It’s possible to recover fair compensation for severe knee injuries caused by the actions or negligence of others. This can cover property damage, lost income, medical bills, and physical pain and suffering damages. How much compensation you can receive depends on who caused your injuries and the types of losses you suffered.
The knee injury lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers help clients recover personal injury settlements for knee injuries. We have helped clients recover substantial settlements for knee injuries. Read on to learn more about knee injury settlements and how much your case could be worth.
Purpose of Settlements
Personal injury settlements resolve knee injury claims without going to trial. Most personal injury cases settle without going to court, as trials take longer, cost more in court fees, and have fewer certain outcomes.
Your personal injury lawyer may recommend taking it if offered a sizeable and fair knee injury settlement. If the amount offered is lower than expected, your attorney can try to negotiate it to a more substantial sum.
Factors Affecting Settlement Value
While there is no guarantee of how much a personal injury settlement will be worth, there are known factors that impact the potential value of a knee injury settlement. These include the severity of the injury, liability, and available insurance coverage.
Settlement for a worker who injured their knee and required surgery after a fall on an active construction site.
Policy limit claim after a driver failed to yield to cyclists on a busy city street during rush hour. The cyclist had damage to the knee and required arthroscopic surgery.
Policy limit claim for a client who was struck while proceeding through an intersection when a pickup truck driver blew a stop sign. The impact resulted in a crush injury to the motorcyclist’s leg and knee. An MRI revealed a torn meniscus, which was repaired surgically.
Policy limit uninsured motorist claim for an amateur triathlete who was out for a morning ride when a vehicle trying to pass her struck her. The woman was thrown from her bike and injured her knee, requiring arthroscopic repair.
Generally, more severe injuries receive larger settlements than more minor injuries. For instance, cases involving knee replacement or knee surgeries will very likely pay more than those involving a knee fracture that didn’t require surgery.
Liability will have an impact on your knee injury claim. If you were injured in a car accident caused by another driver’s negligence, you would expect to receive more than a case with shared liability. You can still receive compensation through comparative negligence laws in many states, even if your actions contributed to the injury.
Whether your knee injury case involves an insurance company and what type of coverage is available also influences settlement value for personal injury claims. The more comprehensive insurance coverage is available, the more potential for larger payouts.
How Knee Injury Settlement Calculators Work
The best way to assess the settlement value of knee injury cases is to discuss your case with personal injury lawyers. An experienced attorney will evaluate your case against past, similar cases and the average compensation payout to provide an estimated settlement value. If you want to know what your knee injury case could settle for.
Another way to get a rough idea of settlement value for your knee injury case is to use a personal injury settlement calculator. While this can’t replace an experienced personal injury lawyer, it can use information like what you’ve already spent on medical treatment and other factors to give you an idea of a fair settlement.
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Basic Function
The basic function of a personal injury calculator is to get a rough idea of what a personal injury case could be worth. It uses algorithms, historical data, and your information to generate potential personal injury settlement ranges.
Data Input
To use a personal injury settlement calculator, you must input information about your serious injury, as knee replacement settlement amounts vary. The information you must provide includes:
- Medical expenses
- Physical therapy costs
- Lost income totals
- Property damage
- Information about the insurance company involved
Limitations of Calculators
An online personal injury settlement calculator can give you an idea of what to expect, but it cannot replace personal injury attorneys.
Scheduling a consultation with a personal injury attorney is the best way to know the kind of settlement amount possible. They will know about recent cases, settlement negotiations, and geographical-specific considerations a calculator wouldn’t know about.
Your attorney will also consider personal factors. For example, more serious injuries often cause emotional trauma. An experienced lawyer will evaluate your medical bills and if the accident caused financial hardship for your family. Things like canceling your child’s piano lessons can impact a settlement but often aren’t included in a personal injury calculator.
Factors Considered by a Personal Injury Settlement Calculator
You will need to account for certain data points to use a personal injury settlement calculator.
