Scoot,
I was involved in a bad accident back in Oct 98 just a couple blocks from my home when I was heading to a brand new job I was starting that day on my motorcycle.
A lady in an Acura Integra, who was both late for work, and late dropping off her young son to elementary school just up the road blew a stop sign and I t-boned her while I was doing about 25 mph. I broke my left hip on the femur neck, and was nearly killed from the internal bleeding, but I had no other injuries to speak of.
The results of my accident were that I got a bad lawyer, and wound up in horrible financial shape really quickly, and after all my bills were paid out of my $68k settlement from the ins company about a year and a half after the accident, I was written a check for about $20k. That money then went to clean up the financial mess I was in because of the accident.
If you decide to get a lawyer, try and find a really good lawyer. Go search on bicycle forums for your area,and see if they have anyone to recommend from previous experience. Go to motorcycle forums, and look for the same.
If for some reason you decide to try this on your own, here's my recommendations:
Keep a journal of the pain you feel.
Buy a diary for this, and update it as many times as you need per day, and write down how much pain medication you take each time you take it; how much sleep you loose during the day or night; write down if you missed work, and how much you are out for that day's work; and write down how depressed/unhappy you are because you can't do xxxxx today (nice day, wanted to ride your bike, or nice day, wanted to jump rope, etc).
You will need this to prove pain and suffering.
You are entitled to all your bills, lost wages, and expenses you incur due to not being able to do something yourself. If you normally wash your car every Saturday, but have to take it to a car wash because you can't reach the roof, you get this money back, if you write it down, and keep the receipts.
For pain and suffering, best practice is to take all your bills, lost wages, and expenses, then multiply that number by 3 or 4. Honestly, if you keep a great journal, I would start at 5.
If you can predict weather changes with your ankle, MAKE SURE YOU DOCUMENT THIS. Trust me on this, weather prediction ability sucks, tears away at your mind days in advance, and once you point this out, and can prove it with your journal, you are getting more pain and suffering, and can probably get more than the 5 times, in my experiences helping friends who have had accidents after I had mine.
I have yet to have a friend who had a motorcycle accident after I had mine get less money than I did for pain and suffering if they followed my advice, even if their accident wasn't near the same level as mine was, and let me help them. I got taken advantage of. You shouldn't let the same happen to you.
Oh, and if you can get your doctor to put it in writing that you have an above 50% chance of needing a surgery in the next 10 years, get a price quote how much that would cost in today's dollars, add 10%, add that amount to your expenses, and put it in a savings account, and don't touch it. I wish I had done this, as I would have had the money I needed for my full hip replacement back in March '09.
Good luck, and heal up quick.
BC.
