Why It Pays to Be Trial Ready: To Get the Best Settlement, We Must Be Ready to Go the Distance
When people hire a lawyer after a serious injury, one of the biggest questions in the background is whether that lawyer can actually take the case where it needs to go. That doesn’t always mean a courtroom. Most cases never make it that far. Even so, an attorney’s ability to go to trial still matters — and in many cases, it matters more than people realize.
It may sound backward at first, but the numbers help explain it. Most civil cases in South Carolina do settle. Depending on the study, the number is often placed somewhere around 90% to 95%, and jury trials in state courts make up only a tiny fraction of civil outcomes. That is exactly why trial readiness matters. If the other side believes your lawyer isn’t prepared to take the case all the way, there is less reason for them to offer full value.
That is why we prepare every case as if it is going to trial from the very beginning. We don’t do that because we want every case to end up in a courtroom. We do it because preparation creates leverage. In fact, the best leverage we have in the negotiation room is often our ability to go the distance. Defense lawyers keep track of who is ready to try a case. Insurance companies do, too. They know which firms are willing and able to put a case in front of a jury, and that affects how they evaluate risk when settlement talks begin.
If a fair settlement is available, that is usually a good outcome. We aren’t trying to drag clients through unnecessary trials. However, we are trying to make sure the value of the case is not discounted simply because the other side thinks no one is prepared to try it.
Our approach is shaped by years of trial experience in serious injury, medical negligence, and other high-stakes civil cases. We have a history of obtaining verdicts far above prior offers, and that has helped produce stronger settlements along the way. Our team is also brought in by other lawyers who need assistance when a trial is approaching, which speaks to how our work is viewed in the legal community. That kind of experience changes the tone of a case. It tells the defense they are not dealing with a firm that is bluffing its way through settlement talks.
For someone choosing a lawyer after an injury, this is where research becomes important. It is worth looking past slogans and asking harder questions: How much courtroom experience does the firm really have? Have they handled cases like yours before? Have they actually gone the distance when a case could not be resolved fairly?
“For us, trial readiness is really about respect. It is a way of respecting the seriousness of what our clients have been through and the value of the case they bring to us.”
— James Moore and Scott Evans
Serious injuries deserve serious preparation. Even if a case never sees the inside of a courtroom, that level of preparation can affect the result from the very start. In our view, that is part of doing the job the right way.
If you or someone you love has been seriously injured, contact Evans Moore, LLC to discuss your case with a team that is prepared to go the distance.