Million-Dollar Personal Injury Lawsuits Come with a Price

March 20, 2016

Are you one of those people who jokes after a near-accident that you always wanted a better car, to go to Disneyland, or some other pie-in-the-sky-dream? Sure, you might think, winning a lawsuit for an accident could win you a lot of money! A lot of people might joke about settlements as a path to riches, because of high profile cases like the famous McDonald’s coffee case. Take it from some of the best attorneys in Cleveland: You do not want to be that person.

There are plenty of personal injury lawsuits where plaintiffs are awarded a million dollars or more. The people who win those cases have already typically lost more than any dollar amount is worth. We’ve put together a handy info sheet on Million-Dollar Lawsuits for personal injury claims, which you can download for free.


Click here for the free PDF download

Here are some things to keep in mind: Lawsuits and their corresponding rewards are based on a number of factors. Namely, you have to be able to prove someone is at fault. Liability means the injury is someone else’s fault and that can you prove it.  If no one was at fault, or you can’t prove that the other party acted in a reckless, dangerous, or otherwise negligent manner, you may be out of luck.

Furthermore, juries just don’t award someone a seven figure judgement because they feel sorry for the victim. Economists, financial, and medical professionals are brought in to explain how badly someone was hurt, and how it will affect and cost them for the rest of his or her life. Whether that’s ongoing medical treatment costs, having to hire a nurse to help, funeral costs, loss of wages—those are all things that are mathematically quantified by people who specialize in these types of cases. 5230711826_e1230be485_b.jpg

Even if an injured person can prove liability, and demonstrate that significant economic damages, pain and suffering, or even punitive damages should be paid, defendants are often victimized again by statutes–This is because the courts have been legislatively capped on what can be awarded. The Ohio Legislature capped non-economic damages for non-catastrophic injuries, which is the greater of $250,000 or three times economic damages, subject to a maximum of $350,000 per plaintiff. So, even if the jury thinks you deserve more, you may get much less.

Read the details of damages in our free PDF:


Click here for the free PDF download

Then there is collectability. You can only collect if there are funds available to collect. Who you are suing could make all the difference in the world. Big corporations  have money to cover a big lawsuit.  But, what if you are suing someone who works a 9 to 5 job and makes a modest income?  Like the saying goes: “You can’t get blood from a stone.” However, you might wonder about collecting from insurance companies. In Ohio, the minimum amount of automobile insurance coverage for a driver is $25,000.00. By some accounts, as many as 20 percent of all motorists on the road have absolutely no insurance. If the responsible party only has $25,000 of insurance and the victim is paralyzed for life, in the real world, that victim may only recover $25,000.00 for all of his or her economic and non-economic damages. In other words, this is a million-dollar case worth $25,000.00.

The long and the short of it is this: You never want to be a party in a million-dollar lawsuit. If there’s a seven figure payout waiting at the end of the trial, someone was seriously, permanently injured or killed. Our law team has the experience and knowledge to fight for you in such a tragic case. This is why we are consistently recognized as among the most award winning attorneys in Cleveland.

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