Personal Injury Cases are very difficult to handle all by yourself, unless you are a professional. Cases take time, money, and a vast understanding of the local and state laws and practices in the personal injury field. The experts and Portland Personal Injury Attorneys are standing by to help you with your issue. Contacting us allows us to refer you to a knowledgeable and expert official that will see your case through to the very end, and get you the rightful compensation you deserve. Don’t let it all fall to your insurance companies, make the most of it.
That being said, this doesn’t change the process of personal injury cases in anyway, and it is a good idea to understand the procedure which your lawyer is performing alongside you. Familiarize yourself with the basic process, stated below.
Step 1 – The Injury
The most obvious of parts in the process of a personal injury case. Interestingly enough, many cases filed in state of Oregon never even get off the ground. You must have an injury that can be proved in court. It is important to contact a personal injury lawyer and make sure you have a strong case.
Step 2 – Contacting a Lawyer
This is where we come in. Contacting Portland Personal Injury Attorneys will allow us to help you find a lawyer that will see your case through to the very end. The attorneys we refer to our clients are knowledgeable, efficient, and will help you make the most out of your case and compensation.
Step 3 – Initiating the Claim
After establishing that a legitimate case exists and that there are no procedural hurdles like an expired statute of limitations, the plaintiff’s attorney will file a personal injury complaint. The complaint is the first official document in the case, laying out in very broad detail what the plaintiff claims the defendant did.
After the complaint is filed, the plaintiff’s attorney will have a month or more to locate the defendant and “serve” the complaint on him or her. Serving the complaint basically means physically delivering the complaint to the defendant in a way that can be proved later, ensuring the defendant cannot later claim to not know about the lawsuit. Along with the complaint, the service papers will tell the defendant the next date he or she must appear in court.
The defendant may also hire an attorney at this point.
Step 4 – The Trial
There are generally two possible outcomes for what could occur at this point. The first, being that your case goes to trail, and the second, your case ends in a settlement. Most cases settle before trial. At any point in the process described above, the parties can settle and end the case. In fact, the plaintiff can send the first settlement offer before the complaint is ever filed. What is more typical, particularly if the initial evidence establishing liability and/or damages is inconclusive, is that a settlement is reached after the discovery process has gone on for a while.
Great Stuff!