If there is a question about who is to blame for a given accident, an injured party has the right to file a personal injury lawsuit. What steps must be taken by anyone that has chosen to sue the opposing party in an accident dispute?
First step: File a set of documents with the court
Personal Injury Lawyer in Lower Sackville will prepare a complaint, which is called a petition in some legal jurisdictions. The complaint should give the legal and factual basis for the lawsuit. In addition, the complaint needs to state the nature of the relief that is being sought by the plaintiff. In anticipation of the next step, the petition/complaint needs to state where the required documents will be filed, and why the plaintiff has chosen that particular location.
Next step: Filing the complaint
This must be done before the deadline, as stated in the statute of limitations.
Plaintiff needs to file a summons, along with the complaint. The summons explains to the defendant that he or she is being sued. When the plaintiff files the complaint and summons, then he or she must also pay the court’s filing fee. That fee normally amounts to a figure between $100 and $400.
The plaintiff should obtain a copy of each filed document. Then the defendant needs to be served with all of those copies. The court asks plaintiffs to carry out that particular task no more than 30 days after filing the lawsuit/complaint.
What happens after the defendant has been served with the copied documents?
The defendant has been told that he or she is being sued. In addition, the defendant has learned the allegations that have been made by the plaintiff. Thus, the plaintiff and the court must await the defendant’s response. Defendants must decide what action to take, after being served with the copied documents. Some chose to respond to each allegation. That is not an admission of guilt; it simply demonstrates a willingness on the defendant’s part to appear in court.
Sometimes, a defendant feels that the plaintiff lacks any grounds for the stated allegations. When that is the case, the defendant’s response reveals his or her unwillingness to face the opposing party in a courtroom. In other words, the defendant’s response takes the form of a motion. The defendant files a motion to dismiss the case. Plaintiffs that file a lawsuit without gathering sufficient evidence of the alleged negligence, on the part of the other party, should expect a motion to dismiss.
Defendants that agree to face the opposing party in a courtroom should not expect the court to rule against them. An argument that the plaintiff bears some responsibility for the accident might influence the court’s ruling.
