Being injured by another person or product puts you in the position to make a personal injury claim. Even if one of your belongings was the target of the injury, you can file to seek damages from the defendant. The time line to expect won’t be short, and requires an attorney for legal counsel.
Collection of evidence is the most important part of the process. Without evidence you will not be able to build a case. Before even starting a claim, you should verify that the evidence you have is enough to make a case. You can include pictures, video, medical reports, and witness testimony in your efforts to prove someone was at fault.
You can’t just jump into a court case after you obtain your attorney. You must first wait for the defendant to receive the demand letter, which will detail the act of negligence and state the amount being sought in damages. If the defendant decides to settle, there will be no court date needed. If the defendant does not reply or shows interest in going to court, motions proceed to continue the trial.
Luckily the plaintiff will get the upper hand in choosing the court. In some circumstances the defendant will set it, but the rule of thumb is the one doing the accusing has the benefit of picking the location of the trial. The date will also be picked by both parties through an agreement, although either party could delay the court date through a motion of continuance. In such a case, the date would be delayed until both parties can make the date.
The discovery process then ensues. Discovery is the act of finding out more information about the case. Both parties can submit questions and answers back and forth to allow both sides to formulate their case. The discovery process is a big help in finding out more methods of proving there was fault among the defendant. Your attorney will be able to ask all the right questions for the case on the date previously set.
Finally you will be able to enter the actual trial. The trial requires that the plaintiff and defendant both show up to give an account of their experiences and get the final judgment. Whether or not the trial is presented to a judge or jury will be up to the plaintiff if an option is present. After all the evidence is brought forth and claims are recorded, the judge or jury will make a final decision to see if the defendant was at fault.
Final Thoughts
The length of the personal injury claim process is great. Don’t expect the process to take a short amount of time, and do consider the fact that you may not win as plaintiff. Make second plans in order to recover from such a judgment.
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