Bernard Tully Personal Injury Lawyer. Phone: 412-281-8700
One of the most frequent questions I am asked by people is, “How much money am I going to get from my jury?” Maybe you were rear-ended and it is somebody else’s fault. You had a lot of treatment, or had to have surgery. Were you wondering how much $ you’re going to get from a jury?
No one can say with certainty how much money you’re going to get. However, I’ll just give you this general guideline. Juries give more money to someone they like and they feel empathy towards than someone who is a sourpuss and they don’t particularly care for. This applies even if the injuries are the same.
For example, two people have to have knee surgery. Person number one is a smiling, likeable person and person number two doesn’t smile and is evasive with their answers. You’re going to see a difference between a $10,000 award to the unsmiling person, and maybe $100,000 for the likeable person.
So one of the best things you can do is smile in front of the jury, be likable, show you’re human, and don’t exaggerate your injuries. Jurors can see through embellishment in a heartbeat! Sometimes people actually will say because of their back injury they’ll never walk again and never be the same, even though it’s a soft tissue injury. Nobody will believe that so they’re going to give you very little money for your claim.
However, someone who has the mentality of, for example, the Pittsburgh Steelers, where they just grind it out, and don’t make excuses, will do much better. Answering questions directly is one of the biggest factors to the question of how much money is my case worth. It’s going to be worth a lot more to a likable person than someone that isn’t so likable.
So this is a word to the wise. We have other tips we give to people about how they can come across as real, believable, and likable. This will increase the chances of getting a substantial $ award.
Our main focus is honesty. We always preach it. We are passionate about trying to help any injured person or child with their case. Questions about the blog? CALL US!
Bernard Tully Pittsburgh Personal Injury Case Value Lawyer. 412-281-8700 and 1-800-518-0050