Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements In New York

TopVerdict.com lists the largest and top personal injury verdicts and settlements in New York. We’re proud to announce that the 1-800-HURT-911® personal injury cases listed below made several of the TopVerdict.com lists of top personal injury verdicts and settlements in New York.

These cases and some others were also reported in the New York Jury Verdict Review of top personal injury verdicts and settlements in New York.

What is the Difference Between a Verdict and a Settlement?

First, we’ll provide a short explanation of the difference between a verdict and a settlement. There is even a third category called an award.

Settlement

Settlement is a negotiated agreement by all parties (the plaintiff and defendants) to accept a certain outcome in a case.

In a personal injury case, it usually means that the plaintiff agrees to accept an amount of money to be paid by the defendant’s insurance company.

Verdict

A verdict is the decision of a jury or judge at the end of a trial. In New York, a personal injury trial has 6 jurors.

In a personal injury case, a verdict is an amount of money a jury will award to the plaintiff or a decision in favor of the defendant which will award nothing to the plaintiff.

A little-known fact is that the defense often files an appeal after a trial verdict, and many plaintiffs’ lawyers then negotiate a settlement for less than the verdict amount. We usually refuse to negotiate a settlement less than the verdict amount.

Award

An award is the decision of an arbitrator after an arbitration which is like a private trial without a jury.

Now, see some of our top personal injury verdicts and settlements in New York.

Top 50 Car Accident Verdicts in New York

Two of our trial verdicts made the “Top 50 Car Accident Verdicts in New York in 2017”, which includes trials for car accidents and motorcycle accidents.

#43 in the Top 50 Car Accident Verdicts in New York

#43 on the list was Coyle v. Beinenfeld, a motorcycle accident in Nassau County where a car made a left turn in front of the motorcycle. Our client injured his knee and had arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus.

For four years, GEICO’s settlement offer was only $10,000. 30 minutes before the trial started, they offered $100,000. We declined the offer.

GEICO’s attorney hired two orthopedic surgeons and a radiologist to testify at the trial that his meniscus was not torn. GEICO’s attorney also argued that our client caused the accident.

The jury found the driver was 100% at fault for causing the accident and awarded our client a verdict of $465,000. That’s 46.5 times the insurance company settlement offer!

#48 in the Top 50 Car Accident Verdicts in New York

#48 on the list was a motorcycle accident in Suffolk County, where a car made a left turn in front of the motorcycle. Our client was a motorcycle police officer who was off-duty riding his private motorcycle. He knew to call the best motorcycle accident lawyers in New York when his motorcycle hit the rear of a car as it was turning left in front of him, breaking his leg. The insurance company made a settlement offer to us of only $50,000.

We filed a summary judgment motion asking the court to rule that the driver was 100% at fault for causing the motorcycle accident. We won the motion, so the jury was told that the court already found the driver 100% at fault and that the jury would only decide how much money to award our client for his injury. After we won the motion, the insurance company fired the defense law firm, and a new defense law firm was hired to do the trial, but that didn’t help them either.

In the middle of the trial, the insurance company offered $150,000, but the new defense attorney offered $300,000 to settle. We declined both offers. The jury awarded our client a verdict of $425,000. This top personal injury verdict was 8.5 times the original settlement offer!

Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in New York

Another of our motorcycle accident cases made the “Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in New York in 2017”. This list is comprised of “various case types that were filed either in the state or federal courts.” This top personal injury settlement was also reported in the New York Jury Verdict Review.

#79 on the list was a motorcycle accident where a car attempted to pass our client on a single-lane exit ramp from the Southern State Parkway to the Wantagh State Parkway. The car was half on the grass when it turned into our client’s motorcycle.

Our client broke her nose and needed dental treatment for her top front teeth. She broke her nose again in another accident which negatively impacted the value of the first accident.

Our client came to us after seeing two other lawyers who were unable to find a dentist willing to treat her on a lien (without being paid until the end of the case). We were able to get her teeth fixed on a lien at a cost of $16,000 by a prosthodontist (a specialized dentist).

Liberty Mutual originally offered $60,000 to settle, but after a lot of negotiating, they increased their offer 7 times until we finally settled for the entire insurance policy of $250,000.

More of Our Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements In New York

See more of our top motorcycle accident verdicts and settlements

See more of our New York accident verdicts and settlements

How Serious of an Injury Do You Need For a Top Personal Injury Settlement In New York?

You may be surprised to know that you don’t need an injury as serious as you might think to get a top personal injury settlement in New York.

Even a knee injury with a torn meniscus is worth a lot of money. One of our cases with a knee injury, mentioned above, was the 43rd largest car accident verdict in New York of $465,000.

Find Out What to Do With a Top Personal Injury Settlement

When you receive a check for a top personal injury settlement, you’ll have to decide what to do with your money. Many people lose their settlement money within a year because they don’t know how to manage that much money. Read about what to do with the money from your settlement check.