Law Have Mercy!

Settlement vs Lawsuit: What's Right For You?

• Chaz Roberts

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If you are in need of legal guidance, visit our website: https://www.chazrobertslaw.com/

After a car accident, you're faced with a critical choice that could impact your financial future: accept a quick settlement check or fight for what you truly deserve. This decision isn't as straightforward as it might seem, and making the wrong choice could cost you thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—of dollars.

Contrary to popular belief, hiring a personal injury attorney doesn't automatically mean filing a lawsuit or heading to court. The reality is that 99% of personal injury cases settle without trial, and only about 1% ever see the inside of a courtroom. The real value an attorney brings isn't in litigation but in properly valuing your case and negotiating from a position of strength.

When should you handle a settlement yourself? If your injuries resolved completely after a single medical visit, and the insurance company offers several thousand dollars above your medical expenses, settling on your own might make sense. But be cautious—emergency room bills can run into thousands of dollars, and injuries that seem minor initially can develop complications later. Once you settle, your case is permanently closed, regardless of any future medical needs that arise.

The difference between accepting a quick offer and getting proper legal representation can be substantial. Take Tina, who came to me after being offered $2,500 by an insurance company. With proper guidance and treatment, we secured a $100,000 settlement—the policy's maximum. Her story isn't unique. Many clients who settled quickly on their own later regretted it when they needed surgeries or extended treatments months after their settlement.

Insurance companies count on your inexperience and eagerness to put the accident behind you. They employ tactics designed to minimize payouts: denying valid claims, making lowball offers, and deliberately delaying to pressure you into accepting less than you deserve. Before making any decisions about your case, consult with an experienced attorney who can provide a free assessment of what your case is truly worth. Your financial future may depend on it.

Have you been injured in an accident? Don't leave money on the table. Call today for a free consultation and discover what your case is really worth.

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If you are in need of legal guidance, visit our website: https://www.chazrobertslaw.com/

This show is co-produced by Carter Simoneaux of AcadianaCasts Network, Chaz H. Roberts of Chaz Roberts Law and Kayli Guidry Bonin of Beau The Agency, and Laith Alferahin.

Speaker 1:

If you've been hurt in a wreck. I'm sorry to hear that. You're probably wondering should I just take the quick settlement or should I sue the other person? This choice can be the difference between getting good money or money that's way less than you deserve. I'm Chaz Roberts. I'm a personal injury lawyer, and on today's video, I'm gonna tell you if you should take a settlement or if you should fight the insurance company and beat them at their own game. Now, if you should fight the insurance company and beat them at their own game.

Speaker 1:

Now let's break this down. First of all, I want to bust a myth. A lot of people think when you hire a lawyer, the lawyer runs to the courthouse and files a lawsuit. That's not what happens. Lawyers actually settle the majority of their cases, like 99% of their cases, and in our office, like most law offices, nine out of 10 cases we never have to file a lawsuit on, and of the cases that we file a lawsuit on, less than 1% actually go all the way to trial in front of a judge or a jury. So when you hire a lawyer, you're not automatically filing a lawsuit, and so when we talk about settlement, that's a little deceiving. I'm going to cover the different types of settlements. I'm going to cover a settlement when you settle the case on your own without hiring a lawyer. I'm going to cover what it means when a lawyer settles your case and I'm going to cover if you should actually go all the way to trial. So what is a settlement?

Speaker 1:

A settlement is when the insurance company agrees that they owe a certain amount of money. Settlements are good because it usually means that the insurance company, at least in Louisiana, has to send you a check in the mail within 30 days so you get your money promptly, quickly in your bank account, pay your bills and move on with your life. You don't have to stress in the agony of waiting and going all the way to trial. The problem is the insurance companies don't just hand over the money. You have to fight for it. You have to argue why you're entitled to that money, and lawyers can help in that process. They're going to try to deny the claim. They're gonna try to lowball you. They're gonna try to delay. That's another. One of their tactics is try to starve you out by delaying the process. But a settlement overall is good. It means you don't have to deal with the unpredictable nature of a trial.

Speaker 1:

Now, the first instance is when there's a very minor wreck, a scratch, a small dent, and you have no actual pain or very minor pain that resolves after one visit to the urgent care or emergency room. That is a situation where you may decide to settle the case on your own. Now when should you do that? You know what your medical bills are. You know that your urgent care only charge you $200.

Speaker 1:

Be careful with emergency rooms. Emergency rooms are way more expensive than you think because a lot of times they have three bills attached to it the hospital facility, an ER physician and possibly a radiologist. If you had x-rays, those bills can be $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, even more. Sometimes you get CT scans and it's in the tens of thousands of dollars. So when you know all your medical bills and you are good after one visit, then you may want to settle the case on your own. You get those medical bills. You send them to the insurance company. If the insurance company offers you thousands of dollars on top of your medical bills, in addition to your medical bills, then you may say I don't need to hire a lawyer to do that. I can handle that. That's fair. I think that my medical bills plus $2,500, $3,000, I get to keep the whole amount. That's fair. Settle your own case. Understand if you have residual pain or residual symptoms or residual discomfort after that initial visit and you need more medical care, I would never settle the case on my own. I would contact a lawyer. The next type of settlement we're going to talk about is when you actually hired a lawyer. So chances are you've had that initial visit to the urgent care or emergency room but you still have some pain. Maybe you have time away from work. A lawyer can help get you set up with certain medical treatment that will take care of you, will treat you for a period of time, whether it's six weeks, six months, whatever, six years. I hate to say six years, but six years.

