When some people (not you of course, because you’re different) become injured or file a lawsuit, they develop a conscious, or subconscious, belief that they’ve just won the lottery. Sometimes, this means that even a reasonable offer to settle from the defendant becomes unreasonable in light of their injuries or the trouble they feel. I’m not going to dispute the legitimacy of a plaintiff’s claim, but quite often, unreasonableness leads to less money because of increased expenses, unfavorable jury verdicts, or any number of other things.

For example, an online legal news site, Law.com, headlines this article where a California court dismissed all of the plaintiff’s claims against the defendant(s). The defendants estimated the plaintiff’s damages were about $247 million. Most likely, this case would not have settled prior to trial, because of the risk involved to the defendants. However, many people who become injured in small impact, soft-tissue accidents fail to settle at an appropriate time, despite advice to the contrary from their attorneys. This is the category of plaintiffs who suddenly believe their minor injuries entitle them to "easy-street payouts."

This just isn’t the case in Oklahoma. If you’re making a claim for minor injuries and damages against a defendant, you’d better adjust your perspectives of the outcome. Oklahoma juries are fairly conservative in their award payouts for these types of claims. As you’d expect, if you viewed your case objectively, most jurors are cautious about giving large sums of money for relatively minor damages to an individual they may view as "milking" the system.

If you and your attorney negotiate these cases properly, you can receive adequate compensation for your injuries  and other damages by utilizing early settlement tactics.