Medical Bills
One of the most significant parts of a personal injury settlement is medical bills, both past and future medical expenses. These are considered economic damages.
What future medical bills will you have due to your knee injury? When calculating this figure, consider the cost of knee surgery, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and your ongoing care needs. This also includes mental health care for trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lost Wages
You must calculate your lost wages, including future lost income you expect due to recovering from your knee injury or not being able to work in your current profession again.
For example, carpet installers spend many work days on their knees. If your knee injury left you unable to work in your existing profession, you could claim the loss of future income and, in some cases, vocational training to help you find a new career.
Pain and Suffering
Medical bills and lost income are examples of economic damages, which are losses that relate to tangible financial losses. However, under personal injury law, you can also seek compensation for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and emotional distress.
Unlike medical bills and lost wages, which you can recover on a dollar-for-dollar basis, non-economic damages are assessed by judges. For instance, a pain and suffering multiplier between 1.5 and 5 could be used to determine your total economic damages and how much pain and suffering you receive.
Liability and Fault
Which parties are liable and found to be at fault will impact how much can be recovered in a personal injury claim. If the other party is found 100% at fault, your lawyer will try to recover the total value of your settlement.
However, you can often recover compensation even when you share some of the fault. For example, if you were involved in a slip and fall accident around a pool, the judge may assign some of the fault to you because it is a place where it is known that water could be sitting.
The rules surrounding comparative fault are different under each state’s laws. In many cases, the other party will be responsible for their percentage of fault. If they are found 70% at fault, you would receive 70% of the total settlement value.
Permanent Impairment or Disability
If you have become permanently impaired or disabled as a result of your knee injury, you could expect to receive a higher settlement amount in your personal injury case than similar knee injury claims with more recoverable knee injuries. This is especially true in cases where your future medical bills are expected to be high.
Types of Knee Injuries and Their Impact on Settlements
Different types of knee injuries often lead to a personal injury claim. Here is an overview of some of the most common.
Ligament Tears (ACL, MCL, PCL)
Knee ligament tears are extraordinarily painful, especially when you need to put weight on your knee to walk or go up some stairs. It can have a significant impact on your mobility. There are four major ligaments in your knee:
- Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
- Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL)
- Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL)
- Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL)
A tear in your ACL is the most common. However, it is possible to tear any of these and suffer from knee pain. The recovery depends on how severe the ligament tear is. There are three classifications of tears: grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3. Grade 3 tears are the most serious and often require knee surgery to regain function and prevent future pain.
Meniscus Tears
A meniscus tear occurs in one of the C-shaped pads of cartilage that cushion the shin and thigh bones. It’s a reasonably common knee injury from sports or trauma, such as in a car accident. It causes knee pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of mobility.
Depending on your age and the severity of your knee injury, arthroscopic surgery could be recommended. Without knee surgery, you could face chronic pain and instability in your knee.
Fractures
Knee fractures often occur in the knee cap, sometimes referred to as a patellar fracture. They are most commonly caused by a fall or car accident. Just one percent of broken bones are broken kneecaps [1].
Complicated kneecap fractures may require arthroscopic surgery and rehabilitation to improve range of motion and muscle strength. Other types of fractures include femoral shaft fractures and patellar sleeve knee injuries, which are more common in children between the ages of 8 and 12. Sometimes, a severe knee injury necessitates a knee replacement.
Dislocations
A knee dislocation is when the bones in the knee joint are forced out of alignment. This results in significant pain, damage to ligaments and other structures, and visible deformity of the knee joint. It can leave you unable to bend your knee.
In many cases, a dislocated knee can also damage bones, cartilage, and ligaments. While most people recover from a dislocated knee within a few months, it can lead to long-term complications, such as osteoarthritis.
Pros and Cons of Using a Calculator for a Personal Injury Claim
Using a calculator to get an idea of a possible settlement amount can be a good idea. It can give you an idea of your potential settlement value. It also highlights the factors that could influence your case, such as the severity of your knee injury, financial losses, and liability.
