When someone’s negligence or willful error results in the suffering, injury, or disability of another individual, the individual may seek compensation for treatment costs or income loss by pursuing a personal injury case.
What Is a Personal Injury Case?
Personal injury cases are legal disputes filed by victims who sustained injuries in an accident caused by the negligence or recklessness of an individual or organization.
Victims (plaintiff) in an accident may file a personal injury case if they believe that the responsible people (defendant) may be legally liable for the incident. The goal of personal injury cases is often to hold the defendant liable for the victim’s medical costs and treatment, among other things. If the accident resulted in wrongful death, the defendant’s liability will increase if it is proven in court that they are 100% if not mostly at fault in the accident.
Filing a Personal Injury Case: An Overview
The process of filing a personal injury case is similar to that of any civil or criminal case. It should be noted that a personal injury case often materializes when the victim isn’t satisfied with the outcome of their personal injury claims (e.g., the compensation is less than the ideal or the defendant’s insurance company denied the victim’s claim).
- Draft a complaint or petition detailing the facts of your personal injury lawsuit, including the sum of the damages you demand from the defendant.
- Enlist a professional process server to serve the defendant with a copy of your lawsuit and summons, if there are any.
- The court will give the defendant time to respond to your complaint and hire an attorney.
- The Pre-trial and Discovery phase begins. Both parties will gather evidence and witness information, whether from each other or third-party sources. The plaintiff and defendant will also appear before the judge for pre-trial procedures, including setting a trial date.
- The case goes to trial, during which the judge (and jury, in some cases) will determine if the defendant is entirely at fault for the accident. The liability and damages will also be determined during the trial phase.
- The defendant can stop the proceedings at any point by agreeing to settle the victim’s demands. If not, the case will push through until the court arrives at a decision. If it finds the defendant guilty, it will order the amount they must pay in damages to the victim.
Process Serving in Personal Injury Cases
Where do process servers fit into this process? Any time that you file a case at your County Clerk, you will need the services of a process server soon after. Correct service of process is required by law for a case to proceed. If the legal documents and summons are not delivered the right way, the court may call a dismissal without prejudice. The plaintiff must then start from the beginning if they are intent in filing the case.
Process servers are crucial in personal injury cases because of the statute of limitations. It differs by state; in New York, the time-limit for most personal injury cases is three years from the date the injury happened. If you started the process a little late, it would be advantageous to hire experienced process servers who are skilled in finding people who may be buying themselves time by evading service.
Most importantly, the service of process must be carried out within 120 days of filing the case.
Another consideration is that some pieces of evidence in personal injury cases could fade or lose integrity the longer the trial starts. Process servers can help keep the trial on schedule when by serving the defendant their summons and complaint as quickly as possible.
Hire Our Licensed Process Servers for Personal Injury Cases
Speed and accuracy are the service process is crucial for personal injury cases that are nearing the statute of limitations. Even if you have plenty of time left, take advantage of the services of licensed process servers for your peace of mind.
Hire our professional process servers at Serve Index LLC. Contact us today.