Hand, Wrist, and Finger Injury Settlements Amounts

The page looks at the average settlement value of hand, wrist, and finger injuries in personal injury cases. We outline what our personal injury attorneys have learned about hand injury cases for plaintiffs in a car accident, medical malpractice, workers’ compensation, and slip and fall claims.

Our lawyers will walk you through the statistics on hand, wrist, and finger injuries for various types of accidents and how we interpret these statistics to help you better predict compensation ranges for your case.

Our accident attorneys also look at actual settlement amounts and jury payouts in cases involving hand, finger, and wrist injuries and whether there is a settlement formula to calculate pain and suffering awards in these claims.

Maryland

Our law firm handles serious wrist injury lawsuits not only in Maryland and Washington D.C. but nationwide.

Nationwide

When we need to, we work with lawyers in your jurisdiction. Our attorneys pay the fees for that lawyer.  So how does that work?

There is no additional cost –  you are getting two law firms for the price of one. And you only pay us if you get a settlement amount, arbitration award, or jury payout. Find out what we can do to maximize the value of your wrist injury claim. Call our team today at 800-5553-8082 or get a free online case evaluation.

Hand, Finger, and Wrist Injury Settlement Amounts

How much compensation should you expect for your hand, wrist, or finger injury personal injury claim? There is no settlement calculator where you punch in numbers, and it spits out a payout amount. The value depends on the type of injury and its severity.

The hand is an incredibly complex body part. It is a fine-tuned piece of engineering that allows us to do everything from playing the violin to constructing buildings. Together, the hand and wrist have an astonishing 27 bones. Injuries to the hand and wrist can result in permanent disability, mainly if the injury is to the dominant hand.

The hand is one of the most commonly injured body parts in workplaces. Besides back injuries, hand injuries are the most common type of non-fatal injury that causes injured workers and other victims to take time off from work. Trigger finger is an extremely common on-the-job injury.  Many of these workers end up in the ER.  Twenty percent of ER visits are hand and wrist injuries.

Personal injury lawsuits, which is our focus, involve the hand, wrist, and fingers that our lawyers most frequently see in car accidents.

How Much Are Hand and Finger Injuries Worth?

According to national data, the average jury verdict in finger and hand injuries is approximately $630,000. The median verdict is approximately $70,000. This significant gap tells us that some severe, life-altering hand injury cases have extremely high values, but many smaller cases are not as debilitating.

Our lawyers have handled a large number of severe injury cases involving hands and wrists. These types of hand injuries are likely to have higher compensation payouts and tend to settle before or during litigation than going all the way to a verdict:

• Scaphoid bone fractures: A small bone in the wrist, the scaphoid is difficult to heal. This is because the blood supply to the bone may become cut off, resulting in cell death and potentially arthritis.
• Scapholunate ligament injury: The scapholunate ligament is a critical stabilizer of the scaphoid and lunate carpal bones. Permanent injuries to this ligament drive settlement value, as these injuries can leave victims with reduced grip strength and arthritis.
• Bone graft: If the fracture does not heal properly and a bone graft is required, long-term prospects for that hand are usually not very good. These cases usually have high settlement values where there is enough insurance coverage.
• Internal Fixation: A metal plate or other hardware in the hand or wrist is usually a harbinger of a less-than-optimal outcome.
• Severe Impact: Plaintiffs’ lawyers sometimes pretend the severity of the crash has nothing to do with the injury to the occupants. This is not the case in hand and wrist fracture cases. Higher-energy injuries do more damage to the bone and soft tissues around the bone and are more likely to have nonunion than a low-energy fracture that might occur from a fall.
• Nerve Injury: Trauma like a car accident can cause injury to the nerves that carry signals to and from the brain. Nerve damage from a hand or wrist injury will cause impaired movement and sensation, and also pain. Our accident lawyers see many cases of peripheral neuropathy from car accidents. Good settlement amounts for nerve damage in the hand cases often require a lawsuit before the insurance company offers fair settlement compensation.
• Crush Injury: The insurance company’s wrist injury compensation calculator goes into overdrive with a crush injury and even for a hand or finger injury.  A crush injury in a car crash usually happens in our attorneys’ experience when the hand gets crushed between objects like the steering wheel and the dashboard. it is usually a permanent injury.  This can lead to significant tissue damage, fractures, and even the loss of fingers.
• Radial Artery Pseudoaneurysm: This is a rare complication of a wrist injury that will increase settlement values. It happens when there is damage to the radial artery, a blood vessel that runs through the wrist. It is a severe injury that is not easily diagnosed. Treatment options include compression bandages, injections, and, if necessary, surgery.
• Stitches: The lowest settlement amount driver on this list. But, all things being equal, stitches increase the settlement value of a hand or finger injury claim.
• Depression: This is often overlooked but severe hand injuries cause depression in a lot of patients.

