1. Investigation and Case Preparation
Regardless of whether you want to settle outside of court or take the case to trial, investigation and prep are always going to be the first step. This may be as simple as collecting your dashcam footage, the police report, and medical records, or it may require additional work to track down witnesses or speak to expert witnesses.
An attorney may also advise you to see a certain type of specialist or undergo other evaluations to collect evidence for your case.
2. Filing the Claim or Lawsuit
Once you have gathered the necessary evidence, you may choose to pursue negotiations with the other party or parties. If you are finding that negotiations are not fruitful and you don’t see it moving forward, you may choose to file a lawsuit with the courts.
Once you file a complaint, the other party often has close to a month to respond, and the court will issue a Docket Control Order. The docket control order will give a list of deadlines that each side must follow, as well as an initial trial date.
However before you can go to trial, your case must go through the discovery phrase.
3. Discovery Phase and Evidence Exchange
The discovery process is simply when each party exchanges the relevant information. It is likely that you have already shared much of the evidence in the initial investigation. However, you may find that this process goes more in depth in the face of a trial to include depositions, which are essentially interviews taken under oath to gather evidence and information.
4. Negotiations and Settlement Discussions
Filing a lawsuit does not stop negotiations. In many cases, it can incentivize the other parties to take them more seriously. In most situations, the other person does not want to take the risk of a trial. They are time-consuming and costly, and they pose the risk of a higher damages award than what was requested in negotiations.
This risk often encourages the other party to be more serious in their counteroffers. Typically, you may accept a settlement offer up until the end of the trial before closing arguments.
5. Settlement or Trial
One of the first things that affects how long your case may take is whether it settles outside of court or goes to trial. Settling a case usually takes less time because it happens before a trial and verdict.
The final resolution will come when you either accept a settlement amount or receive a verdict at trial. The trial process can take months or years, in some cases, to complete. This is often due to a backlog in the courts or scheduling conflicts among the parties.
