jlcwebtech November 10, 2022

7 min read

Being seriously injured in an accident can really turn your whole life upside down. Most of us are used to being able to take care of ourselves and our family on a day to day basis. We work to pay our bills, we raise our children the best we can, and enjoy the time we get to spend with our loved ones.

Then suddenly, and out of nowhere everything changes. It could be a rear end accident out on the road, a slip and fall at the hardware store or even a workplace accident. Depending on the seriousness of your injury, the ramifications of that one instance could last a lifetime. The long-term consequences of a permanent disability can be hard to understand at the time of diagnosis. The impact of the disability on not only your ability to earn a living, but also on your ability to enjoy time with your friends and family can be difficult to comprehend at the time.

It is for these and other reasons that after an injury causing accident, hiring a competent and experienced personal injury lawyer is crucial. Outside of the obvious, a good injury lawyer will take over in all aspects of your case, so that you can focus on recovering from the physical and emotional trauma that the accident has caused.

Before we look at the reasons why it would be a good idea to take an injury case all the way to trial, lets take a quick look as the steps that would lead up to a trial.

The Pre-litigation Phase

Before any kind of papers are filed with the court, (litigation) your lawyer will compile all the evidence available regarding the incident leading up to your injury. This evidence will consist of police reports and witness statements, video recordings of the incident along with all of the hospital and doctor’s bills that have been issued.

After all of the available evidence has been gathered your lawyer will draft a letter to the insurance agency of the liable party, and include all of the evidence. This letter will clearly show that it was the insured that is fully liable for your injuries, as well as a detailed accounting of just how much money the injury has cost, along with a demand for additional compensation for pain and suffering and other conditions.

At this point your lawyer and the insurance agency will begin to negotiate. This negotiation is a chess match between the two parties, with the chess pieces the evidence for or against both you and them. In most instances this will be as far as the personal injury case will go. Your lawyer will be able to use the threat of suing, as leverage to get you a fair settlement for your injuries.

However, there are some situations that may cause the insurance agency to negotiate in bad faith, or even refuse to offer a settlement at all. This is when your lawyer will need to file a formal complaint in court.

Litigation in Injury Cases

When your injury lawyer files a complaint for damages in court, that gives the court and the insurance agency formal notice that you are seeking compensation. Filing and serving of the complaint opens your injury case, naming you the “Plaintiff” and the insurance agency, and often the insured, as “Defendants.” (Complaint, n.d.)

After the complaint has been filed and served, the defendants must reply, and will often include a counterclaim, that opens their own complaint for damages. After this, either side will begin filing motions and pleadings, some of which will require a court appearance.

How the judge rules on these motions and pleadings will greatly influence your negotiation power during the litigation phase of your case. For instance, if the defendant files a motion to have a video of you drinking beer at a bar right before the accident admitted into evidence, and your lawyer files an opposition due to a violation of civil procedure, how the judge rules on that motion will greatly influence your case. If that video is shown to a jury during trial, you could very well lose your case. The ruling on this motion would also greatly influence your lawyers negotiating power as far as a settlement goes.

Personal Injury Case Trial

A personal injury case trial is extremely expensive and time consuming. The legal fees alone for a trial are so expensive, it is rarely in the best interests of either the plaintiff or the defendant to take a case this far. That is why the majority of injury cases will settle. However, that is not to say that injury cases never go all the way.

There are several reasons why an injury case will go to trial. Often, the choice to take the case to trial will rest solely on the shoulders of your lawyer. If your attorney advises that you settle your case due to a reasonable offer, it will surely be in your best interest to take the money. If your lawyer advises you to take the case to trial, chances are it is for one of the following reasons:

The evidence in your case is overwhelmingly in your favor, your lawyer thinks a trial is in your best interest.The insurance agency refuses to set a legal precedent by offering a settlement.The insurance agency is refusing to negotiate in good faith and offer a fair settlement for your injuries.Both you and your lawyer agree that the defendant should be publicly held responsible for their actions leading to the injury.

In the law, there are no guarantees. Any personal injury lawyer worth their salt would never promise you a victory at trial. Even if all the evidence is on your side, and victory seems assured, anything can happen at trial. If your lawyer promises that you will absolutely win at trial, it would be best to be wary. That being said, if your attorney believes a trial is in your best interest, it is likely they are relying on their years of experience practicing personal injury law.