What to Expect from Personal Injury Litigation in Providence, RI, and MA
Many personal injury victims are unfamiliar with the legal process and their claim may be the first introduction to the legal system. The personal injury litigation process also involves investigation and settlement steps to which other court proceedings may not expose you.
Decof & Decof believes strongly in assisting our clients, including giving you the information that you need in order to make educated decisions about your case. Since 1975, our personal injury attorneys have helped countless clients get compensation for their losses and injuries.
Like in any other geographic location, the Providence, RI personal injury litigation process begins with your attorney performing an investigation. This allows him or her to understand the facts, impediments, and details of your case. Your attorney may do any or all of the following actions to collect information:
- * Contact insurance companies
- * Gather and preserve physical evidence
- * Hire experts or investigators
- * Interview witnesses
- * Obtain any photos or videos available
This investigation process is necessary before filing personal injury litigation in Providence, RI, or MA. Unfortunately, the in-depth nature of this procedure may require a lot of time, sometimes even more than six months. Upon completion of the investigation process, your attorney will determine whether your case warrants litigation.
Reaching a settlement before personal injury litigation
If your personal injury attorney decides to continue, they will generally engage the insurance company or the counsel for the responsible party in negotiations for a settlement. Hopefully, they can reach a reasonable settlement without the expensive and long process of going to court.
To prepare for negotiations, your injury attorney collects relevant data such as the following:
- * Documents proving damages like medical bills and lost wages
- * Necessary expert reports from doctors, economists, etc.
- * Physical evidence of the incident
This information allows your injury attorney to determine a just settlement amount range and send a demand to opposing counsel. The demand includes the data they collected as well as the following:
- * Acceptable amount for settlement
- * Other facts about the case
- * Why the other party is responsible
Opposing counsel may suggest a counteroffer and the negotiations can continue with proposals between the parties. Either the lawyers reach an acceptable settlement amount, or they realize that they cannot reach an agreement without outside assistance.
The process of state and local Providence, RI personal injury litigation
The process of filing a lawsuit, litigation can be a long and expensive endeavor. There are several steps before you reach a judgment, although a settlement can stop the proceeding at any time. Litigation generally follows these steps:
* Discovery
— The defense requests you answer questions in writing and under oath, along with submitting all your documents and records* Deposition
— The defense asks you questions verbally and under oath about details of the incident, injuries, and your life, which the court reporter records* Motion hearings
— The defense can file many different applications to the court or judge to pass a ruling or make an order on the case* Mediation
— Many courts order parties to attend mediation or arbitration before proceeding to trial; mediation usually is non-binding, while arbitration decisions may be court enforced* Trial
— Between six and twelve individuals decide the compensation an injury victim receives
The court develops a trial schedule based on how busy the court is and does not consider attorney or victim schedules. This can result in your Providence, RI personal injury litigation case requiring extensive rescheduling.
Decof & Decof helps clients with a variety of personal injury litigation cases:
- Personal injury/wrongful death
- Medical malpractice
- Products liability/defective products
- Automobile, truck, and motorcycle accidents
- Construction accidents
- Aircraft crashes and airline liability
- Pregnancy and birth injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Professional malpractice