What Are The Processes Of Personal Injury Lawsuit?

If you are injured in an accident, then you must file for a personal injury claim for damages and if it is successful, you get enough compensation that will make a huge difference during the recovery period. For this, you need to hire the service of a personal injury lawyer who has a good understanding of the process of filing the claim. This is important as it increases the success of the claim as well as maximise the money that you receive for it. Shared below are the details of processes when you are injured in accident, read on to know more.

Seek Medical Help

The first thing that you must do is to get medical help as soon as possible even if the injury is not serious or severe. This is important because, first it will ensure that you get properly diagnosed and second your visit will be documented that proves you have been injured in the accident.

Gathering Evidence

Evidence plays a crucial role in personal injury claim lawsuits, and not gathering them as soon as possible will result in them being lost or forgotten over time. This will help in strengthening your side in the situation of an inquiry. So, take pictures of the scene, as well as write down your memories of the incident and this will be of great use in the future.

Report The Accident

You must always report the accident as soon as possible no matter what the other party says and the investigating authority will document the incident.

Find A Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured, then hiring an attorney will help to handle the situation as you would be overwhelmed. This will be useful as you can focus on the recovery and a professional will be handling your claim.

Be Aware Of The Statute Of Limitations

There is a time limitation by which you must file the claim for damages for the personal injury from an accident. Hiring a personal injury attorney soon after the incident will ensure that the claim is filed by them within the limited time frame stipulated by the state laws.

Compensation Demand

As a first step, the attorney will conduct a preliminary investigation to determine who is at fault for the incident. Based on this, he/she will send a letter to notify the defendant or their insurance company that you are looking forward to recovering damages. If they do not respond, then your attorney can create a legal claim for damages.

Filing Claim For Damages

Filing a claim is to notify the court that you are planning to recover compensation for damages from the defendant for the accident. This is based on the preliminary investigation report and in-depth legal research of your attorney.

Discovery

Once the defendant has responded to the claim, then it is the discovery phase where both sides or parties can examine evidence and information relevant to the lawsuit.

Settlement Negotiation

In the majority of cases the defendants will settle the injury case out of court and you must drop the lawsuit. Your personal injury lawyer can negotiate for the settlement money based on the evidence gathered in his preliminary investigation and research.

Trial

If the defendant refuses to negotiate, you can take the case to trial. But bear in mind that they are long and time consuming.

These are the processes of a personal injury claim for damages lawsuit in California.