The Lawsuit Lottery Myth

Winning a major lawsuit is not a golden parachute into early retirement. Ever since the famous McDonald's coffee suit in the early 90's, media outlets have blitzed our televisions, radios, newspapers and internet with stories of everyday people getting awarded millions of dollars for suffering personal injuries. Many of the stories downplay the severity of the injury those people suffered or, even worse, the lawsuits are fictitious. If you have ever heard of the Stella Awards, (awards given out for the most outlandish and frivolous lawsuits each year) you know exactly what we are talking about. Of course, upon further review, many of the Stella Awards are either exaggerated or completely false. (See Stella Awards Debunked).

Granted, just because a number of these claims are exaggerated or fictitious, does not mean large awards are not given out to people who suffer injuries. In this post, we will discuss the murky topic of how damages are calculated, so you have a better understanding of how this process works. Then, the next time the media throws around its newest "exorbitant lawsuit" story, you will have more insight into the topic.

If you suffer an injury due to the negligence of someone else, you can seek to recover damages from the at-fault party. The point of recovering damages is to make you "whole again" or, in other words, to return you to the position you were in before the injury occurred. Unfortunately, our legal system has no way to 100% make someone "whole again." For example, if your hand is permanently injured, the Court cannot award you a new hand to replace the injured one. What the Court can do is award you monetary compensation to best offset your current state and to help you rehabilitate the injury as best as possible.

How to calculate the amount of compensation involves a number of factors. Some of these factors include: pain and suffering, current medical bills, past medical bills, past medical history and future lost earnings.

 How do these factors play out? This is the part where having a qualified, experienced attorney is key. Which factors play out for maximum impact has a lot to do with how they are presented by your attorney. However, for a simple analysis, consider an example of a carpenter and a radio personality. If both of these people lose their hand in an accident, and all the other factors between the two men are the same except their professions, the carpenter is more likely to receive more compensation. Why? Because, the carpenter can no longer work at his chosen profession. His future earnings will be decreased far more than the radio personality, who does not need both hands for his profession to the extent the carpenter does.

In addition to future lost earning, medical bills play a major role in the calculation. For many high dollar

awards, a significant portion of the award goes to cover medical bills, past and future. After all, surgeries are not cheap. If you need seven surgeries to repair your hand, that in itself, could be $500,000 or more. Thus, when you are reading in the newspaper about someone being award a $1.5 million dollar settlement, know that a large portion of that money is already allocated to expenses for treatment incurred while the case was going on and for whatever future treatment is necessary. It is NOT go out and buy a yacht money. Bottom line: if you are hearing a story about the average Joe getting millions in a lawsuit, chances are, he probably got hurt real bad. Trust us, for most people, you do not want to be in his shoes.


If you or someone you know has been injured due to someone else's negligence, especially if it is a serious injury, you should definitely contact us. Kemp & Ruge Law Group has experience with large, high profile cases where we have won clients over $1,000,000 awards. Just as importantly, we bring the same experience, tenacity and helpfulness to our clients with much smaller claims. If you are hurt, we will fight to make it right. Call us: 877-941-4878, Email us or check out a FAQ page for easy to find tips.

If you are even thinking about hiring an attorney for your personal injury case, please consult with an injury attorney.  Click here for your: Pasco County Personal Injury Attorney, Hernando County Personal Injury Attorney, Pinellas County Personal Injury Attorney, Hillsborough County Personal Injury Attorney, Tampa Personal Injury, Clearwater Personal Injury Attorney, Land O' Lakes Personal Injury Attorney, Lutz Personal Injury Attorney, Odessa Personal Injury Attorney, New Port Richey Personal Injury Attorney, Spring Hill Personal Injury Attorney, Tarpon Springs Personal Injury Attorney, and Palm Harbor Personal Injury Attorney.