Be Ready For These Defensive Legal Actions After A Car Accident

Posted on: 10 August 2018

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There is usually a lot more to a personal injury case than just filing a lawsuit, and it might help you to understand what may happen. The filing of the lawsuit against the at-fault party is just the beginning in a chain of events that will, hopefully, lead to adequate compensation for you, the victim. Read on so that you will know more about this process.

Once you file the suit, the other side will be served 

This service of the complaint or petition will include the driver of the car that caused the wreck, of course, but more importantly, their insurance carrier. You and your personal injury lawyer can expect to hear back from the other side in a timely manner since most of the time the summons contains instructions and a time for responding. Your lawsuit lists the facts of the case (from your viewpoint), and the other side will respond to each and every one of these facts with one of three responses: admit, deny, or have insufficient knowledge to answer at this time.

The response by the defendants is known as the "answer" and is filed with the court. In addition to addressing the lawsuit's facts, the answer also often includes assertions by the defendants that counter the allegations of fault with reasons why the driver is not at fault and why. It may also ask the judge in the case to dismiss the case due to several reasons.

Getting sued by the other guy 

Unless you have a fairly straightforward case of clear fault, you might end up as the target of a personal injury suit by the other side. This motion is known as a counterclaim and instead of it being a separate suit, it uses your suit in an attempt to turn the tables on the situation. Counterclaims, just like your claim, ask the courts for relief; and, that relief is in the form of a certain amount of monetary damages. The potential to be counter-sued depends on the accident itself and the issue of fault. The defense doesn't have to counter-sue to win their case and will only do so if there is a dispute about fault.

Cross-claims 

If more than one other car was involved in the accident, there is the potential for a cross-claim. There are some situations, such as with chain-reaction crashes, where the instigating party must be uncovered, and these cases tend to be complicated.

While the above issues seem complex, your personal injury lawyer has dealt with these situations and more. If you don't have an attorney, contact a firm like Terrel DoRemus & Associates for help. Let an attorney lift the legal burden from you so that you can focus on your healing.