When you get hurt due to another person’s neglectful or intentional actions, you’ll likely find it necessary to bring the perpetrator to court. Such a case will need to be filed in civil court with the help of a personal injury attorney.
Before getting involved in a personal injury lawsuit, you’ll want to know what to expect. It’s a complicated process, but the trusted attorneys at the Hernandez Law Group, P.C. will help you navigate the process and achieve the best outcome for your case.
Step 1: Hiring an Experienced Dallas Personal Injury Attorney
The first step in any legal process is hiring a lawyer. While you may be considering representing yourself in court, this is rarely a good idea – especially in a personal injury lawsuit. The reasons you should avoid self-representation include:
- Potential errors when filing the lawsuit
- Dealing with insurance companies on your own
- Underestimating the value of your damages
- At a disadvantage if the defendant has a lawyer on their side
When choosing a personal injury attorney, you should look for one who is Texas board-certified to practice personal injury law. Juan Hernandez is one of the mere 2% of attorneys who have this certification.
Step 2: Claim and Medical Record Review for Your Texas Accident
During your initial meeting with a personal injury attorney, they will review your claim, damages, medical bills, and other expenses that accrued as a result of your accident and injury. They will then determine what damages you are entitled to compensation for.
Determining Damages in a Texas Personal Injury Case
In a personal injury lawsuit, you are entitled to compensation for your bills that are related to your accident and injury. However, there are other types of damages that you may be entitled to. Common damages in a personal injury case include:
- Medical bills (both present and future expenses)
- Income loss
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Funeral expenses (in cases of wrongful death)
- Loss of consortium (in cases of wrongful death)
Step 3: Negotiating and Filing a Texas Personal Injury Lawsuit
Some personal injury cases can be settled out of court. If your Texas personal injury attorney determines that this may be possible for your case, your attorney will reach out to the defendant and try to negotiate a settlement. If this fails, however, your attorney will move on to the filing process.
Step 4: The Texas Discovery Phase
Once the lawsuit has been filed, it’s time to begin the pretrial processes. The first step in the pretrial period is known as the discovery process. Each party investigates and gathers evidence that supports their side of the case. For the plaintiff, this means finding evidence that shows the defendant was negligent. For the defendant, this means finding evidence to prove that the plaintiff had a part in their injury or was injured in another way that had nothing to do with their accident.
Unlike dramatized movie trials, neither party will be able to surprise the plaintiff or the defendant with new evidence or a new witness mid-trial. The discovery process ensures that both parties share the evidence they collect in advance. This is to allow both parties to prepare everything they need for a fair chance at arguing their case. If only one party knows something, it creates an unfair advantage.
What Type of Evidence Is Collected During the Discovery Phase?
There are four types of evidence collected during the discovery phase of a trial. They are:
- Important documents
- Police reports
- Pictures of the accident site and damage to personal property
- Pictures of any injuries
- Medical bills and medical history
- Pay stubs and PTO reports from the employer
- Admission of Facts: Requests from the defendant for the plaintiff to admit certain uncontested facts. For example, if there were passengers in the plaintiff’s car, the defendant may ask that the plaintiff admit that they were the one driving the vehicle. These statements have to be already admitted or agreed by both parties to be true in the case. These statements will be admitted on the record to be considered facts during the trial to ensure no time is wasted during the actual trial process.
- Interrogatories: Interrogatories are questions sent to you by the opposing party’s lawyer. Each state has laws on how many interrogatories the opposing side is allowed to send you. Texas State law only permits opposing parties to send 25 interrogatories. These questions can address basic information such as:
- Confirmation of your identity
- Insurance information
- Name of any witnesses you plan to call on
- Whether you were drinking before getting in your vehicle
- Whether the plaintiff has been convicted of a traffic violation
- Depositions: A deposition is an oral testimony about the accident. The defendant’s lawyer will question you under oath in front of a court reporter, but not a judge or a jury. This is considered your official testimony about the case. If your claim goes to trial and you are asked to testify in court, your testimony will be compared against your deposition.
Is All Information Fair Game During the Discovery Process?
