Let's look at the typical course of a personal injury claim, from the accident and immediate concerns to what to expect in every possible step toward resolution. As we just mentioned, if you have the slightest feeling that you are hurt after the accident, go to the emergency room or make an appointment to see your doctor. Not only is this the right thing to do for your health, but it's also crucial for any Personal Injury Attorney in Sumter SC claim you end up filing. If you don't go to the doctor for some time after the accident and file an insurance claim with the at-fault party's insurance company, the insurance adjuster is likely to argue that your injuries aren't that serious. Learn more about the importance of receiving immediate medical care after an accident.
You may want to meet with several candidates before deciding which one is right for you and your case. Get details on what to ask before hiring a personal injury lawyer. One of the first things your lawyer will do is interview you. The lawyer wants to know everything you know about the accident, your injuries and your medical treatment. Future surprises won't help your case, so be sure to answer all questions as fully as possible.
The lawyer will then obtain all of your medical records and bills related to the injury and will probably also obtain your medical history of any treatment you have received in connection with the condition in question in the case. This part of the process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. This is a common question, but there is no reliable data that can provide a useful answer. Perhaps most importantly, the unique nature of each personal injury claim means that such an answer would not be of much use to an individual claimant. Simply put, the reconciliation process can take anywhere from a few months to a year or more.
However, very few cases are so clean and tidy. At a minimum, the time needed to reach a fair (and complete) settlement will depend on when you understand the nature and extent of your injuries and all your other compensable losses (damages in the language of the law), and your recovery has stalled. Learn more about damages in a personal injury case. Therefore, if it takes a year to reach a point where your accident injuries have healed as much as they should, then and only then, you should consider resolving your case.
We will discuss this a little later. Likewise, if the other party doesn't come to the negotiating table with a fair settlement offer, you may have to aggravate matters by filing a lawsuit. At that point, when you and the other party begin the time-consuming discovery process, it could mean that the agreement won't come for another year or more. Car accident injury claim settlements are some of the most common in the area of personal injury. Learn more about the liquidation schedule in a car accident case. Most personal injury cases reach some kind of settlement.
So, unless an injury claim seems completely unfounded, the claimant doesn't have any medical history that indicates the injury, for example, you're likely to get something that prevents you from reaching a settlement. Above all else, instead of worrying about how to speed up the process, it might make sense to focus on the big picture and work to achieve the most complete and satisfying result, not necessarily the fastest. Many minor personal injury claims are resolved before a lawsuit is filed. If the lawyer believes that the case can be resolved, he or she will file a lawsuit with the other lawyer or with the other party's insurance company.
A good lawyer will not file a lawsuit until the plaintiff has reached a point of maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI occurs when the plaintiff has finished all medical treatment and is as recovered as possible. This is because, until the plaintiff has contacted the MMI, the lawyer does not know how much the case is worth. The lawyer also should not file a lawsuit until the MMI arrives.
This is because, if the plaintiff is not in the MMI when the case goes to trial, the jury may underestimate the case. After the initial lawsuit, the other party's lawyer or insurance company usually responds with their own counteroffer, and both parties enter into back-and-forth negotiations to point out the other party's potential weaknesses and point out the strengths of their own, while trying to increase or decrease the value of the lawsuit. Learn more about how the process of negotiating an agreement works in a personal injury case. The experience and skills of your lawyer are a great asset at this stage, but if the talks to reach an agreement stall or the two parties are too far apart, the case moves to the litigation phase.
The litigation phase begins when you and your lawyer file a personal injury lawsuit in court. Keep in mind that any lawsuit must be filed within the strict time limits established by a law called the statute of limitations. For personal injury lawsuits, the legal time frame ranges from one year to six years, depending on the state. See the statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits in your state.
Remember that a personal injury case can be resolved at any time, even soon after a lawsuit is filed in court. When an injury plaintiff takes the step of filing a lawsuit and opens up the possibility of a lawsuit, it can magically push an insurance company to sit at the negotiating table with a fair settlement offer. The filing of the lawsuit sets the clock for the case to go to trial. Each jurisdiction's pre-trial procedures are different, but generally a personal injury case will take one to two years to reach trial.
