Settlement Or Prosecution: Which One Is For You?
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
People pursue court cases for many different reasons and goals, but usually one of the primary motivators is a sense of wanting to see that justice is served. However, the definition of justice that one person may have might not be the same as another. Some people want to see someone that has done wrong be punished. Others don’t care about punishment, but simply want some kind of compensation for whatever it is they have lost.This also means that for people that engage the services of an accident lawyer or wrongful death attorney, the way that a case is resolved can also vary. Some people will want to see a case through to its final conclusion with a sentence handed down by the court that the defendant must now comply with. For others, however, a court case isn’t the goal or even the point, and when the defendant in the case offers an alternative that may, in some cases, be a better way to get the resolution you want.
It’s called an out of court settlement, and for some, this may be the better way to go.
Why You Want An Out Of Court Settlement
For many people, the single biggest advantage of an out of court settlement is speed. A settlement can be resolved very quickly, because you no longer have to gather witnesses, get expert testimonial or conduct various investigations by insurance companies or accident reconstruction experts in order to get to the truth and then spend time proving that in court.
An out of court settlement simply means the person being targeted in a personal injury or wrongful death case does not want to endure the court process—especially if it’s clear that a loss a high probability—and is willing to pay money right now in order to put everything to rest.
When You Don’t Want A Settlement
Sometimes, however, it’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message. For example, if a case of negligence that also involves injury has some roots in racism, or this injury has come about because a company has created a chronically faulty product and they want you to keep quiet about it, money may be secondary.
The more important thing in these situations, is creating awareness, making sure the public knows what’s going on, and ensuring that everything that occurs, all the mistakes made and all the suffering involved, are on public record. For example, your child died in a car accident, and the person involved was the son of a wealthy family that had killed others in similar accidents before and had simply paid out settlements to keep it all quiet. In this situation, no amount of money may convince you to walk away from the case, because it is more important to you that attention be drawn to this person’s repeated acts of negligence and payng you to go away and keep quiet about it would be letting him “get away with it” one more time.
Whatever decision you come to is ultimately yours in these cases. But a good St. Pete lawyer can be an invaluable guide in helping to reach the goal you have for a personal injury case, whether that is getting compensation, or sending out a message.