After getting injured during an accident or slip or fall or medical malpractice, most people tend to interact with another party and try to establish liability. In most cases, none of them agrees on the same terms giving a rise to a heated situation. Filing a personal injury lawsuit with the help of a New Hampshire injury attorney is not easy, as it may seem. It is one of the biggest decisions of your life however; it is worth giving a shot. Some of the steps that are involved in a personal injury lawsuit are explained below:
Table of Contents
The plaintiff hires a personal injury attorney
After the person gets injured, he or she gets in touch with an attorney who has a specialization in this field. For instance, if you have been injured in medical malpractice, you should hire a medical malpractice attorney. The nature and extent of the injury can decide the type of the case. Depending on these factors, the attorney will be able to investigate the case and interview various parties involved.
Filing the complaint and serving the defendant
In the civil court, the lawyer will file the personal injury case against the defendant. It is the first document, in which every detail and allegation of the plaintiff is mentioned. After filing the complaint, the lawyer will have a month or so to locate the defendant and serve him the notice. It is important to deliver the documents physically to him so that he cannot claim that he was unaware of the lawsuit.
Defendant also hires an attorney
To fight the case, the defendant also needs to hire an attorney. If he has the insurance, he will get in touch with the insurance company, which will work with the lawyer and prepares the case.
Discovery phase
At this stage, the facts, evidence, documents, and witnesses are assessed and both sides will appear in front of the court. This stage may take longer than expected and sometimes, months and more than one year.
The trial phase
The trial will happen for several days in which the jury and judge will decide if the defendant is liable for the injury. The value of the claim is also determined in this phase.
Settlement in a personal injury case
It has been observed that most personal injury cases end up in settlement. Mostly, the settlement may happen before the trial and both parties may agree on common terms.
