What Takes Place Once a Lawsuit Is Filed?

If it becomes necessary for you to file a lawsuit because of the injuries that you have suffered due to an accident, your Los Angeles personal injury attorney will be able to thoroughly explain what you will need to do throughout the process. The process will normally involve certain steps, such as filing the claim in court, serving the summons and complaint on all of the other parties involved, and receiving an answer to the complaint.

To start, once a final investigation has been done, your attorney will proceed to file a claim known as a “Summons and Complaint” on your behalf. Once that document has been filed, the Summons and Complaint will then be served upon the party or parties or company who caused your injuries. (This party will be known as the defendant in the action.) After the defendant has been served, the party’s insurance company will use a lawyer to file an “Answer to the Complaint” in response to your complaint. That answer will undoubtedly deny responsibility for your injuries and may also seek to join other parties who may have also been involved in and caused the accident.

The next step in the process is what’s called discovery. This is when both parties ask for information from each other and include things such as responding to interrogatories, depositions (which are taken orally from each party and documented by a court reporter), requests for the production of documents (which can include medical reports, witness statements, medical bills, or other case-related documents), requests for admissions (a process that seeks narrow the issues by getting the parties to admit certain facts that are not in dispute), pretrial motions, and general trial preparation. General trial preparation includes meeting with witnesses, writing briefs, and taking video depositions of doctors who cannot appear in person.

Once all of that is done, it is time for the actual trial (unless you reach a settlement at any time before your trial date).

If you believe that you would benefit from the services of a qualified Los Angeles personal injury attorney, please do not hesitate to call the DA&D Law Firm at (800) 257-6666 for a free consultation.