Being one of the most sought after legal profession in any country personal injury lawyers are in high demand. If you think you need the services of a personal injury lawyer then you should be aware of the idea of making sure you need one and it makes financial sense. This assessment usually starts with the idea of determining the severity of the damage. This is an important point because if your insurance deductible is higher then the damage that is done then you will probably need to deal with your situation yourself. The most important thing is to make sure you really need a personal injury lawyer.
More Information About Selecting Personal Injury Lawyers
Being one of the most sought after legal profession in any country personal injury lawyers are in high demand. If you think you need the services of a personal injury lawyer then you should be aware of the idea of making sure you need one and it makes financial sense. This assessment usually starts with the idea of determining the severity of the damage. This is an important point because if your insurance deductible is higher then the damage that is done then you will probably need to deal with your situation yourself. The most important thing is to make sure you really need a personal injury lawyer.
Initial Things To Do
Before securing the services of a personal injury lawyer there are a number of questions that need to be answered. This list is not exhaustive by any means but includes the following:
- Is the injury serious?
- Permanent or temporary injury?
- Who is at fault in the injury?
- Is there an uninsured or insured motorist involved in the injury?
- Is there another responsible third party?
- Are you suffering and in pain?
- If you are currently suffering from pain has it affected friends and family?
- How much is your case worth?
- Could accepting a settlement offer be a good option?
These are just some of many very important questions that you should approach with your potential personal injury lawyer. You will want them to be able to answer these, and expect that they will ask you all of these, if not, then perhaps you need to look around.
In Summary
We have attempted to briefly cover some of the more important aspects that should be considered regarding hiring a lawyer in the injury law field. Initially this means ensuring your particular set of circumstances makes sense financially to involve legal representation and then being able to ask and get answers for the set of questions we have stated here. If you follow these activities you should be able to answer the question of determining if you need representation and then finding the right one.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Discovery and Trial in Auto Accident Case Litigation
Depending on the complexity of the case, the discovery phase can take many months or sometimes years. One of the first issues that will arise in the process will be what is called "discovery". Discovery is when the opposing side of are required to reveal all of the important facts of the case. When discovery is completed, and each side knows what evidence will be offered at trial, the parties may conduct additional settlement discussions. The Court will usually order mediation. In mediation, the parties hire a retired Judge or an experienced attorney who will assist the parties in reaching a settlement. Mediation can be voluntary or Court ordered and is nonbinding (unless a settlement is reached). A mediation session is also confidential. Anything that is said during the session cannot be used at trial. Many times mediation can be used to successfully resolve a case.
If you fail to settle the case after the discovery process has ended, the case will then proceed to trial. Each side has the option of trying the case before a Judge or Jury. A jury trial occurs in 99% of all personal injury cases that are tried. If a case is held before a Judge only it is called a "bench trial". A bench trial will take a lot less time because there will not be the need to select a jury. Also, with a bench trial the only one making a decision is the judge, not an entire jury panel.
A jury trial will take several days. All the evidence is presented to a jury of 12 people who will make the decisions as to what your case is worth. There will be times when the trial is anticipated to take several days more than 12 jurors will be selected. All of the jurors will hear all of the evidence and then right before deliberation the alternate(s) will randomly be selected and not deliberate. The process is complicated and will not resemble a T.V. trial. The phases of a trial include Voir Dire (jury selection), opening statements, the Plaintiff's case, Defendant's case, rebuttal, closing arguments, jury instructions and deliberations. Even if you are successful at this point and receive a plaintiff's verdict the case may not be over. The defendant can make a motion for a new trial and then appeal the case to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. This process can take years. Sometimes there is a legitimate issue. Other times the defendant hopes that rather than spending the time going through the appeals process the case will settle for less than the verdict amount.
If you fail to settle the case after the discovery process has ended, the case will then proceed to trial. Each side has the option of trying the case before a Judge or Jury. A jury trial occurs in 99% of all personal injury cases that are tried. If a case is held before a Judge only it is called a "bench trial". A bench trial will take a lot less time because there will not be the need to select a jury. Also, with a bench trial the only one making a decision is the judge, not an entire jury panel.
A jury trial will take several days. All the evidence is presented to a jury of 12 people who will make the decisions as to what your case is worth. There will be times when the trial is anticipated to take several days more than 12 jurors will be selected. All of the jurors will hear all of the evidence and then right before deliberation the alternate(s) will randomly be selected and not deliberate. The process is complicated and will not resemble a T.V. trial. The phases of a trial include Voir Dire (jury selection), opening statements, the Plaintiff's case, Defendant's case, rebuttal, closing arguments, jury instructions and deliberations. Even if you are successful at this point and receive a plaintiff's verdict the case may not be over. The defendant can make a motion for a new trial and then appeal the case to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. This process can take years. Sometimes there is a legitimate issue. Other times the defendant hopes that rather than spending the time going through the appeals process the case will settle for less than the verdict amount.
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