People tend to think that only major road accidents can cause serious losses. In reality, even slipping on a wet floor and falling can cause severe losses to the victim.
Negligence is the reason why accidents happen. Negligence is the act of breaching the duty of care one owes to another. It is an act that should be punished severely. Punishing negligence is the best way to control it.
Filing a personal injury claim following an accident is important. Through a personal injury claim, you can recover your losses and punish the at-fault party. To do this, you will need the help of a lawyer. It is best to hire a nationwide personal injury firm to handle your case because they will have extensive knowledge of the local laws.
Filing a Claim
Before going to court, you can try to settle the case outside of court. In fact, most personal injury cases are settled outside the court. To be exact, 96% of personal injury cases are settled outside the court.
An out-of-court settlement is quick and easy compared to a lawsuit process. The process of filing personal injury lawsuits is complicated, long, and tiring. Also, you may lose even after giving your best.
But the compensation you receive will be much more than the compensation you will receive in an out-of-court settlement.
A case goes to court only when the victim and the defendant cannot reach an agreement.
If you are going to file a lawsuit, you need to be aware of what to expect. Here are three things you can expect in a personal injury lawsuit:
- A lawsuit will have multiple phases
- A lawsuit process will be long
- The outcome of the process is unpredictable
A lawsuit will have multiple phases
A personal injury lawsuit will have multiple phases. Each phase is important and adds great value to the case. If you’re dealing with a more serious injury, then it’s also best to have a brain and spine injury attorney on your legal team. The following are the different phases of a personal injury lawsuit:
- Discovery phase: Both parties will exchange relevant information and documents to avoid surprises in the later stages.
- Jury selection: Juries decide the outcome of the case. Both sides will interview people and select 12 juries.
- Opening statements: The lawyers will present their opening statements to the jury.
- Witness testimony and cross-examination: Lawyers will produce their witnesses. The opposition will cross-examine the witnesses.
- Closing arguments: Both sides will end with a statement explaining why the jury should side with them.
- Settlement/Appeal: Depending on the jury’s decision, you will either get the settlement or appeal the jury’s decision.
A lawsuit process will be long
It may even take years to reach an outcome in a lawsuit process. The lawsuit will take forever to end, regardless of the quality of your lawyer.
A skilled lawyer can make the process a lot faster, but still, even that would be long.
The problem is that you cannot wait forever to get your compensation. You will have many bills pressuring you. You need to settle all those bills. So you need to get the compensation as soon as possible.
The outcome of the process is unpredictable
No one can predict the outcome of a lawsuit. Not even lawyers. A personal injury lawsuit is pretty volatile, and the final outcome of the case will be decided by the jury.
The 12 people have to be convinced that you deserve this compensation.
Even after doing everything perfectly, you may lose the case just because the jury says so.
You can appeal their decisions. But that is another long and tiring process.
Final Thoughts
A lawsuit process is long but a necessity in some cases. If your lawyer believes that going to court is the only way to get deserved compensation, then go for it. Never file a lawsuit without the help of a lawyer. Having a lawyer by your side is crucial. They know the lawsuit process well and can get you the compensation you deserve.
