How much is my case worth?
Lucas Foust:
Hi, this is Lucas Foust from Foust Law Office, and I'm here to answer what you might think is a quick question, that simply is not so, unfortunately. People ask me all the time, "How much is my case worth?" Well, it's simply too hard to tell based from an initial consultation, or from the very beginning of a case. And I really believe that attorneys who over-promise are a bigger problem than attorneys who under-promise, so when I make an evaluation of your case at first, I'm going to be pretty careful in my assessment or my evaluation. This is the reason: there are so many factors to consider in a personal injury case to determine its value, that it's very hard to figure things out until the end, but there are two primary issues. Number one, your out-of-pocket costs out-of-pocket medical bills, and number two, the conduct of the defendant. And those are actually reversed; I find that the conduct of the defendant is much more important in assessing the value of a case than the amount of the medical bills, for a lot of reasons, which I can go into in further detail if you'd like to meet and discuss your case.
Lucas Foust:
Those two issues drive your case more than anything else. Under Montana law, there are two factors to consider; number one, the payment and compensation of the injured party, and number two, the enforcement of the law or standard that was broken. Those issues drive the value of your case, and at first, it's very difficult to determine exactly how much your case is worth. If you'd like to discuss this in further detail, I recommend that you contact my office. In addition, I recommend you download our book, Abandoned on the Road: A Guide to Insurance in Montana, it answers a lot of questions that you might have. At Foust Law Office, we believe that an informed client is a better client.