Almost every personal injury case ends one of three ways. The first way is that the case can be dismissed. At times, the person who was hurt decides not to push it any further for their own reasons. Or a judge orders that the case does not have sufficient merit. When this happens, the case simply ends; there are rarely any other options to pursue.
The second and by far most common way a case concludes is by settlement. This means both the defendant and the plaintiff come to an agreement before the case goes to trial. In other words, the person alleged to be at fault and his or her insurance provider agree to an amount of money that is fair compensation under the circumstances and the plaintiff, with the help of a lawyer in most cases, accepts. Settlements are not always favorable to both sides. And even if both sides benefit, they do not always benefit equally.
Sometimes, a settlement is extremely favorable to the injured person and the insurance company or at-fault person are unhappy with it. Other times, it works the opposite way and the person who proposed the settlement ultimately feels slighted. The defendant or insurance company often tries to engineer the settlement to their advantage using the leverage a large insurer possesses. In numerous cases, settling a lawsuit out of court leaves both sides unhappy and wishing a better solution could have been found. However, the only truly relevant key to a settlement is that it be agreed upon by both parties. Neither party can literally force a settlement. A settlement only occurs when both parties agree that they will not accept the risk of going to trial (where either side faces the possibility of losing) or spend the time and money necessary for further litigation.
Finally, some cases are resolved by a judgment or through the appeals process. Both are the result of taking the case to trial. A judgment is a simply an official piece of paper signed by the judge. Usually, a judgment occurs after a jury trial at which the jury has rendered its verdict. The verdict could be an award to the plaintiff or not. But the jury verdict is not final, although it would appear that way to us because of the way most television courtroom dramas depict trials. The jury verdict leads to a judgment that must be signed by the judge to become valid. The judgment is most often approved for the same amount that the jury has rendered. After the judgment, the case is eligible to be taken up on appeal. If you are curious about learning more about your legal rights and options in a potential personal injury case, please contact the skilled accident attorneys at Breyer Law Offices for a free consultation. We can help.