Episode #9: How do I determine the value of a Personal Injury Case?

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Int

o : 0:08 B

e

king do

n the L

, B

e

king Do

n the L podc

st hosted by

tto

neys

nd leg

l speci

lists discussing eve

yd

y l

nd ho

it

ffects

egul people,

egul

people. Let’s b

e

k do

n the l

ith ou

host, Ste

t Guss

nd

shley

od

iguez. They h

ve the inside scoop on eve

ything leg

l

nd ne

s

o

thy. Ste

t J Guss : 0:34

Hey,

shley Ste

t. Guss he

e,

shley

od

iguez

ith b

e

king do

n the l

. Ho

e you doing tod

y?

shley

od

iguez : 0:39 I'm doing good. Ho

e you?

l

ight, good,

Ste

t J Guss : 0:42 good. Good. e

e

e

dy to p

ovide good info

m

tive

nd helpful info

m

tion to ou

listene

s out the

e?

shley

od

iguez : 0:47

Yes. I

ould like to knoh

t the v

lue of

pe

son

l inju

y c

se is?

Ste

t J Guss : 0:51

ouldn’t

e

ll

ouldn't

e

ll So, ye

h, so tod

y's podc

st is going to be

bout ho

the v

lue of

pe

son inju

y c

se is dete

mined.

nd this is

ctu

lly one of the most complic

ted

nd so

t of mystic

lly uncle things in the

o

ld. Bec

use l

ye

s, t

o diffe

ent lye

s, o

t

o diffe

ent ju

o

s c

n look

t the ex

ct s

me set of f

cts, the ex

ct s

me evidence, medic

l bills, inju

ies

nd come up

ith

ildly diffe

ent figu

es. So unfo

tun

tely, the

e is no equ

tion, the

e’s no

ule of thumb, the

e’s no

ule of elbo

, the

e's just things th

t

e c

n look

t th

t

e knoffect v

lue one

y o

the othe

. Just

ild

nd out the

e. en't you

onde

ing

h

t those f

cto

s e?

shley

od

iguez : 1:44

Ye

h. Is it diffe

ent fo

diffe

ent types of pe

son

l inju

y c

ses?

Ste

t J Guss : 1:48 Ye

h, no,

ctu

lly, sometimes, but typic

lly. So fo

ex

mple, you kno

, if you h

ve

c

ccident, you kno

, th

t's going to h

ve

ce

t

in so

t of H

ve you h

ve simil

inju

ies

nd if it’s

typic

l pe

son

l

uto ve

sus pe

son

l

uto, you kno

th

t nge of v

lue m

y be X o

Y. Sometimes you look

t the inc

e

sed

esponsibility on the p

t of the defend

nt. So, fo

ex

mple, in

comme

ci

l

ccident, the

e’s

couple of

e

sons th

t the v

lue of those c

ses is typic

lly signific

ntly highe

. Numbe

one, it m

y h

ve to do

ith the diligence

equi

ed on the pt of

t

uck d

ive

o t

ucking comp

ny if fo

ex

mple, imp

ope

m

inten

nce s s

f

cto

.

lso, you look

t the physics involved in

n 18

heele

csh typic

lly spe

king, they tend to be

lot highe

imp

ct

shley

od

iguez : 2:44

lot bigge

vehicle. Ste

t J Guss : 2:45

Ye

h, b

sic physics tell you did not do p

ticul

ly

ell in physics. But essenti

lly, momentum is

bsolutely

ffected by m

ss

nd velocity. Th

t's, th

t’s the equ

tion. So those e some things

lso Sometimes you might be looking

t punitive o

exempl

y d

m

ges. Fo

ex

mple, in the event of

d

unk d

iving c

se, you kno

, the ju

y m

y h

ve the option of giving

n

ddition

l punishment. O

if you h

ve

co

pote defend

nt th

t

cted

ith g

oss negligence o

, you kno

,

s

pticully b

d

cto

, sometimes you see th

t you sent

s

ell.

shley

od

iguez : 3:21

Diffe

ent F

cto

s Ste

t J Guss : 3:22

Ye

h, fud. The me

t

nd pot

toes of v

lue is

ctu

lly

el

tively stightfod. I'm going to t

lk

bout f

cto

s but they'

e

ll of these things come into

nge. So

hen

e look

t the v

lu

tion of

pe

son

l inju

y c

se, the numbe

one f

cto

typic

lly,

t it is

fte

ll,

n inju

y c

se is

e look

t the inju

ies,

e look

t the type of t

e

tment th

t the client undeent, the

mount of the medic

l bills, the extent of the t

e

tment,

shley

od

iguez : 3:50

ho

long they'll be inju

ed fo

Ste

t J Guss : 3:52

Yep,

hethe

o

not the

e’s the

e's

ny pe

m

nent dis

bility. Th

t so

t of m

kes sense

s

f

cto

. So fo

ex

mple, if you h

ve one client th

t

s in I

q

nd sust

ined some soft tissue inju

ies. But then

fte

fe

eeks, you kno

, they do some they do some t

e

tment, they feel bette

in

feeeks, they go th

ough

fin

l

ound of di

gnostics just to m

ke su

e they’

