You Won Your Injury Case! Now What?

It’s been a long journey. From the trauma of your initial injury, to medical care and recovery, to a legal case with depositions and discovery, and the trial itself, you’ve been through a lot. And while you would have preferred that the accident never happened in the first place, at least it is not only over, but a jury has determined that you were right—the other party was responsible for your injuries.

But it’s not over. There are still things that happen even after the judgment is entered by the court.

Post Trial Motions

The first thing is that there will be a series of post trial motions. These may include motions by the Defendant to lower the verdict. The Defendant may feel that they should get a setoff for insurance money paid to you or that the jury awarded you something as part of your damages that was legally incorrect.

Post Judgment Appeals

In some cases, a losing Defendant may opt to appeal the judgment against them. You will have to fight the appeal (or else, settle the case for less than the jury award, to settle the appeal, if that’s something you’re willing to do). If you do fight the appeal, this can add some time onto however long it would take for the Defendant to pay whatever the jury ordered be paid to you.

Collecting on the Judgment

Assuming there is no appeal, or there is and you win it, there is the matter of collection. If the Defendant is a large company, this may not be an issue. The same arises if the judgment falls within the Defendant’s insurance policy.

But if you win a verdict that is more than what an individual defendant is insured for, you will need to speak with your injury attorney about collecting on the non-insured portion of the judgment against the liable Defendant. Depending on the Defendant’s assets, this could be another longer process.

Your attorney may have to garnish the wages or the assets of the Defendant, and perhaps, do some discovery on where the Defendant’s assets are located in order to collect on them.

Liens on the Recovery

If you do recover all of the money awarded by the jury, your attorney may have to use some of that money to pay others that paid you—specifically, health insurance companies, medical providers that held a balance until the case ended, or government entities like Medicare, all of which may assert a lien on the proceeds of your verdict.

In some cases your attorney can negotiate with these sources—the less they take from your judgment amount, the more you get. But this negotiation can take time.

Investing the Funds

For larger recoveries that may need to last years, such as in catastrophic damage cases, you may want to speak with a wealth management professional or estate planning attorney, in order to put the funds in a financial vehicle that will make it last, or which will yield funds for years to come, to pay for ongoing lost wages or medical expenses.

We’re with you from injury, to trial, and beyond. Get attorneys who will be there from start to finish in your injury case. Call the Boston personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today for help at 617-275-4200.

Source:

cms.gov/medicare/coordination-benefits-recovery/beneficiary-services/recovery-process