Medical Care Costs Do Not Always Reflect Pain and Suffering

Some hand, wrist, and finger injuries are severe and require intensive medical care, costing victims a lot of money. However, the medical care costs in many hand, wrist, and finger injury cases are often lower than other injuries.

Many of these surgeries are quick and easy compared to, for example, back surgery. But the surgery cost does not indicate how much pain or impairment a victim suffers. The patient may undergo a low-cost surgery and be left with a hand that doesn’t function correctly or causes pain, affecting their ability to work and quality of life.

Our accident lawyers know from experience that insurance companies in hand injury cases want to use a multiplier of the medical bills to determine the settlement value. But this is the wrong way to determine how much compensation your hand injury is worth because the pain and suffering damages dwarf the medical bills in most cases.

Sometimes jurors buy into the insurance company’s argument. They see low medical bills; they wonder how bad the plaintiff’s injury could be. There is an argument to be made many verdicts would have been higher if plaintiffs had not asked for medical bills.

What is the solution to this problem? Take the medical bills out of the equation when you ask the jury for compensation.

Often, our attorneys will not ask the jury for payment of the medical bills. Jurors often correctly assume medical bills are covered by insurance. Not introducing the medical bills helps focus the jurors on the real harm in the case: what the victim has endured.

This often leads the jury to a much higher compensation payout. Just as importantly, this tactic can often scare insurance companies into significantly increasing their settlement offer before trial.

Sample Verdicts and Settlements in Hand and Finger Injury Cases

Below is a list of verdicts and settlements in hand injury cases, intended to give you a better idea of the value range of these cases. Some of these verdicts are Miller & Zois’s verdicts, while others were handled by other lawyers in Maryland and around the country. One thing to point out is that the average settlement amount for dominant hand cases is higher than non-dominant hand claims, but that is not always noted in these settlement summaries.

These are just a sampling of verdicts, and it is difficult to compare any one case, given the multitude of factors that affect a case’s value and success. However, the hope is that this gives you a better idea of the potential trial and settlement value of hand injury claims.