Calculators can only provide estimates of settlement value. A calculator cannot evaluate your case and make determinations about your case.
For instance, a calculator cannot guess what pain and suffering multiplier will likely be used to determine your final settlement amount. A personal injury lawyer can use past cases and knowledge of the local court system to provide you with the most accurate feedback.
The Importance of Legal Representation
Whether you face a knee replacement or months of physical therapy and rehabilitation after a fracture, hiring a knee injury attorney is essential.
Accurate Evaluation
One of the most immediate benefits of working with a personal injury law firm is the ability to get an accurate evaluation of your case. Unlike an online personal injury calculator, your lawyer can gather more information about your injuries, losses, and emotional impact to accurately assess your case value.
Negotiation and Advocacy
Insurance companies have a vested interest in paying out the lowest amounts for settlements, as this is the way to minimize their costs. The insurance provider may flat-out deny your claim or offer a low initial settlement, hoping you will accept it. Having a lawyer on your side can make it easier to negotiate a fair settlement without going to trial.
Your lawyer will advocate for your rights and negotiate the best settlement possible for your case. They know what your case is worth, what the insurance paid for other similar cases, and what strategies to use to maximize your settlement.
Litigation and Trial
Most knee injury lawsuits settle out of court. If a substantial settlement cannot be reached beforehand, your lawyer is well-prepared to bring your case to trial. They will file your civil lawsuit, gather evidence, work with witnesses and experts, and build solid arguments for the trial.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is the time you have from your injury to file a civil lawsuit to seek compensation from the liable party. If you wait too long to file your claim, you won’t be able to proceed with your case. The length of time you have varies from state to state but is typically a couple of years.
For this reason, it is essential to schedule a consultation with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Even if you don’t want to move forward, it is a good idea to know your options before it is too late. Should you decide to pursue a civil case, your lawyer can work on building your case and negotiating with insurance companies while you focus on your recovery.
Tips for Maximizing Your Settlement Amount
Working with a very experienced personal injury lawyer is one of the best things you can do to maximize your settlement. However, there are some other vital things to keep in mind.
Don’t Discuss Your Case With Anyone
As comforting as it is to vent, try not to discuss all the details of your case with anyone who isn’t your lawyer. It isn’t always possible to know how people are connected and what information could be used against you later. Before discussing your case with someone outside of your legal team, running it past your lawyer is a good idea.
Be Careful What You Post on Social Media
Similarly, be careful about what you post on social media. This information could be used against you in ways that are hard to predict. For example, if you post photos while having a great time on vacation, this could be shown as evidence that your knee injury is not as debilitating as you claim it is.
Never Accept a First Settlement Offer
Insurance companies send lowball offers that are often not worth a full settlement. Always have your lawyer review settlement offers before accepting them. In most cases, you won’t be able to return and seek additional compensation after the fact. Therefore, you must ensure the settlement you accept is the best.
Document All of Your Expenses
A common oversight that many personal injury clients have is totaling their expenses. This often means that money that could have been added to a settlement is left behind. Be diligent in documenting all expenses and financial losses through photos and receipts.
This includes co-pays for medical procedures, what you pay to replace broken personal items, prescription co-pays, over-the-counter medications, and more. All of the expenses related to your knee injury and recovery can be requested in your lawsuit.
Secure Expert Legal Counsel!
You could be entitled to compensation if you or a loved one has suffered a knee injury. Reach out to Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers for a free consultation by filling out our contact form or calling toll-free at (888) 424-5757. We help clients seek compensation for various injuries, including knee and neck injuries.
A member of our team is available 24/7 to set up your free initial consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis. This means you don’t have to pay anything upfront or out-of-pocket for our services. We have helped our clients secure millions of dollars in settlements in personal injury cases.
Resources: [1] John Hopkins Medicine