Personal injury claims that result from a car accident go through a number of steps that are worth discussing. After a car accident that leads to an injury claim, you may be wondering if you should hire a personal injury lawyer but you are hesitating due to the unknown. You are not sure what the steps would entail or what you can expect in terms of duration and expectations generally. This post will try to answer some of these questions or demystify the personal injury claims process as much as possible.
1. The Consultation Stage
The first crucial step after you sustain serious injuries from a car accident is to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer to explain the process to you and assess the potential for success of your file. This is the consultation phase of the case, where you will meet with your personal injury lawyer to present all the information you have gathered from the scene of the accident. This includes but not limited to pictures of the locations and placements of the vehicles, traffic signs, road markings and location of objects that were on the person of the victim, assuming the accident is a motorcycle accident or pedestrian accident. At WatchMaker Personal Injury Law, our lawyers will travel to you in the event that you prefer an in-person consultation.
The consultation phase is also an opportunity for you to ask your personal injury lawyer any questions or concerns you may have about your case or injuries. It is at this phase in the consultation that your experienced personal injury lawyer will explain to you the potential issues that you may be faced with in your case. The risks and possible upsides of these issues are then discussed with you.
2. The Information Gathering or Investigative Phase
After you have done this and your personal injury lawyer has already explained the claims process to you as much as possible and objectively discussed the pros of cons of proceeding with an injury claim, then your personal injury lawyer will proceed with the information gathering or investigation process of your claim. In this stage, you can expect your personal injury lawyer to gather as much information about the motor vehicle accident from every source, including from you, third parties, insurance companies, police service and other first responders.
It is not unusual for your personal injury lawyer to make a formal request for the 911 calls that may have been made right after the motor vehicle accident. Note that some information may be deleted after a time period, so it is crucial that you contact a personal injury lawyer right after an accident to ensure they get to work on your case in a timely manner. In some cases, your personal injury lawyer may also need to make a court application to compel the release of some investigative documents that may be of help to your case later on the process. So, time is of the essence, do not hesitate to call a personal injury lawyer after a serious motor vehicle accident.
The Investigation phase of your case also involves the ordering of Independent Medical Examination. These medical examinations play a key role in determining among other things, the long-term effects of your injuries on you and your abilities to perform your activities of daily living. Your experienced personal injury lawyer will hire a medical practitioner that is a specialist in the area that affects your case the most. For example, for cases involving injuries of the bones, an orthopedic surgeon is typically hired and for cases involving a traumatic brain injury, you can expect your personal injury lawyer to either hire a neuropsychologist or a neurologist, depending on your symptoms.
3. Negotiations or Settlement Discussions
After the information gathering phase and when the medical reports have been obtained, depending on the defendant’s insurance company’s position, your personal injury lawyer may attempt negotiations of your case. Your client will typically seek instructions from you throughout the negotiation process. A demand or proposal letter may be provided to the at-fault driver’s insurance company to kick start that process. The demand letter will typically lay out your position using relevant case law. Upon review of the demand letter, you can then expect the insurance company’s representative to either request more information in the event that not all the information is available or they may make a counter offer. At this point, you can expect your personal injury lawyer to reach out to you to discuss the offer with you and seek your instructions.
4. Litigation phase
If negotiations fail, expect your lawyer to take your case through the litigation process. At the litigation stage the parties adhere to the Rules of Court for document production, questioning, medical examinations, exchange of expert reports and participation in Alternative Dispute Resolution such as a mediation. If mediation fails, then the last resort is a trial. Before trial, the parties will have to proceed through some extra steps as well including but not limited to further questionings, including questionings on undertakings, medical examinations and further document discovery.
It is crucial to note that these stages of a personal injury case are not set in stone, they are heavily case dependent, and they are not as sequential as it appears. This means that the investigation process does not suddenly end at the second stage. Information gathering does happen at several stages in the case and it never really stops simply because the file is in the litigation phase. There are other activities that do not fit nicely into one stages discussed above. For instance, there is the period where you are expected to simply attend treatments and follow your recommended course of rehabilitation. Often, new information may appear at different stages in the case. Ultimately, your lawyer wants to avoid surprises during the different stages of the case.
If you have sustained a serious motor vehicle accident and you are wondering if you have a case, call Watchmaker or contact us as soon as possible.