Maryland Verdicts and Settlements

• 2023, Baltimore County: $511,000 Verdict.  This is a classic case that underscores why medical bills cannot be used to calculate settlement amounts in hand or finger injury lawsuits.  Following a pedestrian accident in Owings Mills,  a 70-year-old woman had fractures in several fingers. She only had $11,000 in medical bills, but she had a rough go of it. The injury significantly impaired her hand’s mobility and function, necessitating physical therapy and pain management treatments. Despite these efforts, she experienced a restricted range of motion, limiting her ability to perform her usual work duties – she was still working as a caregiver at 70, bless her.  Penn National did not make a reasonable settlement offer, probably because they were so focused on the amount of the medical bills.  A Baltimore County jury awarded her $511,000, which is a fair award despite her low medical bills.
• 2023, Baltimore County: $16,796 Verdict. The plaintiff was driving eastbound and making a left turn at an intersection when the westbound defendant failed to yield and struck her. The plaintiff alleged that she suffered a sprained wrist and other soft tissue back and neck injuries.
• 2023 Anne Arundel County: $330,200 Verdict. The plaintiff came to a stop on the highway for traffic ahead of him and was rear-ended by the defendant. The plaintiff allegedly suffered a broken wrist and injuries to his head, neck and back leaving him with chronic headaches.
• 2022, Baltimore City: $55,925 Verdict. The plaintiff reportedly sustained a right wrist fracture, resulting in permanent loss of function and pain, when his vehicle was T-boned at an intersection by a vehicle driven by the defendant. The verdict included $25,000 for pain and suffering.
• 2022, Baltimore County: $20,000 Verdict. The plaintiff said when she stopped her automobile to wait for oncoming traffic to pass to execute a left turn, her automobile was rear-ended by the defendant. The plaintiff claimed she injured her hand, arm, and shoulder.
• 2022, Baltimore Federal Court: $31,768 Verdict: The plaintiff claimed that she suffered neck, back, and right index finger injuries when a large USPS truck hit her on the highway.
• 2021, Baltimore City: $18,314 Verdict. A woman was struck by a vehicle that pulled from a side street. The impact pushed her into a parked vehicle. She suffered righthand ligament damage, spinal strains, and a sprained shoulder. The woman now experienced panic attacks. She alleged negligence against the at-fault driver. The woman claimed she failed to yield the right-of-way, control her vehicle, and avoid a collision. A Baltimore City jury awarded $18,314.
• 2021, Prince George’s County: $56,582 Verdict. A 33-year-old woman was T-boned at an intersection in Beltsville. She fractured her left wrist. The woman also suffered the exacerbation of her pre-existing cervical sprain. The woman underwent a year of chiropractic care and physical therapy. She also wore a cast for several months. The woman alleged that the at-fault driver’s failure to yield the right-of-way at an intersection caused her injuries. She received $56,582.
• 2021, Baltimore City: $30,000 Verdict. A 48-year-old man was sideswiped on Pulaski Highway. He went off-road and hit a pole. The man suffered sprains and strains to his spine, left hand, and left knee. He sought physical therapy. The man used a heating pad, back support, and a neck brace. He alleged that the at-fault driver’s illegal lane change caused his injuries. The Baltimore City jury awarded $30,000.
• 2021, Baltimore City: $5,012 Verdict. A 40-something woman was struck on her vehicle’s passenger side. She suffered right-hand arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and soft-tissue spinal injuries. The woman sought an orthopedist. Her spinal injuries resolved. However, the woman’s right-hand injuries did not. She experienced residual right-hand swelling and soreness. The woman periodically wore a hand brace. She alleged negligence against the at-fault driver. The woman claimed he ran a stop sign and failed to yield at an intersection. A jury awarded $5,012.
• 2020, Allegany County: $38,000 Verdict. A 27-year-old man was sideswiped on Reisterstown Road. He suffered strains and sprains to his left wrist, lower back, and left knee. The man underwent physical therapy sessions and left wrist injections. He alleged that the at-fault driver’s negligent lane change caused his injuries. The man also made a UIM claim. He received a $38,000 verdict.