The discovery phase is when each party investigates what the other party's legal claims and defenses are, in an attempt to understand the other party's strengths and weaknesses. The parties send interrogatories (a sophisticated word to refer to questions) and requests for documentation to each other, and take statements from all relevant parties and witnesses, usually starting with the plaintiff and the defendant. This process can last from six months to a year, depending on the court's deadlines and the complexity of the case. At this point, your lawsuit is somewhat at the mercy of the court's schedule, but conversations to reach an agreement can continue along with the litigation process, so technically the case could be resolved at any time.
When the evidence period ends, attorneys will usually begin to reach a serious agreement. Sometimes lawyers can reach an agreement simply by talking to each other, but in other cases, they will resort to mediation. This is an alternative dispute resolution process in which both parties to a lawsuit (and their attorneys) receive help from a neutral outside mediator to try to resolve the case. Learn more about mediating personal injury claims.
Mediation usually works, but if it doesn't, the trial of the case is scheduled. A personal injury trial can last a day, a week, or even longer. The length may increase because, in many states, lawsuits are held for only half a day instead of more than a full day. This doubles the length of the trial, but it also allows lawyers and judges to do other things in the afternoon. One important thing to know about lawsuits is that just because a lawsuit is scheduled to be tried doesn't mean that the trial will actually take place on that date.
Trials are often delayed due to the judge's schedule. If your trial is delayed, you should not automatically assume that something unfavorable is happening. Trials are delayed all the time and for the most innocuous reasons. For details about this stage of the process in the context of one of the most common types of injury cases, learn what happens when a car accident case goes to trial.
It's important to understand how long your personal injury case may take, but your primary concern should be getting the best outcome, and that often means having a legal professional on your side. An experienced personal injury attorney will have the skills and experience to guide your case through all of the stages we have discussed here, with the goal of obtaining the best outcome for you. Learn more about getting help from a personal injury lawyer. You can also use the features on this page to connect with an injury attorney in your area. These additional details allow our attorneys to gain a deeper understanding of the details of your case.
A trial is comprised of six parts: jury selection, opening statements, testimony and cross-examination, closing arguments, jury instruction, and jury deliberation and verdict. Most people have never been involved in a lawsuit. As such, many accident victims and their families are eager to file a personal injury lawsuit. In fact, a lawsuit could result in a trial before a jury, but most don't, and the process shouldn't be stressful.
The following steps describe the different stages of a personal injury lawsuit, from the initial consultation with an attorney to the resolution of your case. Filing a lawsuit begins with the lawsuit, which describes the case, including your legal claims, the facts related to them, and what you want the court to order the defendant to do. A subpoena notifies the defendant about the lawsuit. The defendant's response addresses your complaint. The defendant's response may also include a counterclaim against you.
And that counterclaim is answered with your written response through your lawyer. If you believe that you have been injured due to the negligence of another person or an inability to provide you with reasonable security measures, you need to hire a personal injury attorney. In Virginia's general district court, which is a court that deals with minor personal injury lawsuits, a judge will decide the case. This is the review of the evidence and claims submitted by the plaintiff (you, the injured party) and the defendant (the person allegedly responsible for your injuries)).
If the other party acts in bad faith or refuses to negotiate a fair settlement, you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit. Once you have hired a personal injury lawyer in Virginia, he or she will begin to investigate and gather the facts and circumstances of a truck collision, motor vehicle collision, slip and fall accident, medical negligence, product defect, etc. Evaluating the lawyer. Having the right personal injury lawyer on your side can mean the difference between winning or losing your case.
An attorney can help you better understand the options available depending on your circumstances and can help guide you through the complicated process of bringing a personal injury claim to trial. The outcome of your trial is binding: Appellate processes are difficult to update in personal injury cases. An experienced Virginia personal injury attorney will begin working on your case as quickly as possible as you continue with the investigative phase. With the help of a professional personal injury attorney, your lawsuit may result in a pre-trial settlement. The procedural rules of a personal injury case are complex and frustrating, especially when you're eager to recover and move on.
Throughout the process of your personal injury lawsuit, you'll have plenty of opportunities to present evidence and negotiate settlements.