If you are considering a personal injury lawsuit, you have come to the right place. If you have never filed a personal injury action against a defendant, you probably have questions and concerns about what the process will be like. While nothing can substitute for the expertise and experience of a personal injury lawyer, the following article details the steps of a civil trial in very general terms.
- Retain a Lawyer: The first step to your claim will be to retain a personal injury lawyer who will serve as your advocate and legal representative through every step of the process. You will need to enter into a binding agreement with your lawyer in order to establish an official attorney-client relationship and all the benefits afforded thereto.
- Review the Facts & File a Complaint: Once you have retained your lawyer, you will review the facts of your case to help determine the proper way to draft the complaint. Your lawyer will want to uncover all the unique details to your circumstances in order to properly make claims on your behalf. Once your lawyer is satisfied he knows the details of your case, he will draft a complaint to be filed in the courthouse and served upon the defendant. The complaint will contain short and plain statements of law and fact sufficient on its face to constitute a non-frivolus suit.
- Choose Your Venue: Many factors weigh into the location of your venue. Convenience of the parties is often one of the most important factors. If you and the defendant live in close proximity to one another, the venue should be easy to decide. Problems arise with out-of-state defendants or those that live on the other side of California from you. These decisions will be made by you and your personal injury lawyer together.
- Serve the Defendant: Cases are often dismissed without prejudice for insufficient service of process. You simply must ensure that your defendant is properly served the complaint and summons. This is usually seamlessly performed by a process server who knows exactly what the law requires.
- Discovery: During the months between filing and your trial, both sides will work on uncovering all the evidence pertaining to the case. The discovery rules are very liberal and the courts loathe being involved in the process. Absent some sort of privilege, virtually all evidence is discoverable by the opponent.
- Pre-Trial Motions & Hearings: Many times trials are preceded by hearings to decide motions regarding evidence. Commonly known as suppression hearings, lawyers from both sides will argue for and against the admissibility of certain testimony or pieces of evidence.
- Jury Selection and Trial: In California, your jury will consist of a number agreed upon by you and the defendant, so long as it is fewer than twelve. Once the jury is empaneled, you are ready to begin! Your personal injury lawyer and the opponent’s lawyer will put on evidence and testimony and you will be on your way to resolving your personal injury claim.
