Reaching a settlement may save both money and hassle, yet this requires skilled legal counsel to navigate successfully.
When an insurance adjuster makes an initial offer that seems inadequate, ask for specific reasons as to why it is so low, then adjust your demand downward accordingly. Once an acceptable settlement amount has been agreed upon, make sure to document it by sending a settlement confirmation letter containing this agreement.
Prepare for the Negotiation
Lawyers have long understood that successful legal negotiations require careful preparation. This includes creating your negotiation requests, calculating potential concessions, and understanding who has power in negotiations. Furthermore, lawyers need to prepare strategies for negotiations in case discussions deadlock or agreements cannot be reached.
Settlement discussions aim to show your opponent that you do not wish to go to trial and seek an amicable resolution to your case. One effective method of doing this is creating what is known as your BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Settlement), or best alternative to negotiated settlement. This figure takes into account expected damages, desire for quick resolution as well as any other relevant factors.
With an idea of your desired settlement amount in mind, your attorney can prepare an equitable first offer that establishes how far the other side is willing to move. Starting negotiations off at unreasonable numbers is usually a bad idea – your attorney should be prepared to explain their reasoning for any unreasonable offers they make.
At times during negotiations, it can be easy to lose control and succumb to emotional outbursts that lead to mistakes that compromise your position or reduce leverage points. An attorney can assist in keeping emotions under control during discussions in order to help avoid mistakes like these.
Negotiations is best done face-to-face; however, if this is impossible for any reason it is still possible to reach an agreement using phone conversations, e-mails and text messages. You might even agree to have your case mediated by a neutral third party acting as mediator; should this not work then the matter will proceed to court and written agreements are essential in reaching a conclusion.
Know Your Limits
Many personal injury cases end in court-approved settlement agreements. Reaching this stage may take weeks or months of negotiations; to get to this stage quickly and efficiently it is crucial that both you and the other parties involved in your case understand exactly what goals they want to meet through negotiations, so everyone knows where their bargaining limits lie and their respective interests lie.
Skilled negotiators generally agree that your initial offer should be high but reasonable to demonstrate good faith and create room to bargain while remaining within the maximum acceptable settlement range. Furthermore, this strategy will focus your opponent’s attention on issues that must be resolved and provide you with leverage against future negotiations.
As is often the case, it is the other party’s practice to begin negotiations by making an unrealistic first offer, hoping you will panic and lower your minimum figure. Unfortunately, this approach may backfire by leading you into unnecessarily lengthy and ineffective counteroffers.
Rather, if the adjuster suggests an unreasonable figure, ask for their explanation and state why your initial estimation was incorrect. This will force them to reevaluate their estimation of your claim’s value and give them the chance to increase it if appropriate.
Your attorney should understand and discuss their fees with you, while any opposition’s legal representative who refuses to make concessions or negotiate should be taken as an indicator that they’re not interested in reaching an acceptable compromise; should this occur, mediation could be considered as an avenue of resolution.
If you and the other party come to an agreement, your attorney can assist in writing a settlement confirmation letter that can be sent to their attorney and insurer for signature by a judge and enforced as consent judgment or stipulated order. Otherwise, taking it all the way to trial may be more cost effective, although such methods tend to be riskier and time consuming ways of settling disputes so should only be pursued when all other options have been exhausted.
Be Persistent
Do not give up hope no matter how long the settlement negotiation process lasts; remain persistent and calm, and your attorney can assist in reaching a satisfactory result in your case. There are various things you can do to speed up negotiations: For example, investing time and money on building your case with strong evidence to back it will help convince defendants or insurance companies quickly to settle quickly.
As part of the mediation process, it is also essential that you maintain good communications with both sides involved. One effective method for doing this is actively listening to both arguments and concerns of both sides, which not only shows your attention but can help identify areas of commonality as well as possible compromises.
Persistence also involves honoring any promises or deadlines set by yourself or your attorney, such as calling back after a certain amount of time or scheduling the next stage in negotiations. Furthermore, be sure to maintain accurate records of all communication and correspondence with opposing parties.
As part of your persistence strategy, it is also important to emphasize your strongest points. This could include recalling injuries sustained during an accident as well as their costs and any long-term repercussions that may ensue from it. Furthermore, make sure that you focus on facts likely to convince opposing parties without engaging in pointless debate over irrelevant details or points.
Persistence and patience will aid in expediting the settlement process and leading to a favorable result in your personal injury claim. Your attorney is best equipped to determine how long this negotiation should last based on its strength.
If the other party refuses to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement agreement, litigation may become necessary. Working with an experienced Boston injury attorney will assist in managing this process and increase your odds of reaching a successful resolution.
Be Flexible
Most court cases will result in some type of settlement agreement, or variations thereof, and both sides must be willing to compromise and cooperate for it to happen. Both must also possess an objective view of their case and its value, maintaining firm stance on issues that cannot be compromised upon while at the same time showing genuine flexibility and cooperation with each other.
When creating a demand letter, it is wise to determine an estimated range for how much your claim is worth. When negotiating with the insurance adjuster, keeping this figure in mind as offers and counteroffers come and go is useful in keeping costs under control and in maintaining control. Furthermore, having a “bottom line figure” could protect yourself in case negotiations go sour.
Negotiations is a dynamic process in which facts often change as new evidence becomes available. If it becomes apparent that your initial evaluation was too optimistic or missed certain factors, you must be flexible enough to modify this assessment if new information makes your original evaluation inaccurate. Unfortunately, many attorneys fail to do this and remain stubbornly attached to their original stance despite new developments rendering their original assessment obsolete.
Attorneys owe it to their clients to inform them of all offers of settlement; however, some lawyers regularly reject offers within their authorized bargaining range without informing their client in order to “do better.” Such actions could constitute unethical conduct if it turns out the rejected offer could have been accepted had the client been fully advised.
Insurance companies are notorious for offering unreasonably low settlement amounts in personal injury cases without representation from an attorney, knowing that most victims do not fully appreciate the extent of their damages, including medical bills and lost income – as well as future loss of earnings or treatments required due to your injuries. An experienced attorney is well equipped to negotiate an acceptable and fair settlement amount on your behalf.
Negotiations often involves discussing attorney’s fees. A common method for determining this cost is taking a percentage of total settlement; although this method might seem reasonable at first, you could negotiate to negotiate lower fees as your settlement increases.