The hardest questions I have to answer as a lawyer is “what does it mean?”

It’s hard because some people assume that everything means something. And over time I’ve reached almost the opposite conclusion: Almost nothing means anything in personal injury.

I know that sounds a lot like Nihilism. (Nihilism is the belief that life, values, or the universe itself lack intrinsic meaning, purpose, or truth.)

After Nietzsche rolled out Nihilism, philosophers like Sarte (Existentialism) and Camus (Absurdism) responded to it. They decided that we could create meaning or that the human struggle to create meaning where none inherently exists is itself meaningful.

That’s about where my philosophical understanding runs dry. But there are undeniable parallels to the personal injury process.

Sometimes I respond to that question (what does it mean) by referencing Warren Buffet: "In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” Meaning that we may not understand what meaning something has now, but we will by the end of the case.

But I think the more accurate response is that nothing means anything in personal injury except offers and demands. There is meaning in how much someone will pay for a release and how much someone will accept for it

(Some people think that negotiations in personal injury cases are about the value of what the injured person has lost. They’re not. They’re about the value of the release of claims. In other words: the value of a piece of paper.)

Insurance companies can give 100 different reasons that a claim isn’t worth $1M. But all that talk is hollow compared to what it will offer to pay for the release. Especially if they offer $1.5M. Same thing on the plaintiff’s side. Injured people can talk about how $1M won’t begin to compensate them for their injuries. But a demand of $750,000 speaks volumes.

There is truth in numbers. In personal injury cases—like most situations where there’s negotiation—they reveal and represent what has meaning and what doesn’t.