What Should Injury Victims Know Before Taking A Case To Trial In Arizona?

Filing a personal injury claim can be stressful, and taking your claim to trial will be even more stressful.

At the beginning of the process, you likely know that you deserve compensation for the injury someone else caused you, but there’s likely to be far more that you don’t know. If you’re not working with personal injury claims on a daily basis, you’ll likely find the whole process shrouded in mystery.

To shed some light on the process, here are six things you should know before taking your case to trial.

The Insurance Company Needs To Understand How Your Claim Is Unique

Most claims settle before trial, but a trial date can be a year or two down the road. How do you get to settle a claim sooner, and how do you get the best settlement offer?

You need your claim to stand out so that it does not look like “the rest of the pack.” This is especially true for neck and back soft-tissue injury cases, or where there is a fractured bone that eventually resolves without surgery. To an insurance company, those claims all look the same.

An experienced trial attorney can help make your claim stand out and look different by focusing on how this otherwise common injury impacted you differently and more profoundly. Maybe your injury prevented you and a spouse or partner from taking a long-planned trip that was more than just a vacation. Or, maybe you lost a job opportunity or advancement because you were incapacitated at a critical time in that decision-making process. Details like that matter.

Every Injury Claim Involves Multiple Layers Of Uncertainty

There is no guarantee that a claim can be settled even if you have suffered a very serious injury. The insurance company needs to be convinced that its insured driver, property owner or business was negligent and is legally responsible for your injury.

A good trial attorney will determine what fact or issue is preventing the case from being settled.

But what happens if you do not receive a reasonable settlement offer and have to decide whether to take an offer or go to trial instead?

The most important thing to know is there are no guaranteed outcomes. As a well-known former superior court judge would say, “There is no case that cannot be won, and no case that cannot be lost.”

That’s true because there are so many factors which might affect a trial’s outcome, some of which neither you nor your attorney can fully control. For example, would you get a good jury? Many jurors are skeptical of accident claims, especially accident claims with soft-tissue injuries. Will the jury like you personally? Will the jury like and believe your witnesses? Will the court exclude some evidence that is helpful to your case?

No one can guarantee a particular outcome in a case, especially if it has to be tried to a jury. Instead, an experienced personal injury lawyer can offer you his or her educated opinion on the most likely outcome.  But remember – you only try the case once!

Insurance Companies Know Which Attorneys Are Likely To Fold Before Trial

Not every personal injury lawyer tries cases to a jury or has tried very many. Insurance companies know which attorneys try cases, and they also know which attorneys will ultimately push their clients to accept the last settlement offer.

Trials are stressful and, as noted above, are filled with uncertainties. You want to make sure your personal injury attorney is experienced and can confidently navigate their way through trial without “throwing in the towel.”

Details Matter

Trials turn on details and, more importantly, accuracy in recalling details. Nothing deflates a case like hearing your witness give a version of what happened that does not match the facts.

Most injury victims and witnesses believe they have a good recollection of what happened, when and why.  But the truth is that in many instances, a person’s recollection changes over time as other facts are developed or more questions are asked. In my experience, you may not get some of the most important details until a second or third meeting with the client or an important witness.

Your personal injury attorney needs to take the time necessary to develop each client and witness’s best recollection so the jury will view them as highly credible.

Developing A Case Takes Shared Responsibility

The most important person in this entire process is you, the injured victim. You need to be involved in the process, which means attending meetings, taking and returning phone calls, collecting evidence you may have, and explaining to your lawyer what you think is important about the case. Your attorney may even want you to keep a journal of significant events and conversations.

Your participation is critical.

Trust Your Attorney

From the time a complaint is filed, it may take 18 to 24 months before it goes to trial, if a trial is necessary. That’s a long time, so it is important that you not only select an attorney who you believe is capable, but someone you like, respect, and – above all – trust.