Suffering from an injury is an experience no one wants. However, each year many people are injured while out in the world. It’s important that you know what to do when you’ve been injured. It is highly recommended that you seek the aid of an ADR service. These services will help to ensure you are prepared for all aspects of your personal injury case. You’ll want to have a base idea of the potential phases of a personal injury claim. In this post, you will learn how mediation services help you during each personal injury claim phase.
Initial Meetings: This first phase is great for both parties to collect information about one another. Be prepared to be asked many questions during initial meetings. An ADR service will ask these questions to know everything possible about your case. The more information you provide, the more opportunities to discover findings in your favor. This phase allows an ADR firm to discuss the process for going forward with your claim. In many cases, a personal injury litigation firm will use these meetings to give you an estimate of costs going forward.
Discovery Phase: Next, you’ll need to begin documenting everything that happened before, during, and after your injury, within reason. One of the benefits of litigating is that you are well prepared in case a claim goes to trial. An aspect of this phase is the written discovery portion. The written phase will have you answering questions about your injury on various forms. Questions will range from broad to extremely specific, it’s best to prepare accordingly. You will likely be asked to produce relevant documents pertaining to your injury including medical paperwork. Depositions are made during the discovery phase. A deposition is a type of sworn statement where someone gives their account of events rather than short, written answers.
Motions: There are several motions that can come up before a case goes to court. A motion to dismiss eliminates the case before it begins. A personal injury litigation team will do everything in their power to ensure a case is made for you. Part of what makes a case is that two parties are in disagreement with each other about something. If the facts of a personal injury event are agreed upon by both parties a trial is not needed. In this case, a summary judgment motion is what has ended the trial. A motion for default judgment happens when one party fails to answer claims made against them. It’s not likely those at fault for a personal injury will not show up but it has happened.
Settlement or Trial: This phase is dependent upon if you receive a settlement or not. Research shows in 1962 nearly 12 percent of civil cases went to federal court while this happens only one percent in modern times. Knowing that many modern personal injury cases are settled is comforting. However, you’ll still need to prepare your case extremely well with the end goal usually being receiving a settlement. If a case is strong enough in your favor, it’s likely you will receive a settlement. A case goes to trial when the defense feels they also have a case. Mock trials are a great way to prepare should a claim go to trial. A personal injury litigation team use mock trials as a sort of rehearsal.
In closing, personal injury litigation is a must if you’ve recently been hurt. The initial meetings with a litigation team are used to accurately collect information about your injury. It’s best to be as descriptive as possible during these meetings. Next, a litigation team will begin collecting information relevant to the discovery phase. This information is often obtained either through writing or an audio recording. Depositions that are given during the discovery phase are lengthier statements. Motions can happen almost any time during a trial. Motions are sometimes rare during a personal injury case but they can happen. You will either receive a settlement or the case will go to trail. Having a professional litigation team on your side helps to ensure you receive the best possible outcome.