Hand Injury Verdicts and Settlements Throughout the United States

• 2023, New York: $11,000 Settlement. The plaintiff, an 11-year-old boy, suffered hand and finger injuries when his fingers were bent backward too far while playing a game of “mercy” in the classroom. The lawsuit was filed against the other student, and a settlement was reached for $11,000.
• 2023, Georgia: $9,000,000 Verdict. $9 million verdict against Resurgens Orthopedics and its physician, finding them liable for a permanent hand injury a child sustained after undergoing treatment for a broken arm. The trial, which lasted six days, revolved around whether the doctor’s application of a splint was too tight, causing the child’s injury. The defense argued that the damage resulted from an unforeseen condition, not medical negligence. However, the jury sided with the plaintiff, giving the victim a payout that wildly surpassed the defense’s pre-trial settlement offer of $2 million.
  2022, Alabama $117,500 Verdict. The plaintiff was operating a forklift when she slipped while getting down, caught her hand between the steering wheel and the seat, and jerked her shoulder as she slipped. She underwent surgery to relieve pressure on the nerve in her wrist.
  2022, New Jersey $42,500 Settlement. The minor plaintiff was with her family at a restaurant when a heavy rock from a waterfall feature on the premises came loose and fell on her hand. The rock caused unspecified hand injuries.
  2022, Washington $100,000 Bench Verdict. The plaintiff was struck in a T-bone collision after the defendant ran a stop sign. The plaintiff suffered injuries to her hand, neck, and back. The hand injury allegedly left her with tremors in the hand.
  2021, West Virginia $50,000 Verdict: The plaintiff, a 41-year-old female, suffered a crushed left hand when her hand was pulled into a laminating machine manufactured by the defendant. She brought a product liability lawsuit alleging that the machine lacked appropriate safeguards.
• 2021, Washington: $93,794 Verdict. A 58-year-old woman was T-boned at an intersection. She suffered a right distal joint fracture, a very common wrist fracture. The woman also sustained soft-tissue cervical and lumbar injuries. She alleged that the at-fault driver’s failure to yield the right-of-way caused her injuries. The woman received $93,794.
• 2021, Washington: $665,000 Settlement. A woman went bike riding with her husband. She struck an inconspicuously placed water berm. The woman suffered metacarpal shaft fractures, an injured left distal radial ulnar joint, a right eye socket fracture, a right cheekbone fracture, and a displaced right eye. She underwent three facial procedures. The woman suffered several MRSA infections. She sustained permanent right facial nerve pain, right eye light sensitivity, and facial disfigurements. The woman and her husband alleged negligence against the municipal government. She claimed it placed a hazardous obstruction and failed to place warning signs. This case settled for $665,000.
• 2021, Idaho: $175,000 Settlement. A woman was rear-ended. She fractured her left wrist and hand. She also suffered a concussion and soft-tissue left arm, right hip, and spinal injuries. The woman underwent multiple hand procedures. She alleged negligence against the at-fault driver. The woman claimed he unsafely operated his vehicle in snowy conditions and failed to avoid a collision. This case settled for $175,000.
• 2021, Alabama: $125,000 Settlement. A truck driver loaded furniture into a trailer in wet conditions. He fell backward. The man landed on his left arm and hand. He suffered a left-hand fracture, unspecified left arm injuries, and soft-tissue right upper limb injuries. The man filed a workers’ compensation claim against his employer. He received a $125,000 settlement.
• 2021, Idaho: $194,003 Verdict. A man was a passenger in a rear-ended vehicle. He suffered ligament and nerve damage to both hands. The man also suffered a concussion and adrenal gland insufficiency. The man experienced difficulties with grip strength and swallowing. He also experienced rapid weight loss, abdominal pain, weakness, fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder, and aggravated seizures.  The claim apparently did not register high on the insurance company’s hand injury claim calculator.  So he hired an accident lawyer and sued. The jury awarded $194,003.

Wrist Injury Verdicts and Settlements Nationwide

• 2022, New York $50,000 Settlement. A woman in her mid-60s alleged that she injured her right arm and wrist after slipping and falling on a grape while shopping at Walmart.
• 2022, California $1,000,000 Verdict. An 8th-grade girl was running in her school’s gym during P.E. class when she slipped and fell from a puddle on the floor caused by heavy rain. She suffered a broken left wrist and head fracture.
• 2022, Florida $45,000 Settlement. The plaintiff, a minor, was hit by a vehicle in a collision while he was getting onto his school bus. The plaintiff allegedly suffered severe injuries to his right wrist and shoulder due to the accident.

Finger Injury Verdicts and Settlements Nationwide

• 2022, Alaska $244,951 Verdict. The plaintiff claimed that she suffered multiple finger fractures when she entered a Home Depot store and was knocked to the ground by a shoplifter being chased by store security.
• 2022, Louisiana $3,000,000 Verdict. The plaintiff was hit by a large tractor-trailer that ran a stop sign. The accident crushed the plaintiff’s little finger on his left hand, which had to be amputated. He also suffered back injuries requiring fusion surgery. So the question is how much of the $3 million was the back injury and how much was the finger injury claim to the jury’s compensation award?
• 2022, $110,000 New York Settlement. A 2-year-old injured his fingers on his left hand while at the defendant’s daycare when another child closed the bathroom door onto his hand and fingers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our lawyers have handled scores of hand injury cases on behalf of victims. These are some of the commonly asked questions about hand injury claims and their settlement value:

Do hand injury cases usually settle out-of-court before filing a lawsuit or trial?

Most hand injury cases settle before trial. As we discussed above, the problem with hand injury claims from a settlement perspective is that claims adjusters are often wedded to using the amount of medical bills as an anchor for the settlement value. Hand injuries typically involve more pain and suffering than most other serious injuries but typically have far lower medical bills associated with the injury.

Before a case goes to trial, insurance companies and their lawyers tend to review these things more realistically, resulting in a pre-trial settlement.

