The Difference Between a Good Offer and a Great Settlement

Most accident victims want to make it all go away.

I know because I've been there. At 17, I woke up from a week-long coma after a car slammed into my passenger door. I also know because I've spent 15 years helping clients secure over $100 million in settlements.

The difference between a good settlement and a great one isn't what most people think.

The Rush to Settle

I recently represented a client after a terrible head-on collision. She was grateful just to be alive. The insurance company made their offer quickly.

She wanted to take it immediately. "I just want to put this whole thing behind me," she told me.

The offer looked reasonable on paper. But I knew it was pennies compared to what her case was actually worth.

Here's what I've learned: People are super resilient and want to just bandage up their wounds and keep moving. But getting full compensation means waiting to see how injuries actually manifest.

We waited. We let her heal physically and mentally before entertaining any offers from the defense.

The difference? Tens of thousands of dollars.

What Your Body Hides

The problem with early settlement offers is timing. You can't know the full value of a case until treatment is finalized and damages are counted.

Surgery isn't always the best option, but sometimes it's necessary. We often don't know if surgery will be needed for days, weeks, even months after an accident.

But here's what surprised me most about how injuries evolve.

Pain manifests itself in very mundane tasks that we often overlook.

That same client didn't realize that the trouble she was having fastening her bra straps was related to the accident. She had just gotten used to the pain.

She couldn't put the puzzle together. Her neck and back pain was actually the result of a serious shoulder injury.

These seemingly small struggles have real monetary value in a settlement. Insurance companies either don't understand this or choose to ignore it.

The Math Game

Insurance companies love reducing everything to numbers. They look at your medical expenses and base their offer on that amount.

For them, it's a numbers game.

I often remind insurance companies that fully compensating my clients isn't a math equation. They have to take each case on its own merits.

What they consistently undervalue is pain and suffering: The daily struggles of living with pain, the life changes that don't show up on medical charts, the small things like pain when fastening a bra strap, difficulty getting out of bed everyday due to injuries from an accident, and even the fear of driving again.

These aren't line items on a spreadsheet, but they're real parts of someone's life that deserve compensation.

Teaching Body Awareness

I try to convey to clients: become keenly aware of your bodies and how your bodies speak to you on a daily basis.

Don't ignore the mild pains that show up after a car accident. Small pains now, if they go untreated, can become big problems in the future.

Great settlements account for this reality. Good settlements focus only on immediate, obvious damages.

The difference comes down to patience and advocacy. That means waiting for the full picture to emerge and fighting for compensation that reflects actual impact, not just medical bills.

The Empathy Advantage

What I'm able to convey to my clients is a sense of empathy that I don't think many other attorneys can bring.

I know what it's like sitting on the victim's side of an accident that has changed your life. I can understand feelings that may not be obvious to someone who isn't sensitive to that experience.

To me, it's more than just money.

It's about recognizing that while I may handle many cases simultaneously, this is their one case. Potentially their one possibility to achieve justice.

I don't take that lightly.

Great settlements require this perspective. They require an attorney who understands that compensation isn't just about covering medical expenses.

Full compensation is about acknowledging the full human impact of an accident, taking into account the struggles that emerge over time and the daily challenges that insurance companies prefer to ignore.

Beyond the Dollar Amount

When evaluating any settlement offer, ask yourself these questions:

Has enough time passed to understand the full extent of your injuries? Are you still discovering new limitations or pain patterns?

Does the offer account for future medical needs? What about ongoing therapy or potential surgery?

Most importantly: Does it reflect the actual impact on your daily life?

The best settlements aren't always the biggest numbers. They're the ones that truly compensate for what you've lost and what you'll continue to face.

That's the difference between good and great -- Between adequate compensation and true justice.

Your body knows more than insurance companies want to admit. Listen to it. Give it time to tell its full story.

That's how good settlements become great ones.

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