No one wants to become the target for some dog’s teeth. Pet owners are supposed to control their 4-legged friends. Those that do not should answer to the law.
After a dog bite incident, the quickest settlement can be reached before a personal injury lawsuit has been filed.
The victim should have settled with the dog owner’s insurance company within 30 to 90 days after the reported incident. Both of the involved parties must agree on the issue of liability as per the Personal Injury Lawyer in Sydney.
The injuries sustained should be minor and under control. In other words, those same injuries should not be getting worse. However, it is important that the victim should not have a pre-existing condition. There should be no question with regard to the fact that the dog’s owner did not control the canine, during the moments leading up to the biting incident. The at-fault party must be covered by insurance.
The victim must provide the defendant’s (dog owner’s) attorney with specific evidence:
–Medical reports and bills
–Photographs
–Proof of lost earnings: It might take a while to obtain this piece of evidence, if the victim was self-employed.
A settlement might come at the end of the discovery phase.
That would be about 6-12 months after the biting incident. On the other hand, it is possible that the defendant might file a motion for summary judgment. If the opposing parties do not reach a settlement, the court might schedule alternative dispute resolution (ADR). During the ADR, a mediation session, the mediator suggests how successful each party would be, when presenting its arguments before a judge and jury. A mediation session does not take long. Victims that must wait for completion of both a discovery session and mediation usually settle with the opposing party in less than 1 year.
Does a trial ever end with a settlement?
Sometimes it does. The judge feels ready to set aside time for the 2 sides to meet, and settle their dispute, without waiting until the trial’s completion. There are times when the judge lets the 2 parties try to resolve their dispute in his office. Of course, that approach does not guarantee a quick settlement. It could take up to 2 years for a trial to get started. Once a trial was under way, it would become difficult to estimate how long it could last. If both sides had few witnesses, a trial might end in a few weeks. If either side had many witnesses, a trial might continue for a 2 to 3 months.
If either lawyer made multiple objections, then that action would cause the length of the trial to increase even further. If the jury took its time about reaching a verdict, then that would introduce a further delay.
