22 Feb How To File A Personal Injury Lawsuit

Tips for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Filing a personal injury lawsuit begins by filing a complaint with the court and serving it to all the people you intend to sue. You should not file your case until you have researched your injuries, damages, and rights to compensation thoroughly and checked local laws and state deadlines. Professional legal help is always available for those who need it.

How do you file a personal injury lawsuit? People are not expected to file personal injury lawsuits on their own. Before filing a complaint, you should be sure that there is evidence of the defendant’s negligence or wrongdoing, and that your injuries – both current and future – were caused by the defendant’s actions. Then you need to determine who the defendant is. You may already know his name, but if you don’t, you will have to do some research.

After hiring a lawyer, he will be able to help you file your complaint with the court. The court requires that the papers be filled out completely and correctly. After filing the case in court, the plaintiff must serve the defendant with a copy of the complaint. This is done by using affidavits or attaching copies to regular mail sent certified, registered, or express.

Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit With An Attorney

When filing a personal injury lawsuit, there are many formalities involved that are best left to an attorney who knows how to handle personal injury cases.

You should start your research early, so you have plenty of time to file your case correctly. If you need help, contact a law office that specializes in personal injury lawsuits.

Filing a lawsuit is not something that should be done by an amateur. Take your time and find a lawyer who can help you with your case, whether it’s filing the paperwork for you or appearing in court with you.

First, Find An Attorney

Now that you know what to do, you need to find an attorney who can help represent you in court and file your personal injury lawsuit. If possible, choose someone with experience in the specific area of law that pertains to your case.

A medical malpractice attorney will be able to represent you in a medical malpractice case, but not if your injury was the result of negligence at work.

A personal injury attorney will do the following things for you:

1. Put together all of your information and evidence into a compelling case that proves that they were negligent and caused your injuries. Your attorney will also work to prove that this negligence resulted in damages to you, such as medical bills and lost income.
2. Handle all of the bureaucratic negotiations with the insurance company. If you don’t have an attorney then your only option is to negotiate directly with the defendant or their insurance company by yourself, which can be difficult and lead to unsatisfactory results. Even if an offer is made, they are under no obligation to accept it.
3. Litigate in court if necessary.

Do Not File The Lawsuit Yourself

The court also requires that copies of all papers be served on all other parties concerned. For example, if there are three defendants named in the suit, each defendant must receive a copy of the papers as it is filed and served on him by law.

If you try to serve yourself, the court could reject your complaint for improperly filing your personal injury lawsuit.

Steps And Procedures

Are you prepared to file a personal injury lawsuit if you have suffered an injury as a result of someone else’s negligence? There are many steps and procedures that you must follow to ensure that your legal rights are protected.

You need to understand the basic premise behind filing a personal injury claim. This will help you make educated decisions about how best to move forward with your claim.

1. Put Yourself First

If you have been injured in an accident, the last thing on your mind will likely be how to file a personal injury lawsuit. You are usually too distracted by physical pain and emotional distress to think about filing a lawsuit.

However, one of the most important parts of successfully filing your case is to begin gathering the necessary documentation, evidence, and information as soon as possible.

You will most likely be dealing with the insurance company that represents the person who injured you.

They might offer you an ungenerous amount to settle your claim quickly, to cut their losses. This often happens when the person at fault does not have a lot of money or if they fear that your claim will result in their company paying more than they are capable of doing.

For this reason, you should begin taking information and documenting details immediately.

Report the Accident to Insurance

To file a personal injury lawsuit, you will need to determine if you have a case. The first thing you should do as soon as possible after the accident reports it to your insurance company and write down everything that happened as soon as possible.

For your claim to be valid, it must have been caused by someone else’s negligence or carelessness. You may also have a case if you were harmed by defective products, provided that the defect was the direct cause of your injuries.

2. Filing Personal Injury Lawsuit Paperwork

There are four different types of papers that must be filed whenever you go through any legal course of action, including filing a personal injury lawsuit.

They are Summons, Complaint, Jury Demand, and Proposed Order of Dismissal.  These papers serve different purposes but they all must be filed to proceed with the court case.

Before filing any paperwork, you should read over your state’s version of the rules of civil procedure and determine the correct procedures to follow.  This information is usually found in Chapter 6 of your state’s code of civil procedure.

Papers that are filed with the court must be served on all defendants involved with the case.  Before filing anything, you should make copies of all documents and have them certified by a notary public.

Documents that must be filed include The Summons, Complaint, and Proposed Order of Dismissal.  The summons contains the date, time, and location of your first court hearing.

3. Serving Personal Injury Lawsuit Papers

All documents filed with a court must be served on all defendants involved in the case.  This means that the court paperwork must be served on all defendants in order for you to move forward.

Service of process is a procedure by which parties involved with a lawsuit are notified of any legal actions filed against them.

There are two different methods of service, depending on your state’s rules of civil procedure.  If you live in a state that follows the rule of substituted service, you can serve the paper by mail.

This is done by sending all papers to the defendant via certified mail and posting copies on their front door and mailing them to their home address.

If your state follows the rule of personal or actual service, you must have a specific person and place to serve the papers.

This requires you or someone working for you to hand-deliver all paperwork to the defendant in person, either by giving it directly to the defendant or placing it on their front door.

Once your state’s rules of civil procedure have been followed correctly, you are allowed to move forward with filing your personal injury lawsuit.  If you have any concerns, consult your state’s code of civil procedure or speak with a personal injury attorney.

Personal Injury Lawsuit Tips

If you are hurt in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence and want to file a personal injury lawsuit, keep the following tips in mind.

Make Sure You Are Injured

There is at least one exception to every rule, and this may be the exception to “immediately begin gathering information and documentation”. There is no need to file a claim if you were not injured.

You cannot pursue legal action against someone who damaged your car, even if the accident was completely their fault if you weren’t hurt in some way.

This does not mean that you will not be able to get compensated for your damages. It just means that the court will not hear your case. They cannot make someone pay for damage to your car if you were never hurt.

File A Police Report

In the event that you were injured in a motor vehicle accident, it is important that you file an official police report right away. This report must list all of the parties involved and detail the events surrounding the accident.

If you are not sure how to do this, you will need to work with your local police department. They should be able to provide you with all of the information that is necessary for filing an official police report.

Prepare To Prove Liability

When you file a personal injury lawsuit, it must be proven that the other party acted negligently and as a result of their negligence, you were injured as well as having incurred damages. This means that you must be able to show that there is a direct link between the negligent act and your injuries.

For example, if someone rear-ended your car, resulting in damage to your vehicle but no personal injury, then you will need to prepare to prove that the accident would not have occurred if the other driver had been paying attention.

Gathering Evidence

If you were injured in an auto accident, it is very likely that you already have medical records, documentation, and bills related to your injuries and treatment. You should gather this information and present it to your attorney so that they can help you build a case.

You should also be prepared to have your car inspected for damage if it is possible to do so without significantly delaying the repairs. Be sure to save any documentation, photos, or video evidence of the scene of the accident. This will help prove liability.

Ready To Go

The more you prepare for your personal injury lawsuit, the better chance you will have of winning. Don’t hesitate to speak with your attorney about any questions or concerns.

If you are injured in an accident and would like to file a claim but do not know how, contact our legal team today. Our attorneys can help you get started filing a claim that you deserve.