What has to be on a personal injury settlement statement
Your client signs a document that says where every dollar of their settlement went. Here is what belongs on it, line by line, and why the arithmetic has to come from the ledger rather than a typist.
The settlement statement is the one document in a personal injury case your client will read line by line. They have been quoting the gross number to their family for two years. The statement is where they find out what they actually take home, and how you got from one figure to the other.
It is also the document that decides a fee dispute. If a client complains to the bar eighteen months from now, the signed statement is the record of what they agreed to. A statement that is vague about costs, or that buries a lien reduction, does not defend you.
Every figure the statement has to carry.
Work top down, gross to net, with nothing rolled together. If two liens are combined into one "medical" line, your client cannot check it, and neither can anyone reviewing it later.
- Gross recovery. The full settlement figure, before anything comes off. If the case settled with multiple defendants or carriers, show each one.
- Attorney fee, with the rate. Not just the dollar amount. State the percentage and what it applied to, because a fee calculated on gross and a fee calculated after costs produce different numbers from the same agreement.
- Case costs, itemized. Filing fees, expert reports, records charges, court reporters, service. One line reading "costs $3,905" invites the question you do not want asked at signing.
- Each lien at both figures. Show what the provider originally claimed and what you negotiated it to. The reduction is work you did for your client, and this is the only place they see it.
- Referral fees and co-counsel splits. If another lawyer is taking part of the fee, your client is entitled to see it.
- Net to client, and the signature line. The number they take home, above a line they sign and date.
Settlement statement
Awaiting signatureRetyping is how statements stop reconciling.
Costs come from the matter
Every cost posted to the case as you incurred it, over two years, with its date and vendor. The statement itemizes what is already there rather than what somebody can reconstruct from a folder of receipts.
Liens carry their reductions
Each lien record holds the asserted balance, the negotiated figure, and the written confirmation. The statement prints both numbers because both are on the record.
The checks come from the same figures
The disbursement run reads the statement it just produced. A typo cannot exist in one and not the other, because there is only one set of numbers.
Common questions about settlement statements.
Is the fee calculated before or after costs come off?
Do I have to show lien reductions I negotiated?
What if a cost is disputed at signing?
How long should I keep the signed statement?
The software that does this for you.
CaseFuze handles the ledger, the statement, and the checks. $49 per user per month.