Settlement Payouts for Hand and Wrist Injuries – Lawsuit Information Center Blog

In this post, we will examine the average settlement payout value for hand and wrist injuries in tort cases such as auto accidents, slip and falls, premises liability, and more.  Our hand injury lawyers look at some statistics on verdicts and settlement amounts for hand and wrist claims and analyze what those statistics mean.
Our attorneys also summarize recent verdicts and reported settlements from prior cases in which the plaintiff’s primary injury was a hand, wrist or finger injury so you can get a feel for jury payouts and settlement amounts in hand and wrist injury lawsuits.
How much is a typical hand and wrist injury worth in a personal injury case? Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for calculating how much compensation you should get in a settlement for a wrist or hand injury. The potential value of a hand or wrist injury is very case specific and will depend on a number of different factors. The most important fact is always going to be the severity of the injury.
Hand and wrist injuries can be very serious and have major impact on your ability to work and do the things you like. We use our hands for literally everything, from driving and griping to typing and performing manual labor. There are very few jobs that do not require the use of your hands. This means that any sort of permanent hand or wrist injury can potentially result in full or partial disability.
The hand is one of the most commonly injured body parts in workplace accidents. Hand injuries rank second behind back injuries as the most frequently type of occupational injury. Hand injuries are also very common outside the workplace, partly because we use our hands for so many things. Approximately 20% of all visits to the hospital emergency room involve injuries to the hand.
In personal injury cases, hand and wrist injuries occur most frequently in the context of auto accident cases. They are also fairly common in slip and fall cases, but auto accidents is where we see the most injuries involving the hand, wrist and fingers.
Nationally, the average verdict award for hand and wrist injuries is approximately $630,000. The median verdict for hand and wrist injuries is significantly lower at $70,000. Why is there such a big gap between the average and the median verdict amount? The reason is because there are a small handful of hand and wrist injury cases that cause permanent, life-impacting consequences and this few cases end up generating very large verdicts that skew the overall average. The median verdict award is more reflective of what the typical amount of damages awarded for a hand or wrist injury.
Our accident lawyers have extensive experience handling cases involving hand and wrist injuries. These lawsuits  are more likely to settle and tend to generate higher settlement payouts, partly because insurance companies want to avoid the risk of a big verdict. Below is a summary of the different types of hand and wrist injuries that we most commonly ree in personal injury case.
Let’s drill down a bit more on the most serious hand and wrist injury lawsuits. These are the best and the worst cases. They are the worst cases because the injuries are awful.  But the reality of our lawyers’ world is that the worst injuries fetch the higher settlement compensation:
The impact of a hand or wrist injury can vary widely from person to person. Factors such as an individual’s age, overall health, occupation, and lifestyle can all influence the perceived severity of the injury. For example, a professional musician may experience more significant financial losses and emotional distress from a hand injury than a couch potato.
Here are some of the key variables attorneys, insurance adjusters, judges and juries look to when calcuating what a compensation payout should be:
In putting a settlement number on a hand or wrist injury case, you start with the medical bills.  It is a crude way to do it but it really is where everyone starts, even plaintiffs’ lawyers. This includes all costs associated with your treatment, such as hospital bills, surgical procedures, doctor’s visits, prescription medications, physical therapy, and any medical equipment or assistive devices you require
Our hand injury lawyers develop expert testimony if the patient may need more physical therapy, additional surgeries, long-term medication needs (which can be a surprisingly big number), or adaptive equipment.
When determining your settlement, consider the income you have lost or will continue to lose due to your hand and wrist injury. This involves accounting for missed workdays, reduced working hours, or any diminished earning capacity resulting from the injury. Both past and future lost wages should be taken into account, making it essential to document your employment history and any changes in your ability to work.
It is hard to imagine a significand hand injury where the biggest part of the settlemetn calcuation is not pain and suffering.  That is what these cases are about.
Quantifying non-economic damages like pain and suffering can be complex. These damages encompass the physical and emotional distress you’ve experienced due to your hand and wrist injury, as well as its impact on your overall quality of life.
Settlements often incorporate a multiplier applied to your economic damages to estimate the value of pain and suffering, though this can vary widely based on the specifics of your case. But sometimes the medical bills and other economic damages  are not high in these cases. So hand injury lawyers sometimes do not put the medical bills into evidence to focus solely on the pain and suffering.
You have to remember that pain perception is subjective and can differ greatly from one person to another and this does impact settlement compensation payouts.  Some victims may have a higher pain tolerance and be more resilient in coping with the discomfort associated with a hand or wrist injury. This subjectivity can affect how they perceive the injury’s impact on their daily life and, consequently, their settlement expectations.
The extent of disability or impairment resulting from your hand and wrist injury is a significant factor in determining your settlement. Medical experts – often the treating doctors – can evaluate the level of permanent impairment, which plays a vital role in assessing the financial compensation you should receive.
Similarly, the effectiveness of rehabilitation and recovery can also vary from person to person. Some individuals may respond well to treatment and achieve a near-complete recovery, while others may face ongoing challenges and limitations. These individual outcomes can influence settlement amount calculations.  Because this, and all of these elements of pain and suffering, are baked into the cake when determining compensation payouts.
You need the coverage to bring a claim in 99% of these cases. But there is often insurance to be found in odd places.  So you have to dig.
What jurisdiction or judicial venue your injury case is in can also have a big impact on the potential settlement value of your hand or wrist injury. Certain jurisdictions (or venues within a jurisdiction) are much more plaintiff-friendly compared to others. Juries in plaintiffs friendly jurisdictions tend to be much more willing to side with individual plaintiffs and hit big companies with large verdicts. If you case is in one of these plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions it will push the settlement value up because the insurance company will be less willing to risk going to trial.
Below are summaries of recent verdicts and publicly reported settlements from cases involving hand and/or wrist injuries.
If you have suffered a hand or wrist injury in a car accident or slip and fall, call our personal injury lawyers at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation or contact us online.

Personal injury lawyers handling serious personal injury truck and auto accident, medical malpractice and products liability cases throughout the United States.
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