When youโre faced with the opportunity to pursue a lawsuit against another person or business, you might think it would be better to let things go. In many situations, walking away is the most effective action. However, walking away after being injured is a bad decision that can result in sky-high medical bills and loads of regret. Regret can lead to anxiety and stress, and thatโs not a good combination.
Pursuing a lawsuit against the entity who caused you to harm plays a major role in maintaining your physical and psychological wellbeing.
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Winning a lawsuit or settlement relieves financial stress
You probably already experience day-to-day financial stress from paying bills, budgeting, and trying to save for your future. Imagine your financial stress tripling (or more) because you wanted to be nice and not file a lawsuit against someone who hurt you.
Hesitation to pursue a lawsuit might stem from being someone who strives to avoid all arguments, fights, controversies, and battles. Why should you spend your time bringing people down? The truth is, lawsuits arenโt always about bringing someone down. Many lawsuits are simply about compelling the responsible party to pay for the damage theyโve caused.
Itโs not easy to forgive and forget
There is a time and a place to forgive and forget. That time is not after someoneโs negligence causes you harm. Walking away after being injured can lead to feelings of bitterness and resent. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself youโve forgiven the other person, youโll still feel resent when writing checks to pay for medical bills that person created.
Pursuing a personal injury lawsuit is the only way to keep the stress, bitterness, and resentment at bay. After an injury, your financial burden will only grow. A good lawyer will recover as much compensation as possible, which can include money for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and lost wages. Best of all, a lawyer will deal with all communications from authorities, third-parties, and insurance companies.
When someone hurts you, you shouldnโt have to pay for it
People can be held financially responsible for their actions when those actions negatively impact other people and/or someone elseโs property. Under the law, when a personโs negligence causes harm to another person, they can be held liable for all damages and injuries. This applies to businesses, too. When you walk away without filing a lawsuit, youโre essentially taking on an unknown amount of medical debt that will probably continue to grow.
Say a man walks into a coffee shop and trips over a customerโs laptop charger that was strung across the doorway. The man suffers a broken wrist and a scuffed-up knee. His injuries arenโt severe, but he teaches tennis for a living and now he canโt work for three months while his wrist heals. When he returns to work, heโll need time to get back into using his wrist, and thereโs a chance his wrist wonโt ever return to normal use. His ability to teach will suffer and heโll eventually have to quit.
If the man in the above example walks away, heโll need to pay for his wrist surgery out of pocket. Heโll have to pay for his emergency room visit, all administered medications, prescribed pain killers, and physical therapy once heโs out of surgery. Heโll be out of work for three months and even if he qualifies for unemployment, he wonโt see the first check for several weeks, and heโll only get a fraction of his usual salary. Thatโs a heavy load to bear out of pocket for something that wasnโt his fault.
On the other hand, if the man pursues a personal injury lawsuit against the coffee shop, heโll most likely win compensation to cover all of his medical expenses, physical therapy, and lost wages.
Pursuing a lawsuit can bring completion
Leaving your situation incomplete in a legal way can cause low-level anxiety, especially on the anniversary of your injury. If you choose not to file a lawsuit against a person or business whose negligence caused you harm, youโll be left with a feeling of incompletion that will follow you around for decades. Youโll always wonder if you should have sued, and if getting compensated for your injuries would have prevented you from having to sell your assets to pay your medical bills.
Although money canโt fix broken bones or heal your mind, it will put food on the table and keep you out of undeserved debt.
Featured image source: Freepik
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