The Stages Of Personal Injury Litigation
Everyone knows that when you have been injured unfairly and you need to hire a lawyer so that you will be paid, but the steps involved can be confusing to many people. Knowing the stages involved in the process can help you better understand the personal injury litigation process and they work the same as a litigant or defendant.
The very first thing that will happen is your lawyer will review the case and present it to the courthouse in the form of a complaint. This is a formal statement that you are suing the other party and they will get a chance to reply to this to allow their version of the story to be known.
It will then go into the discovery and motion phase which lasts from the time a complaint is filed to right before the case goes to court. Both sides use this time to gather evidence to support their side of the story, gather documents and forms for admissions of evidence. Motions are also filed at this time, which is contesting parts of the discovery from being seen at a jury, if and when it gets there.
Many times, the case will no go to trial, and a settlement will be reached. If this does not happen, then it will be presented before a jury. All of the information that was gathered during the previous step is given to the jury to decide the case.
If they find in the victim’s favor, they will award an amount based on what they determine to be fair for damages. At this time they can decide to give the victim all the money at one time, or if they will be awarded over a period of time, and is given based on the duration of the injury in many cases.
This can be a long process, and is frustrating to many people having to wait for all the steps. Finding a qualified attorney who has experience with personal injury litigation can help to make the process go by smoother and allow you to live your life normally again.
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