A Settlement Is Better Than A Directed Verdict In A Personal Injury Case

You might be disappointed if you visit a personal injury lawyer for a consultation, and your lawyer talks more about getting a settlement than about a strategy for winning your case at trial.  A settlement does not sound like winning; it sounds like you compromised on your demands, just so you could keep the peace.  In practice, most personal injury cases end with the plaintiff receiving a settlement; only a small percentage of cases go to trial.  If you can get enough money to cover your accident-related medical expenses and lost income, it is less costly and less risky to get it by reaching an agreement with the defendant than it is to leave the decision up to a judge.  To find out more about how to file a lawsuit and about the possible outcomes of personal injury lawsuits, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.

Personal Injury Lawsuit Trials: Be Careful What You Wish For

Preparing to file a personal injury lawsuit takes time.  You and your lawyer must figure out how much money you lost because of the defendant’s negligence and work out a strategy for showing causation between the defendant’s actions or lack of action, your injury, and the financial losses for which you are requesting compensation.  This is why news reports about personal injury cases often indicate that the plaintiff filed a lawsuit several years after the accident.

After you file a lawsuit, a process server serves the defendant with a copy of your lawsuit, officially notifying the defendant that the court has received the lawsuit.  The defendant has several weeks to prepare a response, or else you can ask the court to hand down a default judgment in your favor.  Default judgments in favor of plaintiffs in personal injury cases are rare.  Instead, the defendant will usually file a response.  Sometimes the defendant will contact your lawyer directly and offer to pay the amount you are requesting in exchange for you dropping the lawsuit, because this is less expensive than going through litigation.

If the defendant doesn’t offer to settle, or if you don’t accept the offer, the pretrial discovery phase begins.  The plaintiff and the defendant disclose to each other the evidence that they plan to present in court.  The parties usually reach a settlement during this process.  If they don’t, the case goes to trial.  It might sound easy to win a personal injury case at trial, since you do not have to prove your point beyond a reasonable doubt, but you are still leaving it up to the judge or jury to decide.  The judge can even provide a directed verdict, instructing the jury to side with the defendant.  Directed verdicts are rare, but personal injury cases are among the types of cases where they can occur.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you get the money you need in your personal injury case by settling with the defendant or going to trial.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

law.cornell.edu/wex/directed_verdict#:~:text=Primary%20tabs,a%20motion%20by%20either%20party.