What is my injury worth and can I take a lump sum?

First, it is difficult to answer your question as you do not indicate whether you are referring to a workers' compensation or a non-workers' compensation. This makes a difference in determining the value of your case. Generally, if you have a workers' compensation case you would be entitled to a number of weeks of Permanent Partial Disability benefits based on the impairment rating assigned by a physician to your left hand. Without knowing your impairment rating, your average weekly wage and how many weeks of benefits you have may have already received I cannot tell what the value of the case might be. If it is a non-workers' compensation case the value of your case is based on its particular facts. Assuming you were not at fault, in whole or in part, you are entitled to be "made whole" or "compensated" for all injuries and damages you sustained. There are a number of factors that determine what a case is worth. Some of these include, but are not limited to: the nature and extent of the injury; whether an injury is temporary or permanent; your medical expenses; lost wages; and pain, suffering and inconvenience. Assuming your injury is permanent you would be entitled to money to compensate you for these items in the future. Without knowing more about your injuries, your medical expenses total, your wage loss and other items I cannot give you a value. Second, you can take a "lump sum" settlement. If you have a workers' compensation case the lump sum settlement must be approved by the Workers' Compensation Court. You may want to consult with either a workers' compensation or personal injury attorney to discuss your case. Most of these types of attorneys offer a free initial consultation so it will not cost you anything to get more information about your rights and possible case value.

Work injury? If so, they employer is responsible for the medical bills, and for wages while you are recuperating or getting retrained.

Your "injury" could be worth lots of money or it could be worth ZERO. It all depends on what you did "legally" when you were first injured. Did you file a worker's comp claim? Was there any civil lawsuits filed? You need to discuss "in person" with an attorney ASAP. Good luck.

If your talking about an auto accident, it's too late to sue. If you're talking about a workers comp case, why settle if you are going to require lifetime medical treatment?

You were obviously badly hurt. what have you been doing for 6 years? Why haven't you done something about your problem if this is a worker comp claim you might get a lump sum but the amount may disappoint you get you a good comp lawyer and talk to him.

Clearly there less than adequate information upon which to form an opinion. Is this a work injury? You need to engage and attorney, bring the details and express your desired goals.

Your question cannot be answered with the little information provided. Is it a workers' compensation case or from some other event? What opinions did the doctor express? How strong are his/her opinions? Are you still working? There are about 100 facts I would need to know to answer this question.

Unfortunately, California has a 2-year statute of limitations on personal injury cases.

$1.6 million.

You need to get a medical report stating what precisely your work disability and level of pain is. A comp. attorney will probably ask the WCAB for a fee of between 10% to 14% of the recovery as to permanent disability. There may be a penalty involved for not providing permanent disability advances. It is likely that an attorney can increase your recovery by at least 10% over what you might be able to get on your own, since you have a complicated case. The attorney can advise you as to whether you should settled the future medical treatment benefits or not.

There is no way to answer the question without knowing more information. First, I cannot tell if our claim is in workers comp for a job injury, or if it is for some other type personal injury. If it is the former, I would need to know your average weekly wage at the time of the accident, any impairment rating assigned by the doctor, and how this affects your ability to work. If it is the latter, I need to know the amount of your medical bills, more information on how it affects daily activities, how much you have lost in wages, how the accident happened, etc.

You should consult with a plaintiff's personal injury lawyer for him/her to make a complete evaluation of your case, including all your your injuries, pain and suffering and proposed damages.

Hopefully worker's compensation case b/c if regular personal injury case you only have two years to file suit and as result, unless you were minor at the time than you no longer would have a claim.

Based on the injuries you are describing, the pure value of your claim (assuming liability) could be considerable. However, I am always hesitant to give specific dollar figures, or even ranges, based on information as sparse as that provided here. If you are represented by an attorney (which I hope you are), you should direct your question to him or her.

Impossible to answer your question. If it has been 6 years and you didn't file a lawsuit, your case is most likely barred by the statute of limitations. If you filed suit, you probably have an attorney and he/she should be answering this question.

You don't state whether or not this is an on-the-job injury, which is covered by Worker's comp. If so, and you have a permanent injury, you may be able to get a "schedule award" which is based on a formula depending on the extent of your disability and your rate of pay, offset by payments that you have already received. But: you should get some advice as to whether the schedule award is your best option. Depending on your situation, you may be better off getting disability payments and having your medical expenses taken care of. There may be another possibility, if there some party other than your employer who caused the accident, such as a janitorial company or repair service. Accidents that occur on construction sites or car crashes during the course of employment have particular rules as well.