If you are a plaintiff in a personal injury case, your Fort Lauderdale injury lawyer may well suggest hiring an actuary – and doing so fairly early on in the process.
This is often a critical first step because actuaries, who are experts in mathematics, statistics, and financial theory, can help us get a better sense of the actual economic loss involved in a case. That reduces the uncertainty when it comes to personal injury settlement negotiations.
The vast majority of Fort Lauderdale personal injury cases are resolved through negotiation with insurers and defendants (as opposed to a trial or even litigation). Before we issue a demand letter or even consider a settlement offer from the other side, we need to know the full extent of your losses.
That might seem simple. As your attorney, we may have a pretty accurate ballpark estimate just from our years of experience in practicing personal injury law. But we’re not just tallying the actual wages you’ve already lost and bills you already owe. We want to know how this incident is going to continue to impact you professionally, financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally – for years to come. Only then can we confidently request or accept a settlement offer.
A common method to determine these kind of damages is called the “multiplier-multiplicand method” or the “courts method.” Basically, we’re looking at the amount of estimated annual loss, multiplied by the number of years that loss is expected to continue. Accuracy is important in these calculations, but without guidance from someone with expertise in finance and risk assessment, these kinds of forecasts can be somewhat subjective and even inaccurate. This is especially true in cases with complex, serious injuries.
This is where actuaries come in. Actuaries analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty. They’re usually employed by the insurance companies, but their services can be valuable in Fort Lauderdale personal injury cases as well.
As noted in an academic analysis published in the Vance Journal, actuaries increasingly serve as consultants in a personal injury case, and can actually be called upon as expert witnesses. In this role, they provide information that helps quantify the monetary damages in personal injury cases. They factor not just the actual bills, but incorporate occupation-specific factors, education achievements, age, region, and the impact of one’s disability on their daily life.
Hiring an actuary early on also demonstrates to the defense that you are acting in good faith during the negotiation process. Actuaries have their own professional standards and ethics, and their conclusions about claim valuations are going to be well-supported with strong data. A compelling actuary report also shows the insurers/defense that you have a strong case that could be won in court – if they refuse to pay what you are reasonably owed during the settlement negotiation process. Also, when attorneys
So while hiring an actuary for a Fort Lauderdale personal injury case is certainly an expense, it’s one that yields substantial returns because their research can often facilitate faster, fairer resolution.
Actuaries may not be required for every case, but they’re often beneficial in serious injury cases stemming from car accidents, dangerous property, dangerous products, and medical malpractice. If you are injured in Fort Lauderdale, our dedicated personal injury lawyers provide free initial consultations.
Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward County.
Additional Resources:
SETTLEMENT OFFERS AND PERSONAL INJURY: IDENTIFYING THE BREAK-EVEN OFFER, Feb. 2000, By jerry Reiss and Richard Ryles, Florida Bar Journal
More Blog Entries:
“Can I File a Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Lawsuit Even If It Was Partly My Fault?”, May 6, 2024, Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Lawyer Blog