Speaker 1:

Some injuries are severe. It's more than just a minor injury that's just a scrape that doesn't resolve itself within a few days. Okay, so in that it's complex. So you're going to have lost wages, you're going to have medical bills, you might have future medical bills. You have pain and suffering, you have anxiety, you have all these other components that a lawyer needs to compile and present your case to the insurance company and the lawyer is going to look at other similar cases that have gone to trial to the appeals court all the way to the Supreme Court and say this is what this case is worth. They put that demand package together and try to settle the case Now. At that point the insurance company may do some negotiation with an attorney who is experienced negotiator and determine what the fair market value is for your injuries. I hate to say fair market value, but that's the reality. We can't take a time machine and go back in time before the wreck. So the only thing we figured out how to do in the civil justice system is pay money, as bad as that sounds. So the lawyer sends a demand package, there's some negotiation, that goes on and then the insurance company can agree. Once that happens, that is a settlement. The same rules I said earlier. They have to send a check within 30 days. In Louisiana I know a lot of states have similar rules and so you have to check state by state what the settlement payout timeline is. That is a settlement. That is how 99% of the cases are resolved.

Speaker 1:

Some happen before a lawsuit is filed. In some cases the insurance company is completely unreasonable. There might be a situation of who's at fault or we may be asking for too much money or they may be offering too little money, and then there's a dispute. That's when a lawsuit takes place. That's when you sue someone. That's when a lawsuit takes place. That's when you sue someone. Or you're coming up against your statute of limitations period where you have within it used to be a year in Louisiana, now it's two years within a certain period of time to file a lawsuit to protect your rights. If you don't file a suit within that period, you lose your rights completely. That's another reason lawyers file suits is because they're up against a statute of limitations. In Louisiana we call that prescription.

Speaker 1:

But at any time pre-suit before the lawsuit is filed, or post-suit after the lawsuit is filed settlement can take place. You can settle a case on the courthouse steps right before you see the jury. We settled a case a year ago where we went through, voir dire, where a jury was selected and there was a settlement. You can settle a case after the first witness is called and you can settle a case six weeks after a wreck. At any point you can settle a case.

Speaker 1:

So don't get caught up on do I need to sue someone? That's not the full analysis. The question is do I take a fair settlement? And the answer is always you want to try to settle your case for fair value. Once we know what the fair value is, if you don't have enough treatment and you're still having injuries, that might not be the time to settle. The case is not yet developed.

Speaker 1:

The biggest pro for settling a case is it happens quick. If it's for fair value, you get the money in your bank account. You don't have prolonged litigation, which is stressful, and you don't put your case in the hands of a jury that you never know what they're going to do or a judge. You never know what they're going to do. The pro of settling a case is you can guarantee the outcome and it's going to be quicker than going to trial. The con is sometimes insurance companies don't offer enough money and you have no choice but to put the screws to them and go to trial and show them that they completely undervalue your case or they were wrong in their determination that you were at fault.

Speaker 1:

This is a complicated analysis, so if you are dealing with a car wreck, you should contact a lawyer. A lawyer has experience. We just had a phone call recently. This guy was offered $15,000 for a black eye no follow-up treatment. He's good, no concussion. And you know what we said hey, maybe try $25,000. But even if they stick to $15,000, it's still a good deal and you don't even need to pay a lawyer. He was able to get fair value and we encourage him to go ahead and accept that because I think we would all agree $15,000 is a lot of money for a black eye. I've had several black eyes in my life and I've never been offered $15,000.

Speaker 1:

So it's a case by case basis, but at any time you have questions, pick up the phone and call a lawyer. Call me. I'll be happy to walk you through the process and I'll be honest whether you can do it yourself. You may have injuries that you don't know about and you have an address that should be addressed before you settle the case, because once you settle the case, it's over. There's no recourse, any medical bills or medical treatment you incur after the settlement. You're on your own and you have to pay for it. Same with missed time from work.

Speaker 1:

I've had several clients that have come talk to me that in the past they had settled their own case and they had lingering back pain, lingering neck pain. They end up needing surgeries and they regret selling their case so quickly. You have time. Don't rush to sell a case on your own without talking to a lawyer. This one time this nice lady named Tina comes to my office and the insurance company offered her $2,500 for her case. She was still having neck pain, still having back pain, but she didn't know who to see who to go to. We helped her out, we helped get her treatment, we directed her the right way and we settled that case for the policy limits of $100,000. So she put a lot of money in her pocket. She got the treatment she deserved, she got her lost wages taken care of and she got a lot of money on top of that. And that's an example of someone who didn't settle their case for a quick buck. Use the experience of a lawyer and maximize the value of their case.

Speaker 1:

Deciding whether to settle a case on your own, settle a case with a lawyer or file a lawsuit is not an easy decision. But my advice is the same Pick up the phone and call a lawyer, because you don't want to leave money on the table. You don't want to risk future problems in your life because you took a quick buck. If you want help figuring out whether you should settle or not, pick up the phone. Give me a call 337-504-3202 for a free consultation. I'll be happy to talk to you. And don't miss our previous video. What Insurance Companies Don't Want you To Know? It'll help you avoid errors that'll cost you thousands of dollars.

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Chaz Roberts

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