In my opinion, settling a personal injury case or workers’ compensation case around the holidays at the end of the year should be avoided under some circumstances. It seems that in my line of practice, there is a historical rush to settle cases by the end of the year. Law firms like to start out the New Year fresh and clients want money for the holidays. However, I believe that insurance companies know this all to well.
Let me be clear. I have settled many cases during the holidays if the circumstances are right. However, I generally try to discourage clients from settling due to the financial pressures and expectations the holiday season bring. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that sometimes insurance companies are motivated to settle cases at the end of the year as they may want to clear out cases / start out fresh in the New Year or want to set reserves. I believe that some companies have put more money on the table to close-out cases. Of course, this can also happen for any number of other reasons.
Going into the upcoming holiday season, I would like to remind everyone that while settling cases may seem attractive before the end of the year, let’s take a careful look at the circumstances and conduct a careful evaluation of the case before jumping in too quickly.
