How Does Personal Injury Lawsuit Work?
Phase One: A lawsuit
is initiated when a petition is filed in court against
the defendant by the plaintiff's attorney.
Phase Two: In the
discovery process, attorneys gather information that
will be used to support or dispute allegations of the
lawsuit.
Phase Three: If
the parties involved cannot agree on a negotiated settlement
before the appointed court date, the case proceeds
to trial.
PHASE ONE
The Petition.
A lawsuit is initiated when a petition is filed in
court against the defendant by the plaintiff's attorney.
The court numbers each case then issues a citation
to each party named as a defendant. The defendant is
served with a citation, a copy of the petition, and
is given a specified amount of time (usually 20 to
30 days) to file a formal response. The filing of a
lawsuit does not always lead to a trial. An estimated
90 percent of all personal injury claims are settled
out of court.
Attorneys are prevented by law from approaching anyone
in order to solicit business. "Barratry," which
is the legal term for the act more commonly known as "ambulance
chasing," is not only unethical, it is also illegal.
Barratry laws are designed to protect citizens from
unscrupulous legal practitioners, but the laws apply
to all licensed attorneys. The person approaching an
accident victim may not even be a lawyer, but someone
hired by the lawyer to solicit business in order to
avoid the barratry laws. This is still illegal.
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PHASE TWO
Discovery.
In the discovery process, attorneys gather information
that will be used to support or dispute allegations
of the lawsuit. Attorneys for both sides have equal
access to all information gathered during this phase.
Discovery can involve oral depositions and written
answers from witnesses, medical professionals, product
and liability experts, and other individuals who can
shed relevant light on the investigation. Each side
usually requests extensive written documentation ranging
from medical and personnel records to photographs and
product design specifications. Discovery often requires
thousands of hours logged by attorneys, paralegals,
private investigators, numerous other staff members,
and outside consultants.
After discovery, a settlement can often be reached.
This eliminates the third phase of a personal injury
lawsuit, during which the case is tried before a judge
and jury.
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PHASE THREE
The Trial.
If the parties involved cannot agree on a negotiated
settlement before the appointed court date, the case
proceeds to trial. The jury selection process then
begins, wherein members of the community are called
at random to appear in court as juror candidates. Attorneys
from both sides may question the potential jurors,
with the right to excuse those individuals who appear
to lack impartiality. When a jury is selected, the
actual trial can begin.
Without detailing the intricacies of courtroom procedure,
the process can be briefly summarized as follows: Attorneys
from both sides present opening statements to the jury
outlining the case and any supporting evidence that
will be presented. After the conclusion of opening
statements, the plaintiff's attorney proceeds by presenting
evidence to the court. Evidence is usually a combination
of oral witness testimony and physical evidence such
as documents, photographs, x-rays, and medical records.
The defense attorney then has the opportunity to present
evidence that disputes the plaintiff's claims. Finally,
each attorney delivers a closing argument to the jury
panel in a last attempt to influence the jurors in
favor of his or her client. After deliberating and
reaching a decision in secrecy, the jury presents its
verdict to the court. If the verdict is in favor of
the plaintiff, the jury also specifies a dollar amount
to be paid by the defendant.
The jury may award compensatory damages to restore
or "compensate for" the plaintiff's losses,
as well as separate punitive damages which are intended
to punish the defendant.
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Perry & Haas, the Allene Evans
Law Firm, and the Shackelford Law Firm, three independent
law firms practicing cooperatively.
The
Allene Evans Law Firm does not offer any guarantee of
case results.
Past success in litigation does not guarantee success in any new or future
lawsuit.
This website describes some of the cases that Allene Evans has worked on in the past. The description of those cases is summary in nature.
You should be aware that the results obtained in each of the cases we have
worked on was dependent on the particular facts of each case. The results of
other cases will differ based on the different facts involved.
