Injured in an accident due to someone else's negligence? Good news is, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against them. Read below for more in depth information on what to expect during your personal injury case.
Protecting Your Claim
Following the accident, it is important to protect any claim you may end up deciding to make. Any injury that is due to someone else's carelessness may result in your ability to file a personal injury lawsuit. Following the accident, it is important to take photographs, gather witness names, and seek medical treatment as soon as possible. When seeking medical treatment, it is important to do so directly after the incident to avoid any assumption that the injury your filing against wasn't serious.
Consulting a Personal Injury Lawyer
Following the accident, it is valuable to consult a personal injury lawyer to help investigate your claim. Once you've hired a lawyer, they will gather information from you surrounding the accident, your injuries, and any medical care you sought out. Medical records and bills will be subpoenaed by your lawyer to help build your case. Hiring a lawyer will also help assist with gathering witness, consulting experts, as well as any evidence that may be beneficial towards your case. When considering which personal injury lawyer to hire, consider contacting Brinkley Law. You can call Brinkley Law anytime at 317-643-1813.
Demands and Negotiations
Once you've hired a lawyer, the next step is to consider making demands and negotiations. With smaller personal injury claims, these cases are commonly settled by a lawyer making a demand to the other attorney or insurance company. This prevents the claim from becoming a lawsuit. In cases where making a demand isn't met, negotiations will take place. After the initial demand is made, counter-offers and back-and-forth negotiations will begin. The negotiation phase seeks to prevent the next phase, litigation, from occurring.
Litigation
If making demands and attempting to negotiation doesn't settle the claim, then a lawsuit is filed. Once the lawsuit is filed, then the litigation phase begins. The case can be settled at any point, as long as both sides agree. For personal injury cases, it typically takes approximately 1-2 years for them to get to trial.
Discovery
After the lawsuit is filed and both sides are preparing for trial, the discovery phase will begin. During this phase, both parties investigate the other's legal claims and defenses. Each party will also remain in contact with one another, and will gather all relevant information to help their case.
Mediation
Following the discovery phase, lawyers from both parties will begin to discuss settlement. If the lawyers are not able to settle between themselves, they will begin mediation. Mediation is when both parties will seek help from a neutral third party mediator in attempt to resolve the case and avoid going to trial.
Trial
If all else fails, then the case will be taken to trial. During trial, a judge or jury will examine the evidence to determine if the defendant should be held responsible for the accident that occurred. Both the defendant and the plaintiff will have the opportunity to argue their side of the claim. If the defendant is found guilty for the plaintiff's injuries, then the court will decide to what extent they are held legally responsible. The extent of responsibility will determine how much the defendant will be required to pay in damages.
Conclusion
If you feel as though your accident was due to someone else's negligence, it is important that you file a personal injury claim. An experienced lawyer, such as attorney Sarah Brinkley, will help guide your case through all the stages discussed above. Contact Brinkley Law at 317-643-1813 to discuss your personal injury claim.