What Is Process For Filing A Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Accident victims that hope to file a personal injury lawsuit should know the legal basis for their case. In addition, the same victims should be able to explain that basis to both the court and the defendant.

Initial steps

Working with a lawyer, the victim should file a complaint. That should give the legal basis for the lawsuit. In addition, it needs to explain the court’s jurisdiction over the case that has given rise to the complaint. Furthermore, it ought to include a demand.

Someone must be assigned the job of serving the complaint on the defendant. Defendants need to get served within 30 days of the date when the plaintiff’s lawsuit was filed. Moreover, the person serving the complaint needs to obtain proof of the fact that the defendant has been served. The next step involves waiting. The plaintiff must await a response from the defendant, as per Personal Injury Lawyer in Bedford.

The different responses that might come from a defendant that was served a complaint

The defendant might admit to being guilty of the charge that was made by the plaintiff.

The defendant might deny the charge that was made by the plaintiff.

The defendant might insist that he or she is unable to either admit or deny the plaintiff’s allegations.

Defendants also have the right to file a motion to dismiss. That motion gets brought before the judge. If the judge were to grant such a motion, then the court would not move forward with the filed lawsuit.

Why does the court so seldom receive a motion to dismiss?

Defendants have to have a firm basis for making such a motion. Those that fail to provide the court with such a basis should expect to become the target of criticism from an irritated judge. Judges do not appreciate an action that forces them to waste their time.

What action could a plaintiff make if his or her case had been dismissed?

Plaintiffs that had become ex-plaintiffs would have some options, if they had retained a lawyer. That member of the legal community could help them to discover the reason for the case’s dismissal. Once that information had been ascertained, the client-lawyer team could work on correcting the identified weakness.

Once the case had been strengthened, then the same team could plan its next move. It might want to file a second personal injury claim, in hopes that the stronger claim would not deserve a motion to dismiss.

Alternatively, that team might opt for trying to re-start negotiations. That approach would allow them to work on achieving a settlement. The legal system favors the settling of disputes, and has been designed to aid those that feel ready to settle their differences.

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