There is no right answer. There is no formula. Once upon a time, personal injury lawyers tried to settle cases by using a multiplier formula – two to three times specials (actual medical bills and lost wages). However, that practice is long gone. I’ve been a personal injury lawyer since 1995 and that way of evaluating injury cases was pretty much dead since then. Using a non-existent multiplier formula, there are serious injury cases that settle for hundreds of times the specials and there are minor injury cases where obtaining the specials is quite the challenge.
Each personal injury case should be evaluated independently. There are many factors that should go into making these evaluations. Of course, the incident itself, the nature of the injuries, damages, and the insurance available are probably the main factors. But there are many others as well – the jurisdiction where the case would be litigated, the quality of the medical treatment, the presentation of the injured victim, and the presentation of the at-fault party… The list goes on.