Common Steps of a Personal Injury Case

The process of pursuing compensation after another's negligence causes you injury can seem daunting. The more educated you are in the process, the less stressful and daunting the process can be. Although not all of these steps will apply to all cases, this outline of what could happen will be helpful to understand the general order of your case.

1. Accident or Injury Occurs
2. Seek Medical Attention
3. Consult an Attorney
4. Attorney investigates Claim and Medical Records
5. File an Insurance Claim or Demand a Settlement
6. Lawsuit is Filed
7. Discovery
8. Mediation and/or Arbitration
9. Trial

1. Accident or Injury Occurs

Nobody ever expects an accident or injury to occur. Even if you are conscious of the dangers around you, when an injury happens, it is still unexpected. At least, it can be frustrating and stressful. At worst, it can be permanently debilitating or deadly.

 

2. Seek Medical Attention

After you are involved in an automobile accident or injury, seek medical attention as soon as possible. 

Even if you do not think you are injured, you should still be seen by a medical professional right away. This is for two reasons. First, you may have an injury that you cannot see or feel at first. For example, an EMT may notice that you have signs of a concussion or whiplash. Second, in the event you start to feel pain later—which is quite likely—you will have proof that you saw a doctor right away. Insurance companies can often use a situation in which someone denies treatment at first against them as a supposed sign “they weren’t really injured.” 

3. Consult an Attorney

Some may think that this step seems to come a little early in the time line and that perhaps, you should wait to see what the insurance company will offer or wait for a diagnosis before you seek the advice of a legal professional. This is not the case; and for a simple reason: attorneys will not take cases that do not need an attorney. 

You have nothing to lose by reaching out to an attorney after an injury. At best, they help you get a settlement that is much greater than what an insurance company would give you on your own. At worst, you use the free consultation to get some much needed advice.

When you meet with an attorney, they can assess if you have a workable case and determine the best course of action for you, with them or without them. 

4. Investigates Claim and Medical Records

Once you hire an attorney, they will begin to investigate the claim and review your case.

The first thing that your attorney will do is thoroughly interview you. They will want to know how the accident happened, information about your background, and any medical conditions you had before and after the incident. They will also need to know any and all places you received medical treatment for your injury. All the information gathered will be quite thorough.

This process is often done by someone called an Intake Specialist. Some of the information may be personal and some may seem irrelevant, but there is a reason for every question. Most importantly, an attorney needs to be ready for anything and do their best to avoid any surprises later. If you were injured in the past, tell your attorney. If you have large debts, tell your attorney. Clients and attorneys should be as honest with each other as possible. 

Next, the lawyer will begin to collect all of your medical records and bills relating to the injury. This will include any doctors you saw, what they said, their treatment recommendations, medicines, etc. This too will be thorough. Sometimes this can take a long time, depending on your treatment. The process will take time. 

5. File an Insurance Claim or Demand a Settlement

In auto accidents, first, a claim will be filed with the at-fault driver’s insurance company before an actual lawsuit is filed. A minimal amount of car insurance coverage is required in most states. If the injury was not caused by an auto accident, your attorney will look into who was at-fault and begin a claim with their insurance. 

In slip-and-falls, this may be the store’s liability insurance carrier. In cases of medical malpractice, it may be with the hospital’s liability insurance carrier. After filing a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company, they will assign a claims adjuster to investigate the case and negotiate a settlement. If an insurance company is not involved, a demand letter can be sent to the other party mandating a settlement for the injuries sustained. A demand letter lays out what the damages are, what compensation is expected, and why. 

If your claim involves a claim of permanent disability or impairment, a good lawyer will not settle it before filing suit. They will also not make a demand until the plaintiff has reached what is called a point of maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI is when the plaintiff has ended their medical treatment and is as recovered as they are going to get. This is to ensure that you will get the maximum value of your case. You wouldn’t want to settle your case, then find you need surgery a month later, which was not covered in the original amount. Once settled, a plaintiff cannot ask for more money.

6. Filing a Lawsuit

If a settlement with the insurance company cannot be reached—most likely because they will not pay what the case is worth—it is time to file a lawsuit. 

 

When a lawsuit is filed, a formal complaint on your behalf is submitted to the county circuit court where your injury occurred. The court will then have the other party served with the paperwork. The other party will then have a limited amount of time to formally file an answer to the complaint, and also file any counterclaims they may have. If a counterclaim is filed, then your attorney will respond to the counterclaim on your behalf.

7. Discovery

Discovery is the process in which each party investigates what the other party’s legal claims and defenses are. Each side submits requests for interrogatories and any document they may need that the other has. At this point, each side will take depositions of all of the relevant witnesses in the case, including yourself (the plaintiff) and the at-fault party (the defendant). 

At the deposition, the opposing attorney will ask a series of questions, recorded under oath, to the person being deposed. The interrogation is recorded by an official court reporter, either by audio or by video. Testimony given at depositions is important for counsels to ensure that there will be no surprises in court. It also gives them the opportunity to get an official account of the other party’s side of the story. 

8. Mediation and/or Arbitration

Once all or most of the information from discovery has been collected, both sides’ lawyers will generally start trying to reach a settlement again. 

At this point, a process called mediation will most likely be attempted. Mediation is a process in which the clients and the lawyers meet with a both-party-approved mediator to help them reach an agreeable settlement. If a settlement is not reached, than the lawsuit will continue or the attorneys will decide to go to arbitration.

Sometimes, a court may require that a case go to arbitration instead of to actual court. This may happen if the judge thinks a reasonable settlement is within reach. Other times, it may be voluntary. 

9. Trial

Finally, if a settlement cannot be reached using all the above options, the case will go to trial. 

Personal injury trials can vary in length. At the trial, all the information that has been gathered through discovery (physical evidence, interrogatories, depositions, photos, witnesses, etc.) will all be presented to a jury for them to decide on the settlement amount. Trials are unpredictable, but they are capable of getting clients the compensation they deserve for someone else’s negligence. 

Again, not all of these steps will apply to all cases, this is a generic timeline of what could occur throughout personal injury cases. 

If you or a loved one has been injured and you are considering contacting an attorney, please, call our experienced injury attorneys today for your free consultation at 1-800-444-5309 or visit PisanchynLawFirm.com.