Many times, people who are injured in an accident in Florida are hesitant about pursuing personal injury claims against responsible parties.  Some of the reasons for this are due to over-exaggerated trial scenes portrayed on movies and crime shows.  Rest assured, in life, most trials are unlikely to be nearly as dramatic as the scenes shown for entertainment. Also, keep in mind that not all personal injury cases see the inside of the courtroom.  Here are a few reasons why:

Quick Settlement Offer

Every now and then there is a case where the damages are just too high for an insurance company to risk exposing their insured, and they will try to settle, or offer their policy limits in the beginning of a case. In my experience, this happens often when the person who injured my client has only a $10,000 bodily injury policy.

Demand Letter

Usually the next step in trying to get a case resolved without going to trial or even filing a lawsuit, is the demand letter.  The attorney will issue a demand letter to the defendant and the defendant’s insurance company. The letter states how you have suffered from your injuries which you believe have been caused by the defendant.  Factors such as injuries suffered, lost past and future wages, outstanding medical bills, pain and suffering, are among many of the types of damages that may apply, depending on your situation.

The adjuster will either pay the amount requested, begin settlement negotiations, and sometimes offer nothing. This is one of the first steps to conducting settlement negotiations and it gives all parties an idea of where each other stands.

Presuit Mediation 

Sometimes, before filing a lawsuit, both sides will have a pre-suit (before a lawsuit is filed) mediation.  This is a process where all parties get together to try and resolve the case, before a mediator.  A mediator is a third party who is independent and whose job is to try and get the case settled.  The idea of mediation is to ease the tension between both parties, get both sides to understand their strong and weak points and encourage cooperation so you can reach an agreement for less cost and time.

Filing the Lawsuit

If the pre-suit mediation fails, then the attorney would normally move forward with filing the lawsuit on behalf of their client.  During that time, there are multiple opportunities for negotiations to start up again.  As time goes by, evidence is gathered, and parties and witness’s depositions are taken, each party gets an idea of how strong or weak their case is getting.  Ultimately, before trial one more mediation is usually required.

Understanding that a Trial May be Necessary

If you are unable to reach a settlement agreement while your case is in litigation, the case may proceed to trial, where a jury will decide the outcome of your case.  In my experience, I have had trials that lasted as short as two days, and as long as five days.  It just depends on the amount of issues your case involves.

One thing to note is an attorney’s goal should be to avoid litigation and trial as much as possible.  It can be very expensive for both you and the defendant for that matter.  However, every now and then a situation arises where a client has no other alternative.