Stages of Personal Injury Court Cases
Personal injury court cases can be overwhelming if you do not know what to expect.
There are certain stages that have to be followed before the actual court hearing.
In fact, some personal injury lawsuits are resolved even before the actual hearing takes place.
To understand the process of personal injury court cases, here are some guides to its different stages:
Filing a Complaint
A personal injury case obviously will start with the plaintiff formally filing a complaint to a proper authority or court.
Once that is done, then it will be followed by court summons.
You should remember that a compliant must not contain more than one accusation.
If you have more than one case against the defendant, then you have to file separate complaints as well.
After the court officially received the complaint, it will then inform the accused of the charges by serving the summons and the complaint.
The accused or defendant will have thirty days to make a respond.
The defendant can admit, deny or say that there is insufficient information to make a response.
Discovery Stage
Once the complaint has been finalized and accepted by both you and the defendant, the case will now proceed to the discovery stage where each party will ask each other to present evidence that will be used to defend their side.
The following methods are most often used in the discovery stage:
- Interrogations
- Admission of allegations
- Deposition
- Request/Demand for documents
- Serving subpoenas to obtain documents
Most lawsuits are resolved in this stage as both parties get an idea where their case stands.
Settlements are usually agreed upon and the case does not move on the next stage.
Trial
If both parties do not agree on a settlement or if the defendant does not offer a settlement package then the case goes to trial.
A personal injury trial is just like a criminal court case where each side is given a chance to present witnesses and evidence.
The burden of proof will fall on you as the plaintiff.
This means that you will have to present sufficient evidence to convince the judge or the jury that the defendant is liable for your injuries.
The standard in civil litigation is not as stringent with criminal litigation where guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
In a lot of situations, a defendant is still found to be liable in a civil case despite being found not guilty in the criminal charges.
Judgment
The judge or jury will then give a judgment either in your favor or the defendant's.
The jury usually decides the amount of damages awarded but the judge has the power to reduce it to an enforceable amount.
To increase your chances of success, make sure that you hire the services of a personal injury lawyer to assist you in your case.
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