After we have been hired, we contact your doctor, employer and hospital, as applicable, to obtain records of your treatment, employment history and any lost wages. At the same time, we investigate your accident by contacting the police, if they were involved at the time of the accident, any witnesses to the accident and other sources of possible information. We will obtain your insurance information to ascertain your insurance coverage and, if necessary, contact them to protect your legal rights.
Depending on the type of accident in which you are involved, we also obtain photographs of the accident scene, damage to the vehicles, the condition of any products or equipment involved and the injuries suffered. If your accident involves a motor vehicle, we will help you obtain and file your no-fault claim application and submit your hospital and medical bills and lost wage claim documentation. We will additionally help you prepare the written accident report that must be filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles, if you haven't already done so.
Contacting Insurance Company
We then contact the defendant and/or the defendant's insurance company, if we know which insurance company is involved, to let them know that we represent you. We provide the insurance company with your hospital and medical records and salary and attendance records, if lost wages are claimed, as well as other information concerning your legal claims against their insured.
Our initial efforts are always aimed towards settling your case with the defendant's insurance company without litigation. We afford the insurance company a reasonable period of time to gather the necessary verification of your injuries from the doctors and employers, and to perform their own investigation of the accident. Unfortunately, many insurance companies take an excessive amount of time in which to perform their investigation and refuse to offer fair and reasonable compensation for the injuries, damages and losses suffered.
The Complaint
If the insurance company fails to timely respond or advises us that they disagree with either who was at fault for the accident or the amount of money necessary to compensate you for your injuries, we may be unable to settle your case without taking further steps. This does not mean that the case will have to be tried before a jury; it merely means that a fair settlement could not be reached prior to litigation. Although we may have to commence a lawsuit against the person(s) and/or entity responsible for your injuries to get the appropriate attention from the insurance company, the majority of cases do get settled at some point before trial.
In order to commence a lawsuit we prepare a Summons and Complaint which is filed with the appropriate court and served upon the defendant. A Summons is a legal document which notifies the defendant that someone is making a legal claim against them. The Complaint sets out in general terms the legal basis of your claim, how, where and when the accident happened, who was involved and what are your claimed injuries.
Bill of Particulars
The attorney for the defendant's insurance company then responds to the Complaint by serving an Answer, which may admit that the accident happened, but usually denies that it was the defendant's fault. At the same time, the defense attorney demands that we serve detailed information indicating how the accident happened, the extent of your injuries and damages and our theory of liability. This is called a Demand for a Bill of Particulars.
The document we provide in response is called a Bill of Particulars. The information that we provide in the Bill of Particulars is obtained from the information you give us, our own investigation, the police report, employment records, lost wage verification and medical records and reports we receive from your doctors and hospitals. In most cases, it will require some time to obtain the necessary records to respond to the Demand for a Bill of Particulars.
Discovery
Our office in turn serves "demands" for certain information upon the defendant(s) and they serve similar demands upon us. This process of exchanging detailed information is known as "discovery". We exchange information such as photographs, names and addresses of witnesses, statements obtained of each other's clients, surveillance films and photographs, insurance coverage information and relevant documents.
Depositions
After the Bill of Particulars is completed and other discovery demands are served and responded to, we may hold what are called "depositions". Depositions are more formal exchanges, usually held at one of the attorney's offices, at which time we question the defendant on your behalf and you are questioned by the defendant's representative.
If there is going to be a deposition held in your case, we will notify you well in advance of the date on which it is scheduled. We will also spend time with you going over in more detail exactly what you can expect. Depositions are often adjourned due to the unavailability of some of the participants involved. If there are too many adjournments sought by the defense attorneys we can make an application, called a motion, to the court to compel the defendant to move forward at a reasonable pace.
Physical Examinations
In addition, the defendant's lawyer and/or his insurance company will usually have you examined by one or more physicians. After performing the exam, the doctor will write a report and testify, if required, for the defense. Unlike many other law firms, we will accompany you to all medical and physical examinations to observe the proceedings and protect your legal rights. After the examination is completed, we will receive a copy of the examiner's report.
Experts
We also pride ourselves on our ability to work with the most qualified medical, liability, economic and other experts, if and when it becomes necessary, to assist with the prosecution of your personal injury lawsuit.
Placing Case on the Calendar
After all of the permissible documents are exchanged and depositions and physical examinations are held, your case will be placed on the Court Calendar. After that happens, the Court usually schedules several conferences with all of the attorneys in an effort to determine what, if anything, further needs to be done and whether or not the case can be settled prior to trial. Sometimes the Court will urge that the parties consider binding arbitration in lieu of proceeding to trial, as it can expedite the resolution of a case, as well as reduce the ultimate cost of a full jury trial.
An arbitration is typically held before a panel of three highly experienced personal injury attorneys, one selected by each side and the third, referred to as a "neutral", who either the two arbitrators select or both parties must agree to use. Once the arbitrators are selected, each party sends the arbitrators an arbitration statement, basically outlining the strengths of their case and weaknesses of their opponent's case. In addition, the parties often provide evidence, such as police reports, hospital and medical records, photographs, expert's reports and affidavits and transcripts of depositions taken of the parties and/or witnesses, on which they rely in support of their position. The arbitrators listen to both sides of the dispute. After both sides are done presenting their case, the arbitrators deliberate and within a few days render their decision or award. The decision is final and cannot be appealed.
If arbitration is not appropriate or the parties do not agree to arbitrate and the case cannot be resolved after Court conferences, the case must await its turn for trial.
If it becomes necessary to try your case, it may take a year or more from the time it is placed on the Court Trial Calendar until the Court is available to hear the case. Fortunately, most cases are settled before trial or at the time of trial. Please understand that even if we wanted to do so, the Court will not permit us to place the case on the Court Trial Calendar until the depositions are completed and all other discovery is finished.
Motions
While the action is awaiting trial conferences, if appropriate we try to get an advance ruling from the Court on the issue of liability. The way we do that is to make a motion for summary judgment to the Court. If we are successful on the liability motion, it gives us several advantages. First, we can collect interest on the amount of any ultimate judgment for damages retroactively back to the date we were successful on the motion. Second, this action usually forces defense counsel and the insurance company to pay careful attention to their file in advance of trial and, in so doing, it is our hope to convince them that the case should be settled before trial.
If we are unsuccessful on a summary judgment motion it would typically be based on a question of fact raised by defense counsel. Under this circumstance, the Court allows the case to go to trial so that the facts can be properly determined by a jury.
How Long Does It Take?
How long it will take to resolve your case depends on various factors, such as how clear liability is as to the accident itself, the extent of your injuries, the degree of support provided by your physicians that the accident caused your injuries, whether the insurance company questions who was at fault in the accident, which insurance company is involved, which attorney was hired by the insurance company and many other factors.
Please be assured that we are extremely thorough in the way we investigate and handle your case. We make every effort to proceed carefully and with great attention to detail, obtaining the necessary evidence and documents to support your case, even though we hope to be able to settle it well in advance of trial. We do this so we will be ready to proceed to trial, if necessary, should the involved insurance company act in an unreasonable way.
This process takes place in all of the personal injury cases we handle at our law firm so we are used to the delays and tactics of the insurance companies and defense counsel. We realize, however, that for you, our client, the process may appear confusing and protracted. That is why we are here for you every step of the way, to answer your questions, ease your mind and explain as often as necessary what you can expect. We understand and share your desire to resolve the case promptly, for the greatest amount possible, to fairly and fully compensate you for your injuries.
It is our job to help you rebuild your life to the fullest extent possible. Your job is to heal and recover from the injuries you have suffered.
