In order to get a really big settlement, you have to be really disabled. Most people would rather have health than wealth, if wealth means being in constant or frequent pain and unable to get around. Nonetheless, after you reach what the workers' compensation systems refers to as "maximum medical improvement" or a "permanent and stationary" condition, you should receive the full amount of permanent disability indemnity allowed for your disability.

To get what you are fairly entitled to, you need to know who you are dealing with, how to improve the quality of the medical evidence, how to evaluate the factors of permanent disability and value of future medical treatment, and how to bargain. In short, you need a good deal of technical knowledge and experience negotiating settlements. Considering the small fee involved (Fees & Costs), a "do-it-yourself" approach may prove much more costly.