Q: My attorney wants me to settle a personal injury claim for far less then my medical bills. What do I do.
I was in an auto accident, low speed accident little damage to my car, big damage to my neck. My attorney wants me to settle for far less then my medical bills, I also missed 6 weeks of school which cost me in student loans because I was past the time period of dropping the class. Do I settle and chalk it as a loss and pay what medical bills, and student loans that will not be able to be paid from the settlement. My attorney said since it was low speed accident I will get nothing if we go to court and he is not comfortable taking my case to court.
A:
Good morning, I'm sorry that you're dealing with this issue. A lot of factors go into the valuation of a claim, including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction you're in, the types of injuries, the property damage and the facts of the accident, your condition prior to the accident, the course and scope of treatment you had after the accident, and other actions after the accident. You as a plaintiff have what's called the burden of proof to show the jury that will eventually be deciding your case that your damages were directly caused by the accident and the injuries you received as a result. Without the necessary proof, your claim may eventually fail.
While I do not know the intricacies of your claim or your attorney's evaluation, your attorney may be looking at the damages and seeing whether you have the ability to prove what was related to the accident. If you are concerned, I would schedule a time to talk to him and let him advise you as to why he feels the way he does and that may help you determine what course of action you both can agree to.
I wish you the best of luck.
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