When you file a lawsuit in a personal injury case, it usually takes a year to 2 years to get a trial. Frequently Courts reschedule trials because a Court’s criminal docket always takes precedence over their civil docket.
Once the lawsuit is filed, the negligent driver has 28 days from the day he or she is served to file an answer to a client’s Complaint.
After the Answer is filed, it typically takes 2 to 3 months to complete a written discovery that includes questions that attorneys call Interrogatories and complete the exchange of documents involved in a personal injury case that lawyers call a Request for Production of Documents.
We spend a lot of time helping our client’s answer the Interrogatories or questions that include questions about the accident, witnesses, and all of our client’s injuries and treatment. We send questions that ask the negligent driver about how the accident occurred, the witnesses that the negligent driver will provide at trial and questions relating to all of the Defendant’s defences raised in a case. We also spend a lot of time requesting documents from the negligent driver that includes all of the insurance policies, and all of the documentation relating to the accident. The negligent driver also requests documentation from our clients that include the accident report, medical records, all of the billing information and all other damage documentation.
After the written discovery is completed after 2 to 3 months, we schedule the sworn testimony of the negligent driver and all witnesses involved. The negligent driver schedules our client’s sworn testimony. The sworn testimony of our client and the negligent driver is one of the most important stages in the litigation. We spend a lot of time preparing for the negligent driver’s sworn testimony. We also spend a lot of time preparing our clients. Most of our clients have never been through the sworn testimony. We spend a lot of time guiding our clients about the types of questions that we anticipate the negligent driver’s attorney will ask our clients and provide our clients with guidance on the most important things that they have to talk about relating to their accident, injuries and treatment.
After completing the sworn testimony, we always mediate our cases. A skilled Mediator helps the Parties and facilitates negotiations.
In the event our case does not settle at the Mediation, we aggressively prepare for trial. We spend a lot of time educating our clients on the witnesses we will use, the evidence we will put on, the necessary exhibits that we will submit to the jury, and how much compensation we are going to ask from the jury.
