What Is My Personal Injury Case Worth in Mississippi?
How Mississippi Injury Cases Are Valued – An Honest Answer From a Meridian Trial Lawyer
It is the first question almost every client asks, and any lawyer who gives you a number at the outset is not being up front with you. The reason for this is that the value of a Mississippi injury case is the product of several things that can only be known after the facts are developed: what the law lets you recover, how strong the proof of fault is, how badly you were hurt and for how long, they types of injuries you had, the length of your treatment, the amount of your medical bills, lost wages that can be medically linked to your injuries, any permanent impairments that you might have sustained, and any lost earning capacity for future earnings directly linked to your injuries. Each case and its facts stand on its own, and no two cases are the same. However, this page gives a very general overview of some of the considerations that our Meridian personal injury team use to evaluate a case.
1. The Categories of Damages Mississippi Allows
Economic damages are the dollars you have lost or will lose: some of these things include past and future medical bills, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and property damage. Mississippi does not cap economic damages.
Non-economic damages compensate for pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium. Mississippi caps non-economic damages at $1,000,000 in most injury cases and $500,000 in medical malpractice cases (Miss. Code § 11-1-60). The jury is not told about the cap; the judge applies it afterward.
Punitive damages are available only where the defendant acted with actual malice, gross negligence showing willful or reckless disregard for safety, or fraud, proven by clear and convincing evidence (Miss. Code § 11-1-65). They are very rarely awarded due to the high legal standard that is required for an injury party to meet, and they are capped on a sliding scale tied to the defendant’s net worth in most instances.
Claims against the government – a city, county, school district, MDOT or the State – are capped at $500,000 in total (including all economic and non-economic damages) under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, with no punitive damages.
2. Fault, and Your Share of It
Mississippi is a pure comparative fault state (Miss. Code § 11-7-15). If you were partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage – but it is not eliminated, even if you were mostly at fault. A clear-liability rear-end collision with a police report placing all fault on the other driver is evaluated different than one with the same injuries where each party bears some measure of fault for the incident.
3. The Injury Itself
Insurers and juries look at the nature of the injury, whether it required surgery, how long treatment lasted, whether a physician assigned a permanent impairment rating, whether there is visible scarring, and whether you returned to the same work. Consistent, documented medical treatment is the single most important thing you control. Gaps in treatment and missed appointments are oftentimes used by insurance companies to attempt to argue you were not really hurt.
4. What “Settlement Calculators” Get Wrong
Online calculators oftentimes multiply medical bills by a number. Real cases do not work that way. Two people with identical bills can have very different cases depending on fault, permanency, credibility, venue, the defendant’s insurance, and whether the lawyer is prepared to try the case. The bottom line is, insurers know which firms will do anything to avoid going to court – and will settle their client’s claims cheaply in order to avoid doing so. Our results include multiple seven-figure recoveries. And R. Kevin Hamilton is the State’s youngest-ever recipient of the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award presented by a group of more than 800 fellow trial lawyers know as the Mississippi Association for Justice (formerly the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association), which was presented to him for accomplishments in the courtroom. Because of this, insurers know that we can and do try cases and obtain tremendous results for our clients.
5. Things That Lower the Value of a Case
- Giving a recorded statement to the other side’s adjuster.
- Delaying medical care or stopping treatment early.
- Posting about the wreck or your activities on social media.
- Signing a medical authorization or release without legal review.
- Accepting an early offer before the full extent of the injury is known.
- Missing a deadline – three years for most claims (Miss. Code § 15-1-49), one year with 90-day notice for claims against the government, two years for medical malpractice with its own notice rules.
Case Value FAQs
Will my case settle or go to trial?
Most cases settle, but they settle for full value only when the insurer believes the lawyer will try the case. We prepare every case as if it will.
How long will it take?
Simple cases can resolve within months of finishing treatment; serious-injury and litigated cases often take years in order to obtain full compensation. Our guide on what to do after a car wreck explains the early steps.
What does it cost to find out?
Nothing. The consultation is free, we work on a contingency fee, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Contact us or call (601) 693-5548.
