment plan doctors give you closely. Stopping treatment could lead to gaps in your medical records, making proving injuries and damages more challenging.
After many hospital and doctor visits, victims might lose track of their medical expenses and forget to request compensation for some treatments in settlements. Our lawyers can focus on organizing your medical records and copies of all bills after an accident so that we always have an accurate tally of your losses to date. If the defense doesn’t see proof of your damages before or during settlement negotiations, they will have no incentive to offer a settlement, fair or not.
Can You Get Non-Economic Damages for Hand and Wrist Injuries if You Settle Your South Carolina Case?
Getting non-economic damages from a settlement can be challenging, so victims need to know the value of their claims and intangible losses before accepting any settlement proposals from defendants.
Our South Carolina personal injury lawyers may employ statements from mental health experts to get a good settlement that includes non-economic damages. Hand and wrist injuries, especially limb or digit loss, can be challenging for victims to recover from emotionally. Having victims document their daily struggles in a journal or confide in therapists can lead to evidence that can increase our leverage over the defense.
Negligent parties might be more likely to increase settlement offers and cover victims’ non-economic damages after exhibiting gross negligence, as a jury could order them to pay punitive damages if they are found liable in court. At the beginning stages of case preparation, our lawyers will examine the evidence and your damages to estimate your deserved recovery, regardless of a potential settlement. We will use these calculations to assess each offer we receive, guiding our evaluations and how we navigate settlement negotiations.
Compensation for any damages, including intangible losses, is never guaranteed, whether from a settlement or court award. However, the chances of recovery greatly increase when victims know what to expect during injury lawsuits, particularly regarding how defendants approach initial settlement offers and negotiations in general.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in South Carolina for Help Today
Call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers to discuss your case for free with our Sumter, SC personal injury lawyers at (803) 451-4000.