e cleed. Th

t type of c

se is going to h

ve

monety v

lue less th

n let's s

y, fo

ex

mple, someone b

e

ks

n m o

God fo

bid,

equi

es b

ck su

ge

y o

neck su

ge

y,

shley

od

iguez : 4:25

o

someone th

t’s fo

eve

d

m

ged.

Ste

t J Guss : 4:27 Yes, yes.

shley

od

iguez : 4:28

p

lyzed. Ste

t J Guss : 4:29

Yep. So if you h

ve someone

ith pe

m

nent dis

bility o

p

lysis, those c

ses

e, you kno

, obviously,

bsolutely completely he

tb

e

king. The

e e some things th

t you just c

n't fix

s much

s you nt to.

nd ye

h, so

t th

t point, it's ou

job

s

n

dvoc

te to m

ke su

e th

t

e

ecove

the

bsolute m

ximum v

lue th

t

e c

n fo

th

t pe

son to compens

te them fo

h

t they've lost in some c

ses fo

h

t they've lost fo

eve

.

shley

od

iguez : 4:54

Ye

h, they

on’t be

ble to

o

k

g

in. Ste

t J Guss : 4:57

ell, then th

t’s

ctu

lly

nothe

so it’s inte

esting. You b

ing th

t up? Bec

use

hen

e look

t ou

d

m

ge models

ctu

lly look

t dis

bility,

lthough it's

el

ted to income income is

ctu

lly

sep

te sep

te d

m

ge issue. Yep. So fo

ex

mple, you kno

, if

e c

n est

blish, you kno

, sometimes it's ve

y st

ightfo

d. You look

t

nd you’

e

llo

ed to

ecove

p

st loss of e

ning c

p

city

s

ell

s futu

e. So if you, you kno

, lost

month’s

o

th of

o

k

nd you m

ke, let’s s

y, $3,000

month,

ell, the m

th is p

etty simple on th

t you’

e entitled to $3,000. Fo

p

st enings, it gets

little bit mo

e complic

ted

hen so fo

ex

mple, I've ve

y often in f

ct, I

ep

esent commissioned s

lespeople.

shley

od

iguez : 5:43 Oh, th

ts diffe

ent Ste

t J Guss : 5:44

So ye

h, o business o

ne

,

sm

ll business o

ne

. So sometimes it gets

little mo

e complic

ted

nd

e h

ve to eithe

look

t p

st e

nings.

shley

od

iguez : 5:53 Fo

g

o

th

Ste

t J Guss : 5:53 p

ojections fo

g

o

th e p

ojections fo

h

t

evenue

ould h

ve been

nd it becomes

little bit less cle

. I’ve

lso I

lso h

d one c

se

he

e I

ep

esented

highly scouted b

seb

ll pl

ye

. So he s being scouted by

couple of m

jo

le

gue b

seb

ll te

ms. He

s in

eck his he s

pitche

, his pitching shoulde

sust

ined

lot of d

m

ge ended his c

ee

. Th

t c

se got ve

y t

icky

nd

shley

od

iguez : 6:25 the potenti

l of

h

t could of been

Ste

t J Guss : 6:26 Ex

ctly. So it’s ve

y th

t

t the end of the d

y,

e

e

e

ble to get th

t

esolved p

etty

ell fo

him

nd he

s p

etty h

ppy

ith it. But you kno

, sometimes I’m only b

inging this up

s to m

ke the point th

t sometimes the question of income c

n be ve

y, ve

y complex.

shley

od

iguez : 6:43

h

t if it’s like

egul

pe

son

nd they’

e inju

ed fo

life? Do you get to conside

even

h

t they

e m

king no

fo

eve

? O

is it

possibility of like

ises

nd

h

t they could h

ve m

de? Ste

t J Guss : 6:56

Ye

h, yes,

e

bsolutely

mo

tize thei

income into the futu

e.

e

lso if they need, if they'

e going to need medic

l ce o

suppo

t ce,

e c

n m

ke

life ce pl

n. So ye

h,

nything

ny

ddition

l expense th

t

client

ill incu

s

esult of thei

inju

ies, o

nything th

t they h

ve lost o

ill lose in the futu

e,

e’

e going to

e’

e going to t

ke ou

time

nd

nd c

lcul

te th

t to m

ke the gument fo

the l

gest possible

ecove

y. No

,

h

t's

e

lly hetb

e

king sometimes

e

un into the situ

tion

he

e someone m

y be hu

t p

etty b

d, but unfo

tun

tely, the

e's only so much insunce covege.

