A personal injury lawyer in Houston, can help explain what to expect in a personal injury suit. The participation and commitment of the client is very important and can have a profound impact on the results of the case. Hector Chavana Jr. discusses the process in this article. You can call him at 713-979-2941. This article discusses:
- The Injury And Investigation
- Medical Treatments
- The Petition
- Discovery
- Mediation
- Trial
The Injury
In most cases, the injury is completely unexpected. The parties involved in car accidents, slip and fall cases and construction accidents have almost no warnings before that the injury happens. Once and injury happens, though, the first priority should be making sure you are safe. You should try to minimize or eliminate your exposure to further injury. If, and only if, you can do so safely, you should gather information about the situation or ask friends or family that are with you to do so. Take photos. Ask witnesses for names, addresses and phone numbers. Get insurance information and license plates. Sometimes, the other party will ask you for a statement, and you should always speak to an attorney before giving any sort of written or oral statement. The sooner you speak to an attorney, the sooner an attorney may be able to send professional investigators to the scene if it is warranted. In some cases, time is of the essence, and attorneys need to get investigators to the scene as soon as possible.
Medical Treatments
Medical treatments are an important part of any injury claim. It is extremely important that you attend each and every medical appointment. The defendant will often use missed medical appointments to show that you really weren’t that injured or that you harmed yourself by failing to accept medical treatments. Your failure to get consistent treatments can greatly affect the value of your case. A jury may have a hard time believing you suffered any pain if you do not follow up on your treatment timely. Additionally, the medical providers that most personal injury attorneys use are not “free doctors.” Instead, they defer billing until your attorney gets money from the defendant. If you are unable to recover money from the defendant, which could happen for different reasons, the client is technically responsible for the medical bills. The doctors could look to the client for payment. However, in my experience, such a situation is extremely rare. First, many doctors simply do not put serious efforts into collecting from personal injury clients that have lost a case or who find that the defendant was not insured. Second, I always review the cases, and I try to take only cases in which the client is likely to recover money for the medical treatments and pain and suffering.
The Petition
Generally, your attorney will decide when the best time is to file a lawsuit, which is most often called an original petition. At times, the attorney may want you to finish your treatment, or at least get a good feel for the severity of your injuries before a suit is filed. In Houston/Harris less serious injuries might be filed in the intermediate court called the civil court at law, whereas severe injuries may be filed in the district court. That decision is extremely important, and an attorney will generally need to understand the severity of your injuries before filing suit. Clients tend to think that filing suit quickly is the key to success, but choosing between the civil court at law and the district court could mean the difference between resolving your case in eighteen months and five years.
Discovery
Discovery is a process where the parties can gather information, and it starts soon after the petition is filed. The parties can demand documents from the other side like time logs, safety manuals and other important documents. The parties can also require witnesses to sit for a deposition, which is like the process of testifying in court, except it is usually done in an office. The testimony must be sworn, and the parties are legally obligated to tell the truth, just like in court.
Mediation
Mediation is a negotiation meeting. In Harris County, it is very common for the judge to require the parties to sit down in a mediation and try to work out a deal, before going to trial. Generally, the plaintiffs try to negotiate for a higher settlement and the defendant seeks to pay as little as possible. The mediator is a neutral party that tries to explain to both sides the weaknesses in their case, and almost all cases and parties have some sort of weakness. I pride myself on presenting my honest opinion about the case during mediation and never pushing my client to either accept or reject an offer in mediation. I try to clearly explain the risks and benefits of accepting an offer, and I respect the client’s decision about accepting or rejecting an offer.
The Trial
If mediation fails, and the parties cannot make an agreement, the parties will have to prepare for a trial, which normally happens many months or even years after mediation. In Harris County district courts, it is common to wait several years for a trial, whereas parties usually do not have to wait as long in the county court at law. The trial is normally your one and only chance to explain to a jury why you deserve the compensation you are seeking.
I hope this has helped explain the process of a personal injury suit. If you have been injured, and have further questions, please call attorney Hector Chavana Jr. at 713-979-2941.