When people hear about personal injury lawsuits, they often are amazed at how much money claimants get awarded. The cases in court can drag out, but in many situations, it’s the only way to make sure that the victims of a terrible accident can get their lives together.
Of course, you can’t just show up to a courthouse and demand money. There’s a process that needs to be done in order to get a claim. Though you can file a claim yourself, it’s generally not a wise idea. The better option is always to hire a personal injury lawyer who has experience in your particular type of case.
If you are going to be going through a personal injury law firm, you should expect to go through these steps in order to get a claim.
- The first thing that you will need to do is find a good personal injury law firm and book a consultation.
To start getting your claim, you will need to ask for consultations with at least one or two law firms. A consultation is basically an interview for a lawyer. To find a good lawyer, you might need to consult with multiple firms.
This is the time when you get to explain the injury to your potential personal injury attorney. Your attorney will listen to what happened and tell you whether or not he would be open to representing you in court—or if you even have a viable case. It’s also a time that you get to determine which lawyer you feel most comfortable handling your case.
Once you find a good lawyer, hire him to represent you for your case. Congrats! You started your path towards a personal injury claim.
- Next, you will have an investigation of your case.
Before you can file a personal injury claim, you will need to have your case investigated. This will include learning about the incident’s details, getting eyewitness testimony, examining medical records, and compiling bills.
Your personal injury attorney will be the one who will be in charge of the investigation. They will take time to uncover every possible scrap of evidence they can find to support the claim that you’re building for court. Your lawyer will keep you informed of the investigation as well as any issues that may arise.
- You will then put together a demand package.
After your lawyer puts together a case, you will put together a demand package. This is a package that asks the potential defendant for compensation for the injury. The package will include a list of grievances, a demand letter, plus a brief outline of the case.
Once the opposing party gets the case, they can either agree to pay off the damages, come up with a counter-offer, or reject it. If you can’t negotiate a settlement, then you will need to file a claim and appear in court.
- If no agreement can be made, your lawyer will work with you to file a claim.
The filing procedure will be quick after the demand letter has been issued out. At this point, a trial date will be set.
- After the claim has been filed, your lawyer (and the defendant’s lawyer) will enter a discovery phase.
This is a phase where your lawyers will work to compile evidence that supports both sides of the argument. This gives lawyers a better idea of chances in court, and also helps add further detail to the case’s presentation.
During this phase, your lawyers will put together arguments for the trial.
- Prior to the trial, you and your personal injury lawyer may be asked to go through a mediation session.
Your judge may decide to try to avoid a trial by offering a mediation session where both parties can try to work things out with a judge present. The things that are said in mediation can have a lasting impact on your case, so it’s important to listen to what your personal injury attorney advises you to do.
- Go to the trial.
If mediation still fails, the only way you’ll be able to get a personal injury claim settlement is to go to court and win the trial. Thankfully, having a good attorney will be able to help you through this aspect of your battle too.
