How Our Settlement Estimates Are Calculated
Every estimate on this site is the output of a structured formula — not a guess, not an average, and not a number we invented. The formula mirrors the methodology that personal injury attorneys and insurance adjusters actually use when they value a claim. This page explains each step in plain English.
Step 1: Special Damages (Your Economic Losses)
The first number in the formula is your special damages — the documented, verifiable out-of-pocket losses caused by your injury. This includes past medical bills (emergency room, surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, prescriptions), projected future medical expenses, lost wages for time missed from work, and reduced future earning capacity if the injury is permanent.
Special damages form the foundation of every injury claim because they are based on paper — receipts, records, pay stubs. They are rarely disputed in principle (the question is causation, not the amount of the bill). You enter these directly into the calculator.
Step 2: The Multiplier — Non-Economic Damages
General damages — pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium — are non-economic and not tied to a specific bill. The industry standard method for estimating these is the multiplier method: multiply your special damages by a number between 1.5 and 5 (or sometimes higher for catastrophic injuries) to arrive at a general damages estimate.
The multiplier is derived from three inputs: injury severity (minor soft tissue vs. surgical vs. permanent impairment), treatment duration (weeks vs. months vs. ongoing), and fault clarity (clear-cut liability vs. contested). A rear-end collision with three months of physical therapy and a clear-fault driver might produce a multiplier of 2.0. A spinal surgery with permanent nerve damage and a seatbelt dispute might produce a multiplier of 3.5 to 4.5. We apply a calibrated scale across these inputs to derive the multiplier automatically from what you enter.
Adding special damages and general damages together produces the gross settlement estimate before any reductions.
Step 3: Comparative Negligence Reduction
If you were partially at fault for the incident, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. The rules differ by state. In pure comparative negligence states (California, New York, Florida, and others), your recovery is reduced proportionally at any fault percentage — if you were 40% at fault, you recover 60% of the gross. In modified comparative negligence states (most of the country), you recover nothing if your fault exceeds a threshold — either 50% or 51%, depending on the state.
Four states — Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina — still apply contributory negligence: if you were even 1% at fault, you recover nothing. We apply your state's specific rule automatically based on the fault percentage you enter.
Step 4: Attorney Fees and Case Costs
The standard personal injury contingency fee is one-third (33.3%) of the gross settlement before a lawsuit is filed, rising to 40% once a complaint is filed in court. Case costs — filing fees, expert witnesses, deposition transcripts, medical record retrieval — are separate from the attorney fee and typically add $1,500 to $8,000 for a standard case.
Both figures are entered as inputs and deducted from the adjusted gross settlement to produce the pre-lien net. We default to 33.3% and $3,000 in costs, which you can change to match your actual agreement.
Step 5: Medical Liens
If your health insurer, Medicare, Medicaid, or a treating provider paid for your medical care, they have a right to reimbursement from your settlement — called a medical lien. Liens are a third deduction on top of attorney fees and costs. You enter any known lien amounts and we deduct them from the net to show your final take-home.
Step 6: Net Take-Home Calculation
The net take-home is what you actually receive after all deductions. The formula is:
This is the number that matters. A $200,000 gross settlement in a state with a $250,000 non-economic cap, 33% attorney fee, $5,000 in costs, and a $20,000 medical lien produces a net check of roughly $115,000. Knowing that number before accepting an offer is the reason this tool exists.
Step 7: Damages Caps
Several states cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, and a handful cap non-economic damages more broadly. When a cap applies, we apply it to the general damages component before calculating the gross total, and we show both the uncapped and capped figures so you understand the ceiling on your non-economic recovery.
The Range — Why We Show ±30–40%
Settlement amounts are not deterministic. Two cases with identical medical bills and injuries can settle for very different amounts based on the adjuster assigned, the venue, the quality of documentation, negotiating leverage, and dozens of other variables. Rather than pretend our formula produces a precise number, we display a range — typically ±30% to 40% around the point estimate — that reflects the realistic variance in comparable cases.
The point estimate is our best single-number approximation given your inputs. The range bounds represent the realistic floor and ceiling for a case with similar facts. Your actual outcome may fall outside this range — especially in extreme-liability or catastrophic-injury cases.
What This Formula Does Not Capture
No formula captures everything. Factors our calculator cannot model include: the specific insurance adjuster and their authority levels, your attorney's negotiating skill and relationship with the insurer, the quality of your documentation and how it presents, your jurisdiction's jury reputation, non-standard fee agreements, ERISA preemption of health insurance subrogation, prior claims history, and whether a defendant is under- or uninsured. The $9.99 Attorney Memo addresses many of these case-specific factors.
This is an estimate, not a prediction. Use it as an informed starting point — not as a substitute for advice from a licensed personal injury attorney in your state.