After a Miami Lakes truck accident, if you decide to pursue a legal claim, there will be many steps to you and your attorney will need to take. The steps can include:
1) Investigation. Even if you decide not to pursue a legal claim, there will be an investigation of the accident. If the Miami Lakes traffic accident caused serious injury or damage, the police may become involved if they believe that the truck driver or truck company violated the law. They may pursue criminal charges against the company or driver. Even if there is no criminal charge and you do not decide to pursue a civil case, within minutes of the accident it is likely that the insurance company representing the truck company will send what is known as a go team or rapid response team to the scene of the accident in order to gather evidence and start an investigation. If you decide to pursue a civil case, your personal injury attorney will send their own private investigators to investigate the accident. Since the insurance carriers usually arrive very quickly, it is important to consult with a Miami Lakes personal injury attorney very soon after the accident, before evidence is lost. The sooner you consult with a Miami Lakes personal injury attorney, the sooner your attorney can document evidence and start an investigation. Even if you decide not to pursue a legal case in the end, consulting with a personal injury attorney promptly after crash helps ensure that you know which steps to take in order to preserve as much evidence as possible.
2) Filing a legal case and discovery. If you decide to pursue a legal claim, your attorney will formally file a legal case against the truck company, driver, or any other liable parties in the case. Once this is done, the discovery process will begin. This involves hiring expert witnesses, making requests for information, subpoenaing witnesses, and so forth. Depositions, or interviews under oath, are also often conducted with those who are relevant to the case. At this stage of the legal process, the Miami Lakes personal injury attorney is generally building up a strong case for their client.
3) Mediation. In many cases, trucking companies wish to reach a settlement rather than allow a case to go to trial. This is because trials usually result in negative publicity and can result in larger jury findings against the company. In order to start the settlement process, attorneys for both sides will usually take part in a mediation process with a third party. These nonbinding proceedings will allow each party to discuss the possibility of settlement. A settlement made in this manner may involve a monetary offer of compensation as well as promises by the truck company to make safety improvements.
4) Trial. If two parties in a lawsuit cannot reach an agreement, the case will usually go to trial. A jury will be selected and a trial date will be set. At any point before the trial date an out-of-court settlement may still be reached and mediation may still continue. In many cases, juries will award only damages or compensation to Miami Lakes truck accident victims. In most cases, juries will not make recommendations to the truck company to make safety changes.
If you have been injured in a Miami Lakes truck accident, contact the Flaxman Law Group in order to learn more about the legal process and in order to arrange for a free accident consultation to discuss your situation. The Flaxman Law Group can meet with you in the firm’s law offices or in your home, workplace, or hospital room.