Rock Hill, SC Personal Injury Lawyer

When you are hurt, it often comes as a surprise. While you may plan for potential injuries, especially if you work a dangerous job or are doing a dangerous recreational activity, they are never truly expected. Victims of serious injuries can end up in the hospital for a long time, and they may need to undergo other treatments to recover from their injuries even after they are released from there. Additionally, paying for treating injuries can be very expensive, causing significant stress for victims who have already been through enough.

If you were injured because someone else was negligent, you can sue them in court to get financial compensation. To do that, though, you are going to need legal representation.

Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (803) 219-4906 and get a free case analysis from our personal injury attorneys.

The Personal Injury Lawsuits Process in Rock Hill, SC

Lawsuits can take a very long time to be resolved, often years. The reason for this is that a great deal of work goes into preparing a case before it ever makes it into a courtroom or goes to trial before a jury. In fact, many cases will not even make it all the way to trial and will be resolved some other way beforehand. Since you will be involved in a personal injury claim for the long haul, our personal injury attorneys have broken down the important steps of the process so that you know what will be going on before trial.

Initial Talks with Our Lawyers

The first steps of any personal injury case involve talking to a lawyer and getting a sense of what is going on. During initial talks, our lawyers can give general advice and point you in the right direction. However, once you retain us as counsel, we can start going into the specifics of your claim and really working towards getting you financial compensation.

Filing Your Claim on Time

An important thing to keep in mind when preparing your claim is that it must be filed with the appropriate court on time. Under S.C. Code Ann, § 15-3-530, plaintiffs have three years from when they get hurt to file their claim. Once those three years go by, a plaintiff cannot get their case heard in court or collect any damages.

Three years may look like a long time, but it is not. During that time, our lawyers will need to get your case ready to file, and you will need to do things to recover from any injuries you got in your accident. There is a lot to do and relatively little time to get it all done, so be sure to start the legal process early enough to get your case in on time.

Discovery

Once you retain us as counsel and your case is filed, the process of getting as much information as possible to build your case begins. Some of this information will come from medical providers, witnesses, and many other sources. What may surprise many people, though, is that a good chunk of details about the case will come from what the other side knows. This happens through a process called “discovery,” where the plaintiff and defendant exchange information they have about the case. Giving information to your opponent may seem like a strange thing to do, but it is an integral part of the legal process, as it helps ensure that everyone is working off of the same set of facts and nobody can have unfair advantages or surprises.

Discovery can take a long time, sometimes even years, and can be ongoing up until very close to the trial date.

Depositions

In addition to exchanging information, both sides of the case have the opportunity to ask questions of important parties like witnesses or subject-matter experts. This happens through a formal interview taken while under oath called a “deposition.” As the plaintiff, you are virtually guaranteed to be deposed during the legal process, so it is good to have some idea of how depositions work.

You will be asked questions by both opposing counsel and our lawyers, but opposing counsel gets to go first. Most of the questions will deal with things relevant to your claim. It is very important that you answer all of them as truthfully as you can. Lying under oath can easily torpedo a claim that otherwise would have been successful. However, if they ask something that is not fair, our lawyers can object, and you will not need to answer it.

Pre-Trial Hearings

In addition to discovery and deposits, you or our lawyers may have to go to court from time to time before trial. Sometimes, you or our lawyers will go to court for mundane reasons like scheduling hearings. Other times, it will be because the judge is ruling on certain pieces of evidence or other important matters that can have a significant impact on trial proceedings.

Possible Settlements

It is possible to resolve a personal injury claim without going all the way to trial. Often, this happens when parties settle and agree to terms on their own. Defendants can make settlement offers regardless of the strength of their claim, so an offer to settle does not necessarily mean that opposing counsel thinks they will lose at trial.

Trial

Finally, if a case is not settled beforehand, it will go to trial. By this point, both sides generally know what their opponent is going to say, so all that remains is to show the evidence and make arguments to the judge and jury, who will ultimately decide whether the defendant is liable for your injuries or not.

Call Our Personal Injury Attorneys from Rock Hill, SC Today

For a free analysis of your situation, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s personal injury attorneys at (803) 219-4906 today.