The insurance company offers $75,000 to settle your case. Your attorney believes it’s worth more and you decide to reject the offer and proceed to trial. The jury finds against you, determining the defendant wasn’t liable or that you were more at fault than the defendant. You recover nothing. This worst-case scenario is a real risk that every plaintiff must understand before rejecting settlement offers and proceeding to trial. The consequences go beyond simply walking away empty-handed.
Our friends at Pioletti Pioletti & Nichols ensure clients understand the risks and consequences of going to trial before rejecting settlement offers. A birth injury lawyer has a duty to explain not just potential trial victories but also what happens if you lose, including cost obligations, offer of judgment penalties, and the finality of jury verdicts that leave you with nothing after years of litigation.
You Receive Zero Compensation
The most obvious consequence of losing at trial is that you receive no compensation for your injuries. All the medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering you endured get you nothing. The jury has spoken, and their verdict means the defendant owes you zero dollars.
This is fundamentally different from settling for less than you wanted. A $75,000 settlement might have disappointed you, but it’s $75,000 more than the nothing you receive after losing at trial.
Settlement Offers Disappear
Once you reject a settlement offer and proceed past certain litigation milestones, those offers typically expire and cannot be revived. Defendants often reduce or withdraw offers as trial approaches, knowing you’ve already invested substantially in litigation.
The $75,000 offer you rejected might have been the defendant’s best offer. After you lose at trial, you cannot go back and accept it. The opportunity is gone permanently.
You Pay Case Costs
Even when your attorney works on contingency fee, you’re typically responsible for case costs. These litigation expenses can be substantial:
- Court filing fees
- Deposition transcripts
- Expert witness fees
- Medical record costs
- Investigation expenses
- Trial exhibits and demonstrative evidence
- Subpoena fees
These costs often total $10,000 to $50,000 or more in serious cases. When you lose at trial, you owe these costs even though you received nothing from the verdict. Your attorney will seek reimbursement for advanced costs.
Offer Of Judgment Rules Create Additional Penalties
Many states have offer of judgment statutes that penalize plaintiffs who reject settlement offers and then receive jury verdicts less favorable than the rejected offer. These statutes shift certain costs to plaintiffs as punishment for unreasonably rejecting offers.
If the defendant made a formal offer of judgment that you rejected, and the jury awards you less than the offer (including zero), you might be required to pay the defendant’s costs incurred after you rejected the offer.
These costs can include:
- Deposition expenses
- Expert witness fees
- Trial costs
- Filing fees for motions
Depending on how long before trial the offer was made and how much litigation occurred afterward, these shifted costs can total tens of thousands of dollars. Not only do you receive nothing from trial, but you also owe money to the defendant.
Attorney Fee Obligations
Your contingency fee agreement typically states you owe no attorney fees if you recover nothing. However, you still owe case costs as discussed above.
Some contingency agreements include provisions about expenses incurred fighting appeals or other post-trial matters. Read your agreement carefully to understand all financial obligations.
Emotional And Psychological Costs
Beyond financial consequences, losing at trial takes a serious emotional toll. You’ve spent months or years believing in your case, attending depositions, preparing for trial, and anticipating vindication.
The jury’s verdict against you can feel like a personal rejection. They’ve essentially said you’re wrong about what happened or that you don’t deserve compensation. This emotional impact compounds the financial disappointment.
Time Investment Is Lost
Litigation consumes enormous amounts of time. You’ve attended depositions, met with attorneys, prepared for trial, and possibly sat through several days of trial watching the jury hear your case.
All that time investment produces nothing when you lose. Unlike settlement, where you at least receive some compensation for your time and effort, trial losses leave you with zero return on years of involvement in your case.
Comparative Fault Might Be The Problem
Sometimes juries don’t completely reject plaintiff claims but instead find the plaintiff more at fault than the defendant. In modified comparative negligence states, being 51% or more responsible means you recover nothing.
The jury might believe you were injured and that the defendant was negligent, but if they also find you were primarily responsible through your own negligence, the verdict is zero.
Credibility Issues Hurt Future Claims
If you’re involved in another accident in the future, defendants in that case might discover you lost a previous trial. They’ll use this history to attack your credibility and suggest you’re the type of person who brings frivolous lawsuits.
While past losses shouldn’t affect new unrelated claims legally, the practical impact on jury perception can be harmful.
Appeals Are Expensive And Rarely Successful
After losing at trial, you can appeal if you believe the judge made legal errors. However, appeals are expensive and succeed only when significant legal mistakes occurred.
Factual findings by juries receive great deference on appeal. Appellate courts rarely overturn jury verdicts based on evidence. They reverse only for legal errors, and even then, you might just get a new trial rather than a judgment in your favor.
Appeals take one to three years and cost additional money with low success rates. Most plaintiffs who lose at trial cannot afford or justify appeals.
The Finality Of Verdicts
Jury verdicts are final judgments. Once appeals are exhausted or the time to appeal expires, you cannot relitigate the same claim. The doctrine of res judicata prevents you from filing new lawsuits about the same accident.
You get one chance at trial, and if you lose, the opportunity is gone forever.
Defendants’ Insurance Companies Keep Everything
Insurance companies defending the lawsuit keep all the money they reserved for your case when you lose at trial. They’ve incurred defense costs but paid nothing in compensation.
This outcome represents the best possible result for defendants and the worst for you. They’re fully vindicated while you’re left with nothing and potentially owing costs.
Evaluating Settlement Offers Realistically
Before rejecting settlement offers, you must realistically evaluate trial risks including the possibility of receiving nothing if you lose. Factors to consider include:
- Strength of liability evidence
- Credibility of witnesses
- Clarity of damages
- Comparable jury verdicts in your jurisdiction
- Offer of judgment penalties if you lose
- Case costs you’ll owe regardless of outcome
Your attorney should provide honest assessment of these risks, not just best-case scenarios.
When Trial Makes Sense Despite Risks
Trial isn’t always wrong even considering these risks. Inadequate settlement offers might justify gambling on trial when:
- Liability is clear and strong
- Your injuries are well-documented and severe
- The settlement offer is unreasonably low
- You can afford the risk of receiving nothing
- Principle matters more than guaranteed money
But you must make this choice with full understanding of downside risks.
Making Informed Decisions
Rejecting settlement offers and losing at trial means receiving no compensation while potentially owing substantial case costs and offer of judgment penalties. Understanding these consequences helps you make informed decisions about whether settlement guarantees are worth accepting or whether trial risks are justified. We provide honest assessments of both settlement offers and trial risks so our clients can make informed decisions about their cases with realistic expectations of both best and worst-case outcomes. If you’re deciding whether to accept a settlement or proceed to trial, contact our team to discuss the specific risks and potential outcomes your case presents.