Personal Injury Attorneys: What Is Their Process Like?

Posted on: 27 December 2018

When you've suffered an injury as a result of an accident, filing a claim with an insurance company is often not the straightforward experience most people would enjoy. Insurance companies will undoubtedly throw a few hurdles your way, and these can deter most people.

This is the reason why many people hire a personal injury attorney. Attorneys are experienced in handling these types of cases, and they already know what challenges you're likely to face and how you can overcome them. Before you hire one, you may want to understand the process they'll use when working on your personal injury case.

Investigating the Case

Some people will be surprised to know that the first thing an attorney will do will not be to drag the insurance company or the party responsible for the accident straight to court. Many attorneys will, in fact, try to avoid heading to court. To do this, they'll need to gather all the relevant facts about the case.

To avoid having to file a suit in court, the attorney will need to show the insurance company that they are unlikely to win in court. To do this, they'll need to present an overwhelming amount of evidence in your favor, including accident reports, witness statements, photographs etc. Therefore, investigations will need to be done, and they may even hire a private investigator to do this.

Soliciting an Offer

Once they have the information they need, your attorney will likely try to solicit an offer from the insurance company. There will probably be several people reviewing the case with the insurance company, so it may take a while to get an offer back. Your attorney should send the offer for you to review as quickly as possible. This may have to be done several times before a fair offer is obtained.

Filing a Lawsuit

Although many cases are settled before a suit is ever filed, there are cases in which your attorney will not be able to get a fair offer from the insurance company. At this point, they will either demand arbitration or file a lawsuit. The defendants will normally be given 30 days within which to respond. If there are several defendants, it may take some time to track them down.

Discovery proceedings will start after the defendant has responded to the suit. This can take a long time and a lot of money. It's only once this process is completed that a trial date can be requested.

For more information and help with your personal injury case, contact legal professionals like Keith E Zaid Attorney At Law.

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