Choosing your law firm is the first step in pursuing a personal injury cause of action. In order to select a personal injury lawyer that is right for you, you need to find out what experience the prospective legal professional has handling cases that are factually similar to your injury situation.
When the time comes to meet with your attorney, you will be asked many detailed questions about the facts, and details surrounding your injury. You may be asked about what certain individuals said. You may be asked several medical questions. These questions are the attorney’s way of finding out about your likelihood in recovering money damages for your injury. An experienced personal injury lawyer will be able to make a fairly good estimation on both your chances of success and the amount to which you may be entitled. However, different attorneys may draw different opinions about your case’s prospects.
Timing is essential to personal injury legal causes of action. The time that someone has to legally recover for injuries is not that long. This limitation is usually articulated in your state’s legislative code or statutory law. This time period varies greatly depending on which state’s law applies to your case and the nature of the circumstances giving rise to your case. This issue should be addressed with your personal injury lawyer from the very beginning so you are both on the same page about the critical deadlines surrounding your case.
The first step to actually getting your personal injury lawsuit going, is usually the filing the filing of the complaint. The complaint is the legal document that notifies the court and the other parties that you are claiming damages do to the fault of someone else. Generally, filing of the complaint requires that a fee be paid to the court. The complaint must also be served to the other parties to the case. This means that the other parties must be properly notified that you have filed a lawsuit against them. Proper service is outlined in your court’s local rules and will be handled by your law firm.
Once the defendants have been put on notice of the lawsuit against them, they are given an opportunity to respond to the allegations made by the plaintiff in the complaint. The common responses to a complaint are an “Answer” and a “Motion To Dismiss” or “Motion For Summary Disposition”. Once the defendant has answered the complaint, and assuming that any motions for dismissal have been denied, the case moves into the discovery portion of the litigation. This is the time where the parties request an exchange of documents, and other evidence that may be used at the time of trial.
During and following discovery, the parties may begin discussing resolving the case through a settlement agreement. A settlement agreement usually involves the defendant paying the plaintiff a certain sum of money in exchange for the plaintiff’s dropping of the lawsuit. Generally, most personal injury cases are resolved through some form of settlement. However, if the parties cannot reach a settlement, the case continues to the trial phase. At trial both parties present their cases and the matter is resolved by a judge or a jury.
If you have been traumatically injured by the negligence of health care professionals: doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, pharmacists or others in Washington DC you need to talk to an knowledgeable DC injury lawyer now. A DC injury lawyer who handles serious injury cases can tell you your options.
