Personal Injury Claims Are Defined By “Pleadings” in Three Easy Steps

Personal Injury | September 2, 2015

Building a case and winning in a personal injury is a long series of obstacles, but the first could potentially be the greatest. Personal injury claims do not always make it to trial, but they almost always go through a “pleading” phase. The pleading documents sum up the details of the case, the goals, and all the pertinent details that will be presented to the defendant. The professionals at Northfloridaautoaccidentlawyer.com organize pleadings in three easy to digest steps.

The Petition
Some professionals may call this a complaint. It will address the facts of the case. It sets the legal basis for the filing, as explained by the attorney, and builds the raw case for why the attorney and accompanying plaintiff believes there is a case. On the very surface, the complaint is a statement and notice of the attorney’s intent to move forward. Importantly, the attorney will not send out a complaint if they do not believe that there is a case. It can set a tone that is hard to reverse, and open a door with the defendant that should be followed through with.

Summons
The summons is actually quite simple. It is a document that states that the court has heard of the intent to open a case, and they will honor it. The court essentially has an open file on this case, and they control the mandates (i.e. the amount of time a defendant has to respond and when the initial mediation will take place).

Counterclaim
The defendant may very well send their own documents to the plaintiff. If the summons has already been reported, they would have to work through the court. The defendant is likely to send a claim. It could be a denial of any involvement. It could also be intent to close in mediation. Some defendant’s may even offer an initial payment to close the case now. Regardless, the final official document in the pleading stage is a counter claim from the plaintiff, either accepting or denying any statements made in the defendant report.

As one can see above, the pleading stage is actually quite structured. It is not the overwhelming and dense court process many see it as. This may be encouragement to take action in a personal injury claim.

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Leah Austin

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