But our attorneys file suit in most serious hand injury cases because the pre-trial offers for compensation are typically not reasonable. In these cases, litigation is the only option for victims seeking to maximize the value of their claims.

What type of hand injury lawsuits have the greatest settlement value?

The hand injury claims with the highest average settlement value will be permanent injury cases. These are usually crush injuries where there is nonunion or malunion of a fracture (which is often from a delay in diagnosis of treatment).  Dominant hand injury settlement compensation payouts are also higher, all things being equal.

But, again, the hand is complex. Sometimes minor fractures do not heal and lead to lifetime complications. This is all the more true if the victim is already developing arthritis or nerve damage which puts the patient at an even greater risk of developing contracture and stiffness years later.

Our lawyers’ experience is that compartment syndrome also increases settlement compensation. Similarly, we see more significant recoveries in hand injury claims involving arterial and nerve injuries.

How do insurance companies compute settlement amounts for hand injuries?

Insurance companies use computer programs as hand injury settlement calculators to calculate settlement amounts for hand injuries by inputting various data points related to the injury. So in the pre-lawsuit settlement process, they don’t really look into the intangible variable of pain and suffering damages that juries find most important.

Instead, their settlement calculator uses data points such as the type of injury, the severity of the injury, the location of the injury on the hand, the age and occupation of the injured person, and any required medical treatment or surgeries.

The computer program then uses this information to calculate an estimated settlement amount based on previous settlement data for similar hand injuries. If you do not have pain and suffering intangibles, this can lead to a higher settlement payout. But most victims have very personalized and unique suffering that the computer ignores.

How do I maximize my settlement compensation payout for my hand injury claim?

This may appear self-serving. But the path to improving your settlement compensation is to hire the best lawyer you can with a track record of success in general personal injury claims and hand injury cases you can that has a track record of success in personal injury claims and hand injury cases specifically.

Relevant Medical Studies

“Cost, profile, and postoperative resource use for surgically managed acute hand and wrist injuries with emergency department presentation” by Luke Steven Robinson et al., Journal of Hand Therapy, April 2020.
This study from Australia looked at patients’ medical records to calculate the cost burden of hand and wrist injuries in a particular health network. Researchers identified 226 patients whose treatment collectively cost $1,204,606. This underscores that there is an economic cost to society beyond the pain and suffering that comes with preventable injuries. Injuries to the hand and wrist are typically preventable accidents and present costs to the healthcare system and individuals.

“Global trends of hand and wrist trauma: a systematic analysis of fracture and digit amputation using the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study” by Christopher Steven Crowe et al., Injury Prevention, March 2020.
Researchers in this study used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study, the most comprehensive study of injuries and diseases worldwide. The authors begin by saying that although global mortality is decreasing, non-fatal injuries are rising. The study breaks down which regions of the world experience these injuries by type. This helps lawmakers and medical professionals better understand the problem and how to address it.

They also found:

• • Injuries to the hand, they say, account for many of these injuries and can be debilitating, especially if not well treated.
  • Hand and wrist injuries have slightly decreased over the last 27 years.
  • Not surprisingly, males are more likely to get these injuries than women.
  • Loss of a thumb is the most significant cause of hand-related permanent disability globally. Our finger injury lawyers have found that thumbs fetch the higher settlement and your index or trigger finger is next in line in terms of valuations.

“The Acutely Injured Wrist” by Federico Bruno et al., Radiological Clinics of North America, 2019.
This article is an overview of wrist trauma written by experts. It discusses wrist soft tissue and bone injuries and how they manifest in children, focusing on radiologic imaging. Images of wrist X-rays are included, allowing readers to visualize injuries.

Our Lawyers Can Help You

Broken bone injuries can be severe. You only have one chance to get the compensation you deserve. You need to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you navigate the complex process, gather evidence, negotiate with insurance companies, and, if necessary, represent you in court to ensure you receive full compensation for your injuries.

Our attorneys fight to get our clients the compensation they need. Usually, this is by early settlement in wrist and hand fracture cases. But our lawyers take these broken bone cases to trial when the insurance companies do not compensate our clients properly. Call us today to discuss your auto accident, workers’ compensation, or another personal injury case at 800-553-8082 or get a free consultation online.

More Information on Settlement Value of Personal Injury Cases

• Is there a settlement formula for my case?
• More on the value of your case