It's the first question everyone asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on five things you can understand in five minutes. Beware anyone who promises a number before knowing them.
1. Liability: how clean is fault?
A rear-end with a police report and a confession values differently than a disputed left-turn. California's comparative negligence means your recovery drops by your percentage of fault, so the evidence war over that percentage is a war over money.
2. Damages: the full ledger
- Economic: every medical bill, past and future, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs.
- Non-economic: pain, suffering, anxiety, lost sleep, the hobbies you gave up, the help you needed at home. In serious cases this is the larger number, and it's the one insurers fight hardest.
- Punitive: available in DUI and other egregious cases, meant to punish rather than compensate.
3. Treatment: the record is the injury
In settlement negotiations, an injury that isn't documented barely exists. Consistent treatment, following medical advice, and no unexplained gaps do more for value than any argument a lawyer can make later.
4. Coverage: where the money actually comes from
Verdicts get paid by insurance. The at-fault policy, umbrella policies, employer liability, and your own UM/UIM coverage set the practical ceiling. Part of our job is finding every policy, and defendants rarely volunteer them.
5. Credibility and readiness for trial
Insurers price two things: the case and the lawyer holding it. A file assembled for trial, with experts lined up and a client who presents honestly, settles higher than an identical file assembled for a quick fee. It's why we build every case as if it's going to a jury.
So what's the honest range?
After a free consultation and a look at your records, a good lawyer can give you a realistic range and, more importantly, the plan that moves you toward its top: right treatment documentation, right experts, right timing, and no cheap early settlement. That conversation costs nothing. Guessing costs plenty.
Questions about your situation? The consultation is free and the advice is honest. Call (310) 598-9614, 24/7.