Evaluating potential injury case settlements is an elaborate process which is determined case-by-case. There is no magic one-size-fits-all formula employed by the lawyers or the insurance companies to determine personal injury settlements. Instead, a personal injury lawyer evaluates each personal injury case, an insurance claims adjuster, if appropriate, makes their own determination and either through negotiations between the lawyer and the insurance company, through a juried court trial, or a combination of the two the settlement amount is determined. Often, the best estimate of a potential settlement is the amount a jury might consider fair. A personal injury lawyer uses two damage categories to begin the process of settlement determination. These termed economic and non-economic damages in the state of California.

Economic damages are easy to measure. They are documentable damages from an injury like wages lost, medical and travel expenses paid out-of-pocket as a direct result of the injury and prescription medication costs. These costs are documented in the form of itemized medical bills, invoices, and documentation provided by employers and estimation of wages lost and medical statements by Physicians. They may also include repair costs for vehicles or equipment. Economic damages are considered objective and while it is in the defendant's right to challenge this cost, the total is clear and easy to ascertain.

Non-economic damages are more difficult to evaluate. They are subjective, not objective and vary with each individual victim. Non-economic damages can include emotional suffering and emotional distress, loss of consortium psychological agony or personal humiliation caused by the injury. They may include estimates of future damages as assessed by a medical professional such as a physician, psychiatrist or both. As each person is different and will respond differently to an injury, non-economic damages change from case to case. This is the area where a simple formula is inadequate for determining personal injury case settlements.

Not all personal injury cases will go to trial, but a personal injury lawyer will always do their professional best to estimate the probable amount a jury would award the victim if the case were to go to trial to help them determine the proper settlement amount. A layperson, inexperienced with these sorts of court trials and jury settlements is unlikely to arrive at a reasonable amount, whether in their favor or against. Retaining a professional personal injury lawyer is the best guarantee of an accurate evaluation and a fair personal injury settlement amount.