Settlement vs. Trial: What’s Best for My Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit?
If you have been hurt in a motorcycle accident or have lost a loved one due to another driver’s mistake, you deserve compensation. A motorcycle accident lawsuit can help you get the compensation you deserve, but in the process of pursuing your lawsuit will likely give you the opportunity to accept a motorcycle accident settlement.
Is it better to accept a settlement or take your lawsuit to a trial? Both options offer benefits, and which one is best for your lawsuit depends on your circumstances.
Benefits of a Settlement
A settlement is when the defendant in your motorcycle accident lawsuit (or their insurance company) offers you a sum of money to pay for your injuries and expenses. This will end the lawsuit without a trial.
This is often the best way to resolve your lawsuit. Here’s why.
A Settlement Is Fast
One of the biggest benefits of a settlement is that it is fast. If you are having difficulty keeping up with medical expenses and other bills because your household income is decreased, a settlement can be a vital lifeline to help you get on top of your debt now. This makes a settlement an invaluable option for some people.
How fast is a settlement? Your motorcycle accident lawyer will send a demand letter before you even file your lawsuit, and the defendant or their insurance company may come back with an acceptable response right away. On the other hand, it can take years to get your lawsuit to trial.
A Settlement Is Certain
One of the best things about a settlement is that it gives you a certain figure for your compensation. When you get a settlement offer, you can accept that offer, and you will get that amount of compensation.
On the other hand, a trial is always a gamble. Even with the best lawyer and seemingly irrefutable evidence, there’s a risk that you won’t get as much compensation as you were offered in a settlement. You might get nothing at all.
A Settlement Is Private
One of the benefits of a settlement is that it can be completely private. If there are details of the case that might be embarrassing or problematic for you or others, a settlement allows you to keep that information secret.
This is one of the key reasons why corporations, in particular, like settlements. They can use the money as leverage to keep you from revealing information that might hurt their brand reputation. Conversely, you may be able to use any information related to the accident as leverage to get a better settlement.
A Settlement Is Inexpensive
You have to spend money to make money, right? This is true, but with a settlement, you have to spend a lot less. It takes time and research to put together a plausible demand letter, but once you do that, it doesn’t take much investment to get a settlement. You will make an offer and field counteroffers, but that doesn’t take too much time.
For a trial, on the other hand, you have to go through discovery, do additional research, and build a case that might convince a jury. Then you must go through the trial itself, which can take days, even weeks, depending on the complexity of the case. Then there are experts to call, such as motorcycle accident reconstruction experts. That’s a lot of expenses, and it may not yield any additional return.
Benefits of a Trial
With all the benefits of a settlement, it’s no wonder why a settlement is the preferred way to satisfy a motorcycle accident lawsuit. However, a trial can also offer significant benefits that make it the right choice in some situations.
You May Get More at a Trial
As we said before, a trial is a gamble. With a trial, you aren’t guaranteed to get what you need, but sometimes you might win big. Very big.
Is it worth it to take the risk? Sometimes. You might decide to go to a trial if the other party is not negotiating in good faith or won’t offer a settlement that even covers your current expenses, let alone your expected future costs. You might also decide a trial is worth it if the evidence is strongly in your favor and you think you are likely to receive a big verdict.
Trials Are Public
Just as the secrecy of a settlement can be valuable, the public nature of a trial can be valuable, too. If you want to bring certain aspects of the motorcycle accident to light, then a trial is your best chance to do so. This is risky, too, because a judge might grant a motion to make the information inadmissible or order it sealed. You should ask your motorcycle accident attorney about the likelihood that this could happen.
Trials Can Give Closure
Another potential benefit from trials is very personal. A trial can give you closure if you were injured or lost a loved one in an accident. It can help you feel that justice has been served to hear a jury of your peers declare that the person who hurt you is wrong and deserves to pay.
A settlement often doesn’t give people the same sense, in part because many settlements have an explicit clause saying that the person admits no fault and takes no further responsibility beyond the (likely secret) settlement and payment.
Talk to your lawyer very seriously if you are considering this rationale for taking your lawsuit to trial. It can be a very expensive price for a chance at closure that might not feel as satisfying as you imagine.
A Motorcycle Accident Attorney Can Help You Decide
The decision about whether to take a settlement or pursue your lawsuit through a trial is a difficult one. You need to have a motorcycle accident lawyer on your side who you can trust to give you advice specific to your needs, not just what the lawyer thinks is generally best.
That’s where Pushchak Law’s unique Informed Decisions™ Approach can make the biggest difference. We start by taking the time to listen to your needs so that we can understand the most important goals of your lawsuit. Then we’ll use our legal expertise to help you decide how to achieve them. We are here for you, and we will always keep you informed about the progress of your case. We will also give you our personal contact information so you can reach us when you have important questions or decisions to communicate about your case. It will always remain your case, and the final decision will always be yours. We are here to advise you, but you still get to make the call.
For help getting the most out of your motorcycle accident lawsuit, please contact Pushchak Law today for a free initial consultation.
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