While neither the defendant nor the plaintiff is allowed to withhold information from the other that is relevant to the trial, some conversations are allowed to be confidential. These confidential conversations are protected if they happened between:
- You and your lawyer
- You and your doctor
- You and your religious advisor
- You and your spouse
Step 5: Pretrial Motions in Texas Personal Injury Lawsuit
The next pretrial step involves each side appearing in court to present motions. The most common pretrial motions include:
- Motion to exclude: Your attorney may ask that certain evidence be excluded from the case. Examples include evidence that was gathered illegally or statements from unreliable witnesses.
- Motion for change of venue: If your case has gathered too much publicity or threatens your safety, your personal injury attorney may ask that the trial be moved to another courtroom.
Step 6: Second Settlement Attempt
The last pretrial step is mediation, another attempt to settle the case out of court. The first attempt at out-of-court settlement may have failed, but this does not automatically mean that the second attempt will also fail. Certain factors may have convinced the other party that they are better off avoiding court and settling the case through mediation. If this fails, it’s time to move on to the trial.
Step 7: Texas Personal Injury Trial
Civil trials all proceed similarly. The steps in a Texas personal injury trial are:
- The presentation of evidence
- Interrogation of witnesses
- The rendering of a verdict by a jury or judge
- Determination of the compensation amount by the judge
How Does Comparative Negligence Play a Part in a Texas Personal Injury Lawsuit?
A big factor that will be considered when determining the outcome of the case and how much compensation will be awarded is comparative negligence. Texas is a modified comparative negligence state. This means that if the plaintiff is determined to be more than 50% at fault for the accident, they cannot be awarded compensation for their damages.
Furthermore, if the plaintiff is found to be partially at fault for the accident (but less than 50%), they cannot receive full compensation for their damages. For example, if the defendant is found to be 80% at fault for the accident and the plaintiff is found to be 20% at fault for the accident, the plaintiff can only receive compensation for 80% of the damages.
Can I File an Appeal After a Personal Injury Verdict?
Yes. Both the defendant and the plaintiff have the legal right to appeal a verdict in a personal injury case if they believe that the verdict was reached unfairly. In these cases, it is important to understand that appeals can only be argued based on issues of law and not because one was unhappy with the verdict. The appeal has to be able to prove that there was an error of law during the personal injury case.
Here are some common reasons why an appeal should be made:
- There was jury misconduct
- The jury was discussing the case with people who were not on the jury
- The jury was conducting its own independent investigation
- Concealing personal information that could influence their decision
- Deciding the case with other jurors before all of the evidence was presented
- The court’s decision to deny the testimony of an expert witness was based on the witness was not an expert was incorrect.
- The jury received instructions from the judge regarding laws that did not apply in your case.
- The judge denied evidence that should have been allowed.
It is extremely important to have an experienced personal injury attorney on your side. They can help you determine if any of the above occurs during your case and defend your rights to a fair trial.
How Does the Appeal Process Work?
The first step in the appeal process is filing a notice of appeal. The plaintiff’s or defendant’s attorney can file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the court’s initial decision on the case. The plaintiff will then be known as the “appellant,” and the defendant will be known as the “appellee.”
Once the appeal is filed, the appellant will need to acquire a transcript of the court proceedings. They will then have 30 days to submit a brief to the court and other parties involved in the case.
The next step is oral arguments. In some cases, the brief will be followed by an oral argument from both parties. This generally happens in complicated personal injury cases where a number of factors potentially contributed to the original accident. The oral argument will detail why the appealing party disagrees with the court’s initial ruling and outline the outcome that they seek.
Once the oral arguments are over, the appeal has been officially “submitted” to the court. The entire case will be examined to see if there are any grounds for the appeal. If the claim is straightforward, it may not need an oral argument for the judgment to be reached.
What Is the Outcome of a Successful Appeal?
In a successful appeal of a personal injury case, the court will revise the initial verdict for damages. In some cases, they may remand the case to a lower court for a completely new trial.
Partner With Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys in Dallas
At Hernandez Law Group, P.C., our attorneys have extensive litigating and winning personal injury cases. Our attorneys are led by Texas Board-Certified personal injury attorney Juan Hernandez. With vast knowledge and experience on our side, our attorneys will help you file your case, gather evidence, and bring your case to a successful conclusion. Schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with one of our attorneys. Contact us today.