nd those situ

tions c

n be he

tb

e

king. But even

ith th

t, you kno

,

e still t

y

nd do ou

best to m

ximize ou

eductions

hen

e settle the c

se

nd do eve

ything

e c

n to m

ximize the net

ecove

y to the client.

shley

od

iguez : 7:50

nd th

t's

hy it’s so difficult bec

use eve

ything is so pe

son

l

nd so m

ny diffe

ent f

cto

s. Ste

t J Guss : 7:55

It v

ies f

om Ye

h, eve

y eve

y pe

son

l inju

y c

ses unique They’

e oftentimes f

cto

s th

t they h

ve in common

e

, I

s

e ended

t

stoplight, o

someone

n

stop sign

nd hit me b

o

dside th

t

e see

lot of but e

ch one of those events th

t occu

h

ve

completely unique set of ci

cumst

nces, diffe

ent people involved.

shley

od

iguez : 8:19

diffe

ent speeds even Ste

t J Guss : 8:20

diffe

ent speeds, diffe

ent diffe

ent inju

y levels. Yep. So so the one othe

, the

e’s one othe

f

cto

I nt to t

lk

bout,

nd th

t's in te

ms of est

blishing v

lue, th

t's p

in

nd suffe

ing.

nd

lot of people you kno

, fo

tun

tely, the

e’s some jokes

nd some l

ughte

bout th

t.

nd the insu

nce comp

nies h

ve done

good job of, of m

king th

t seem like

joke

ecove

y. Like th

t's ho

people quote unquote, t

ke

dv

nt

ge.

ell, the f

ct is, if you’ve eve

been in

c

ccident,

nd you’ve sust

ined inju

ies, you kno

th

t p

in

nd suffe

ing is

bsolutely no l

ughing m

tte

. So th

t’s one of the f

cto

s th

t

e th

t's one of the f

cto

s th

t goes in to dete

mine the v

lue.

nd so I think

e’ve hit so medic

l, medic

l bills p

st

nd futu

e, disfigu

ement, dis

bility, p

in

nd suffe

ing, I off the top of my he

d, I c

n’t I don’t h

ve notes. So I c

n’t tell if I’m missing

nything. But th

t’s the me

t

nd pot

toes of

h

t

e see most of the time. I’m su

e th

t one of my l

ye

f

iends listening to this

ill s

y, hey, you fo

got

bout x,

nd em

il me

nd then I'll h

ve to come b

ck

nd

e c

n do

nothe

podc

st

bout it. So

e've h

d

good discussion tod

y

bout hoe c

lcul

te the v

lue of the c

se o

you kno

, the f

cto

s th

t c

n

ffect the v

lue of the c

se.

lot of this comes into pl

y, of cou

se, bec

use pe

son

l inju

y lye

s

o

k on

contingency fee b

sis. Th

t is to s

y

e get

pe

cent

ge of

h

teve

it is th

t

e'

e

ble to

ecove

on beh

lf of ou

clients. Quite fnkly, if

e don’t

in,

e don’t get p

id. Ye

h. No

, th

t is one of the unique benefits of hi

ing

pe

son

l inju

y lye

is th

t you don't need to h

ve

ny money in you

pocket

hen you lk into the office, you get excellent

ep

esent

tion,

nd it doesn't cost you

ny money up f

ont. This is not t

ue fo

ll l

ye

s. So the

e

e some l

ye

s th

t

ctu

lly ch

ge by diffe

ent methods.

nd some of them even ch

ge

fl

t fee.

nd tod

y’s l

ye

joke h

s to do

ith one of those lye

s.

ll

ight, one fl

t fee, fl

t fee l

ye

. So

client comes in to see

f

mous l

ye

ho ch

ges

fl

t fee. The client

sks, C

n you tell me ho

much you chge? The lyens

e

s? Of cou

se, I ch

ge $500 to

ns

e

th

ee questions. The client s

ys

ell, th

t's

bit steep, isn’t it? The l

ye

s

ys yes.

h

t’s you

thi

d question?

shley

od

iguez : 11:01 Oh. Ste

t J Guss : 11:08

But the good ne

s is

e do not ch

ge by the question so if you h

ve

ny questions o

nt

ny mo

e info

m

tion

bout

nything in tod

y’s podc

st, onything th

t

e discussed on

ny of ou

podc

sts, ple

se feel f

ee to

e

ch out.

e e he

e to help info

m the public.

e

ill continue b

e

king do

n the l

. Feel f

ee to cont

ct us if you h

ve been inju

ed at 281-783-3934