The Main Concepts in a Personal Injury Case
Introduction
No one personal injury lawsuit is exactly the same, however, the legal procedures are basically the same. In the legal industry, paralegals and attorneys use the verbiage, "fact pattern" to describe a case. For a personal injury case to exist, the fact pattern needs to have a person or persons to be injured in some way. This type of person(s) is known as the plaintiff. The plaintiff tries to seek legal redress from the party or parties that are liable for the injury. The person(s) responsible are known as the defendant. This article will explain the main phases of a personal injury lawsuit. The purpose of this article is to allow the plaintiff and the defendant to know what to expect. …show more content…
State and federal courts determine when they must be answered. Some of the many things the questions want to know are time and date of the incident, weather, property damage, and medical providers with their names, addresses and reports. Interrogatories are useful in clarifying any inconsistencies in the initial fact pattern.
Document requests are written requests by the plaintiff and defendant seeking formal permission from each other to obtain copies of records, and documents. In addition, document requests allow for meaningful evidence to be investigated and duplicated. This tool is useful because it will allow the plaintiff or the defendant to demand records.
Inspection of property and things this tool is useful because it allows the plaintiff or the defendant to gain access each other property or tangible items. For example, in an auto accident the plaintiff can have engineers do tests on the defendant's vehicle for new evidence. The results could possibly change the outcome of the …show more content…
This tool is useful because it can help the defendant petition for a summary judgment. A summary judgment is when the defendant can claim there is no merit to the case, therefore, have the case dismissed.
Depositions are oral questions that are directed at the plaintiff or the defendant. Depositions are taken by a court reporter who are usually a notary public. The deponent is under oath to answer the questions truthfully. The statements taken at the deposition can be used at trial.
Preparing for trial
The defense and plaintiff can negotiate a settlement at any time during the legal proceedings. If the litigants cannot agree on a settlement, then the parties will prepare for a trial. Based on the preponderance of the evidence the court will decide if the case is worthy of a trial. If so, jury selection will begin. Unlike a criminal trial, there 6 to 8 jurors that are chosen with 2 alternate jurors. In major litigation cases, usually million dollars and above, defense or plaintiff attorneys might use jury consultants to achieve the best possible
Introduction
No one personal injury lawsuit is exactly the same, however, the legal procedures are basically the same. In the legal industry, paralegals and attorneys use the verbiage, "fact pattern" to describe a case. For a personal injury case to exist, the fact pattern needs to have a person or persons to be injured in some way. This type of person(s) is known as the plaintiff. The plaintiff tries to seek legal redress from the party or parties that are liable for the injury. The person(s) responsible are known as the defendant. This article will explain the main phases of a personal injury lawsuit. The purpose of this article is to allow the plaintiff and the defendant to know what to expect. …show more content…
State and federal courts determine when they must be answered. Some of the many things the questions want to know are time and date of the incident, weather, property damage, and medical providers with their names, addresses and reports. Interrogatories are useful in clarifying any inconsistencies in the initial fact pattern.
Document requests are written requests by the plaintiff and defendant seeking formal permission from each other to obtain copies of records, and documents. In addition, document requests allow for meaningful evidence to be investigated and duplicated. This tool is useful because it will allow the plaintiff or the defendant to demand records.
Inspection of property and things this tool is useful because it allows the plaintiff or the defendant to gain access each other property or tangible items. For example, in an auto accident the plaintiff can have engineers do tests on the defendant's vehicle for new evidence. The results could possibly change the outcome of the …show more content…
This tool is useful because it can help the defendant petition for a summary judgment. A summary judgment is when the defendant can claim there is no merit to the case, therefore, have the case dismissed.
Depositions are oral questions that are directed at the plaintiff or the defendant. Depositions are taken by a court reporter who are usually a notary public. The deponent is under oath to answer the questions truthfully. The statements taken at the deposition can be used at trial.
Preparing for trial
The defense and plaintiff can negotiate a settlement at any time during the legal proceedings. If the litigants cannot agree on a settlement, then the parties will prepare for a trial. Based on the preponderance of the evidence the court will decide if the case is worthy of a trial. If so, jury selection will begin. Unlike a criminal trial, there 6 to 8 jurors that are chosen with 2 alternate jurors. In major litigation cases, usually million dollars and above, defense or plaintiff attorneys might use jury consultants to achieve the best possible