If you have a severe injury caused by someone else’s fault, filing a personal injury case would do you good. Sadly, most victims lack knowledge about the process–what to expect and how long it takes.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, out of 400000 personal injury cases annually, only 4% make it to court. It may seem overwhelming, but filing a personal injury claim is not as complicated. The straightforward process involves a demand letter, complaint, settlement, and trial.
What Is A Personal Injury Claim?
Apart from the process, knowing what a personal injury claim means is essential. This is the official process where the person with bodily injury claims financial compensation. The injury law compensates for the suffering caused by another person’s negligence.
Personal injury claims comprise numerous cases like car accidents, wrong medication, dog bites, cracked sidewalks, and tainted products.
Getting the Right Attorney for Bodily Injury Claims
As you start the process, it would be best to hire proven personal injury lawyers. Depending on the type of your case, you can go for the help of varied lawyer specialists like:
- Brain injury attorneys
- Pedestrian accident lawyers
- Dog bite injury lawyers
- Bodily injury claims
- Lawyers for car accidents
- Truck accident injury lawyers
Also, there are Washington personal injury lawyers who have remarkable success rates in several types of injury laws. So, your Washington truck accident injury lawyer can also double up as an attorney for car crashes.
Similarly, added to the strong legal representation in courts, pedestrian accident lawyers have legal teams that comprise people who used to work for insurance companies. and when filing a pedestrian accident case this means these experts know the ins and outs of how an insurance company works. Using this knowledge to your advantage, they can get you the claims you deserve. They ensure that the personal injury does not have detrimental effects on your future.
The Process of Handling Your Personal Injury
Go for Medical Treatment
Immediately after an injury, you should seek medical attention. While it helps in recovery, going to see a doctor also helps to know how severe the injury is.
If you don’t visit a doctor for examination, the jury and the insurance will view the injury as not severe. Hence, they’ll consider it as not warranting a claim.
Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer
As long as it’s not a minor claim, it’s best to hire a personal injury lawyer to handle your case. You need the expertise of a lawyer to win personal injury compensation for a significant injury or when the other person is fighting the key issues.
Suppose the unfortunate car crash has left you with a broken bone or lost employment. Then, talk to an attorney for car crash to know how you can manage your medical bills. Be specific and know the details to give the right information to your injury attorney.
Claim Investigation and Medical Records Review
First thing, your lawyer will interview you. The interview involves all details of the accident, medical reports, and the injuries incurred. Besides, no lawyer wants a surprise of events, so ensure you answer all questions correctly.
In the example of a car accident, attorneys for car crashes will review all the injury-related medical records and bills. If necessary, your lawyer can further get medical records of any other treatment you’ve had relating to the case.
Demand and Negotiation
Generally, lawyers settle small claims before filing for trial. If a settlement is possible, the lawyer makes a demand to the insurance company.
A good lawyer doesn’t rush to make a demand unless the plaintiff reaches Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). The MMI point occurs when the plaintiff is recovering after completing medical treatment.
This makes it easy for the lawyer to know how much they need to demand. Additionally, the lawyer waits until the MMI point before filing a lawsuit.
Otherwise, the jury will likely underestimate the case if the injured person is not at MMI. But the case will move to court if the settlement talks delay or don’t come to a mutual agreement.
Filing a Lawsuit
Filing a lawsuit is known as the litigation phase. This phase starts the process of when the case should have a hearing in court.
Each state has different pretrial procedures. Moreover, bear in mind that filing a lawsuit needs to be within stringent time limits according to the statute of limitations of every state.
The Discovery Phase
This is when each party probes the legal claims and defenses of the other. It involves sending questions and taking statements from witnesses and involved parties, starting with the plaintiff and defendant.
This entire process is subject to the court’s timelines and the intricacy of the case.
Mediation and Negotiation
After the discovery phase, the lawyers may start considering and discussing settlement. Commonly, lawyers can talk about settlement just among themselves after agreeing with their parties. But in other cases, mediation is necessary, where both lawyers ask a mediator to help resolve the case.
Trial
Typically, mediation works. But if it fails, the case goes for trial. A personal injury trial takes longer than a week or, if lucky, just a day. The length varies in different states because some only allow trials for half a day. Sometimes, judges push trials depending on their schedule.
So in case your trial moves, don’t jump to unfavorable conclusions involving your case. It’s common for trials to delay and often for mild reasons.
What’s more?
If you previously received and rejected an offer, the judge is likely to award a lower compensation than that offer. Still, you’ll be responsible for the other party’s costs from 21 days after receiving the offer.
But legal expense insurance comes in handy to help you handle this potential cost burden. Also, you may be accountable for your lawyer’s costs if they advise you to take the offer.
Because the whole process can be confusing, it’s crucial to talk to your lawyer to understand all the implications of offers. This way, you’ll understand all the risks of accepting or rejecting offers to make an informed decision.
Wrapping Up
Usually, the personal injury claims processes are similar. However, some cases have specific complicated factors that may steer the process differently.
Often, a personal injury case doesn’t reach the point of filing a lawsuit. It’s mostly resolved within personal injury compensation.
Better still, a lawyer for personal injury prepares a well-supported claim that increases the chances of the plaintiff getting a reasonable settlement.
