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Car accidents can leave you with overwhelming and devastating physical injuries, emotional trauma, and financial burdens. If you find yourself in this situation, you need to know what happens in a car accident lawsuit and how an attorney can help you throughout the legal process.
You may get money in your car accident case in two ways.
- You can file an insurance claim with the other driver’s carrier and negotiate a settlement agreement.
- Alternatively, you can file a lawsuit against the responsible driver in court to have the jury order them to pay damages.
In either case, you need evidence that proves the other driver’s negligence and more proof to show how your injuries affected your life. Unfortunately, any aspect of the legal process involves much effort and uncertainty.
When you hire a car accident attorney, you will get legal and tactical advice about the best way to pursue your case. Your car accident attorney can handle your case from beginning to end. They advise whether it makes sense to go through the insurance claims process and when it may be in your best interest to take the case away from the informal claims process and move it to court.
Everything depends on the facts and circumstances of your case and the specific insurance company you are dealing with during the claims process.
You must call a car accident lawyer as soon as possible after you have suffered an injury in a crash because the decisions you make at the outset of your case can determine your chances of success in the future.
An experienced lawyer will assess your case, gather evidence, and establish liability. They can also keep you from making mistakes that may compromise your legal right to compensation. It does not cost you anything out of your pocket to get the legal help that a Tacoma car accident attorney provides, and they only get paid if you win your case.
Your Best Legal Option Is Often to Settle Your Claim with the Insurance Company
You can avoid filing a car accident lawsuit entirely because you can settle your claim through the informal insurance claims process. Many car accident victims can get their settlement checks by working directly with the insurance company, although the process is not always easy.
Insurance companies can drag out the settlement process to tire you out and make you willing to accept less money from them in the ultimate agreement. However, they cannot impose anything on you in the settlement process.
You Can File a Car Accident Lawsuit at Any Point in the Legal
Process
You always have the right to file a car accident lawsuit. You can file your case at the outset of the legal process without filing a claim. Alternatively, you can file a lawsuit if settlement negotiations fail.
For example, insurance companies may deny your claim entirely or try to blame you partially for the accident. They may have a completely different viewpoint of your damages, offering you far less compensation than you deserve.
You can end the claims process and take your case to court by filing a lawsuit. It is your right as the accident victim to pursue compensation however you choose.
Your car accident lawyer will advise you when filing a lawsuit if it is in your best interest. You will at least begin by negotiating directly with the insurance company to avoid going to court. However, you can start directly with a lawsuit when insurance companies indicate they will not fairly entertain your claim or when dealing with a corporate defendant.
The Prospect of Filing a Lawsuit Gives You Leverage
Insurance companies do not want you to file a lawsuit because it raises their legal risk and costs them money. Remember that you pay your lawyer on a contingency basis, meaning you are spending nothing out of your pocket. Your car accident attorney only gets paid if and when you win your case.
It is not the same for insurance companies. They must pay their defense attorney either by the hour or on a flat fee for the case, so litigation raises the costs of doing business.
In addition, insurance companies will also take a more significant legal risk by going in front of a jury because their final tab can be far greater when they lose at trial than if they settled the case. Their policyholder can even owe money, leading to a potential bad faith lawsuit against the insurance company.
Thus, the prospect of filing a car accident lawsuit can help you negotiate a settlement.
The Insurance Company Is Part of Your Car Accident Lawsuit
Either way, you must deal with insurance companies during the lawsuit process. They must defend their policyholder, meaning they step into their customer’s shoes.
Insurance companies provide an attorney to represent their policyholder legally, negotiate the settlement, and will pay for your damages up to the amount of the policy limit.
Theoretically, the driver may need to pay for the balance of your damages if they lack sufficient coverage, but that only occurs if you win your case in court. Collecting a lawsuit judgment against an individual defendant in court is extremely difficult, and the driver may even declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy to escape final liability for the debt.
State law dictates that you file your case in court before the date when the statute of limitations may lapse. When your car accident lawyer drafts and files the complaint with the court, you will begin the lawsuit process. At the same time, they must file a complaint against the defendant, which starts the lawsuit.
How a Car Accident Lawsuit Begins in Court
Once the court receives the lawsuit and proof that your lawyer served the complaint to the defendant, the judge may set the schedule in the case. How long your case takes depends on its complexity and the court’s docket. Some judges may set more aggressive schedules than others.
