How much can I reasonably ask for?

That would be $225,000.

I cannot answer the question as to how much your sister-in-law's case is worth without a lot more information. Each case is different and its value is based on its particular facts.

She must see an experienced personal injury attorney. The case may be worth far more than $20,000.00.

It's really not possible to give your friend reliable advice without knowing all the facts and conducting a thorough review, and it would be a disservice to her to try. She should get a lawyer. Overall, people with lawyers get more money in their pockets, even after paying their lawyers, than people who settle without legal representation. The insurance company's goal is to get rid of her before she wises up and hires a lawyer, because it's cheaper that way. Negotiating with the insurance company without a lawyer doesn't help her; it helps them.

First, it is probably premature to try to settle until she is released from her doctor's care and the doctor is able to say whether or not it's permanent. If she has been release and still has problems, it seems to me that it is permanent. Your method of calculating future lost wages seems reasonable, but the figure must be reduced to present value. It is reasonable to ask for it only if the doctor says her problems are permanent and you can show that her injury will cause the lost income. It might require the services of a vocational expert (but not in the early stages of negotiation, only to get it ready for trial). There are websites that have present value calculators, you should assume a conservative discount rate, such as 5% to 7%. If you do not understand present value of a future stream of income, this may be over your head. Pain and suffering is difficult to price, and may be the most valuable component of her claim. You have not given enough information for me to comment on it. For example, you mention her pain and future loss of mobility, but you do not describe the severity of her pain, nor do you describe what mobility problems she will have, and especially, how all of this will affect hr activities. I disagree with the insurance company?s advice to ?not waste your money on an attorney?. Ultimately, your case is worth what you can convince the adjuster that a jury would award, or what a jury actually does award if you take the case to trial. it is difficult to get reasonable offers for future lost wages and pain and suffering if there is no threat that you will go to trial. I would suggest finding an attorney who is willing to take a percentage of any settlement obtained over the $20,000.00 already offered. The fee structure might call for a higher than 1/3 for the second 20,000 (that is any settlement up to 40,000) because the attorney runs the risk of doing substantial work only to find that 25,000 is reasonable for some reason (the client would of course have to agree with this assessment) and there is some value in this analysis that the 20,000 is substantially fair, but it should not be worth 1/3 of 20,000. It may be worth ? of 5,000, however. For anything over 40,000, the fee could go back to the usual 1/3 (I offer fees less than 1/3 depending on the stage of proceedings where the case settles). These are suggestions, and there are all sorts of ways to structure the deal. However, believe me when I tell you, these cases are complex, and making pain and suffering arguments is a high level legal skill (I still read tons of books and go too seminars to learn better techniques for this, and I've done this for over 20 years).

No lost wages for primary job under workmanship comp. no pain and suffering. Finish treatment they pay her doctor bill. Seek permanent disability rating.

You really need to retain counsel to evaluate the case. No one can give you a realistic estimate without meeting your sister-in-law, reviewing all the records, etc.

You need to hire an attorney. Without one, you will not receive a damage award that this case warrants.

You have lost wages; pain and suffering; legal costs; emotional distress all because of their negligence.

There appears to be no question but that the landlord is at fault for the defective condition. However, that doctor (and possibly his employees) have a different relationship with the landlord, because of the lease between the doctor and the landlord. Your sister is an independent contractor, and so for her to be able to prove that she is entitled to any recovery, she needs to prove 1) that the landlord had actual notice of the defect, 2) that there was enough time between learning of the defect and your sister's injury that the landlord could have fixed the problem, and 3) that your sister could not see the defect on her own, or that if she could see it that there was no reasonable alternative path. Your sister, not being a party to the lease with the doctor, has the possibility of getting thrown out of court if the defect was visible. As a result, at the very best, her case is a 50/50 case. I do not think that you should handle this; I think that an experienced lawyer should, because not knowing the actual law, you are likely to make a horrible mistake.

It is imperative that your sister retain a personal injury attorney immediately. Doing so will greatly increase the value of her case. Don't listen to the defendant's insurance company.

I cannot stress enough that your sister needs a lawyer and should have gotten one well before this. If you have not advised her to get a lawyer you have done her a grave disservice. Now you go on line and try to get free advice. Assessment of an appropriate settlement requires detailed analysis of liability and damages, including application of legal principles, evidenciary factors, medical documentation, out of pocket expenses, calculation of future losses and experience in your jurisdiction as to likely range of prospective jury awards. To answer the question properly, one would need extensive examination of all the evidence, particularly the medical records. Then there is the whole question of negotiation tactics. When I formulate a settlement demand, I spend hours analyzing the factors listed above, and hours more drafting up a demand presentation and any lawyer who doesn't do that isn't doing a proper job. And now you, without a legal education, want to advise your sister based on a paragraph posted on a website. Think, man: why does the insurance company want your sister to not have an attorney? Do you seriously believe they are concerned about her "wasting her money"? The best thing you can do for her is to help her find a knowledgeable lawyer in her locality ASAP and you owe her a big fat apology for getting involved in her problem when you have no idea what you are doing.

You first of all suggest you don't know whether she can work or not then you claim a lot of lost wages. The insurance company will go bananas with such rough guesses (which is what they are) find out from your doctor whether she will return to work, ask him the percentage of permanent disability (if any) multiply your medical bills times 6 8 or 10 and add such lost wages as the doctor might confirm. Ask for the moon. All they can say is no. but no guesses please. You really ought to have a good personal injury lawyer helping you. Insurance companies will not deal with you fairly as a rule. They are in business to make money not give it away.

She shouldn't even be thinking about settling her case until she is at MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement) because she doesn't want to settle her case for a certain sum of money and then find out she needs surgery.