Why?

For the last six months, I have been defending a personal injury case. The injury was basically a scratch on the end of the little finger on the claimant's left hand, small enough to be hidden by a grain of rice.

I'm not a lawyer, so I contacted one for advice. He said, I think correctly, that the cost of briefing a lawyer would be much greater than the cost of settling, so I should handle the claim myself and make an offer. I did this, and after about a dozen letters, my revised offer has been accepted. It was bigger then my initial offer, but much smaller than the opposition's claim.

One of the difficulties of defending a small injuries case is that it's difficult to find out information.

• I think I get some kind of scratch, cut or bruise every month, but is that typical?
• What kind of small injuries do people get, in the course of ordinary, suburban life?
  
• What sort of injury is "trivial"?
  

I want to research this issue, and link to useful sites, so I am starting a blog.