The defendant must file an answer in your case. Under the rules of civil procedure, an answer is a formal document in which the defendant answers your facts with their own story of what happened.
The defendant can deny your allegations and state facts of their own and usually has thirty days to file an answer, although they may get extra time with the court’s permission.
If the defendant feels that you caused the accident, they may even file a counterclaim at the same time that they file the answer, which is an affirmative lawsuit complaint against you.
The defendant may also plead affirmative defenses in their answer to refute your case and dispute your right to file the lawsuit in the first place. Once they have filed their answer, they may even try to have the court toss your lawsuit entirely by filing a motion to dismiss with the court.
You can respond to the motion to dismiss with arguments to persuade the judge why your case should proceed.
The Discovery Process Is the Linchpin of Your Case
Assuming the judge denies the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case, you will move into the case’s discovery process. The discovery process is critical to your case in a car accident lawsuit.
Here, your car accident lawyer can question the other driver and their witnesses directly in depositions. A deposition gains more evidence to present your case at trial. The driver may not testify at trial in a manner inconsistent with what they have said in a deposition, or else the court can impeach their testimony.
In addition, if the other driver has witnesses or experts, your car accident attorney can also question them under oath to lock down their testimony before any potential trial.
The Insurance Company’s Attorney May Question You in a Deposition
At the same time, the insurance company’s attorney will also have the ability to question you under oath in a deposition. They may ask you questions about what happened in the events surrounding the car accident.
In addition, the insurance defense lawyer may also want to know more about your injuries. They may wish to elicit information that can undermine your claims of how badly the accident injured you.
Depositions are a stressful exercise and an important part of your case. If the deposition phase of your car accident lawsuit goes well, you will have much more leverage to negotiate, and you will place yourself in a far stronger position if your case goes to trial.
Your car accident attorney can prepare you for depositions, and they will defend you when the insurance defense attorney questions you.
In addition to depositions, your car accident attorney may also seek other forms of documentary evidence in the hands of the other party (and they will make similar requests of you).
The rules allow each party to obtain evidence from the other so long as the request is relevant and not overly broad or burdensome. While your car accident lawyer may begin the case with physical evidence, discovery is how you can broaden your case and further establish your legal right to compensation.
You May Reach a Settlement Agreement at Any Point in the Legal Process
After the discovery process, you and the insurance company may re-engage in settlement negotiations. You most likely never stopped trying to resolve your case, even after filing a lawsuit in court, and your case may still reach a settlement agreement at some point.
The stakes are very high for you and the insurance company, and each of you has reasons to want to settle the case. You want to avoid losing the case entirely, meaning you will receive no compensation for your injuries. Insurance companies want to avoid running up against a hostile jury, who may order them to pay more.
The judge may even order you and the insurance company to engage in mediation in the hope of reaching a settlement agreement. A third-party mediator may help bridge gaps between you and the insurance company’s position to further your efforts to reach an agreement.
Most likely, your case will settle, even if it happens on the eve of your trial. Only a handful of car accident cases will ever reach a jury.
Trial Only Occurs as a Last Resort in Your Car Accident Lawsuit
Your car accident lawsuit will head to a trial if you cannot reach a settlement, and your car accident lawyer and the insurance company’s attorney will present evidence in your respective cases.
Your attorneys will have a certain amount of time to make your case before the jury. As the lawsuit progresses, your attorney will work to build a persuasive case on your behalf. They will consult experts, review medical records, and gather all necessary evidence to demonstrate the extent of your injuries and the financial losses.
Your attorney will present your case in court, advocating for your rights and seeking compensation for your damages.
After the conclusion of each of your cases, the jury will hand down a decision on liability. If the jury members find the defendant liable for your car accident, they will decide how much money to award you.
Unless the insurance company appeals the verdict, it will then need to pay you in accordance with the instructions of the court.
Hire a Skilled Car Accident Attorney
While the process of a car accident lawsuit can be complex, having an attorney by your side can provide invaluable guidance and support. They will handle the legal aspects of your case, allowing you to focus on your recovery and well-being.
If you suffered an injury in a car accident, consult a personal injury lawyer who can explain your rights, deal with the legal process, and fight for the compensation you deserve.
