Settlement Value of Head Injuries
Saying you suffered a head injury in an accident is sort of like saying your nephew is an actor. He might be Will Smith but he also might be an understudy in a local dinner theater production.
Head injuries vary from headaches that resolve quickly to brain damage that destroys a life. The data on head injury verdicts does not leave a good impression of settlement value of head injury cases:
- Head Lacerations and Contusions: $10,016
- Concussions: $22,638
- Skull Fractures: $100,000
- Cranial Nerve Damage: $160,095
- Head and Skull Injuries, Overall: $14,034
These may well be the most misleading statistics I have every posted on this blog. Because these are median not average verdict statistics. Almost one-fourth of skull fracture cases result in a verdict over $1 million (which includes skull fractures that cause no real injury - we have seen those). Yet the median is only $100,000. I don't know what the average head injury verdict is - I can't find any statistics - but I'll bet you the average verdict in a case with a permanent head injury is over $1.5 million.
