In my last blog post, I talked about the fifth stage of a personal injury claim- Filing a Lawsuit. In this post, I am going to focus on Stage Six-Filing the Initial Set of Discovery.
Most of you are probably wondering: “What is Discovery?” Discovery is, according to the Rules of Civil Procedure, the time between filing the lawsuit and the trial where each side is entitled to obtain evidence from the other parties. This evidence is obtained through the use of subpoenas or discovery requests.
There are four main Discovery tools directed toward another party in a lawsuit which include the following:
- Interrogatories-Questions asked in writing which must be answered in writing.
- Request for Production-Requesting tangible items of evidence such as video recordings, written documents and electronic recordings.
- Request for Admission- A written request that an opposing party admit or deny the truth of a fact pertaining to the lawsuit.
- Deposition- Where both the Plaintiff Attorney and the Defense Attorney ask questions to the plaintiff/defendant; any treating doctors; any fact witnesses; and, any expert witnesses. Depositions are under oath and transcribed by a court reporter. We also often video tape a deposition.
This sums up the sixth stage of a personal injury claim. This stage is crucial and it is imperative to our client’s case that we are thorough in our efforts to gather as much evidence as possible to support their case. As for our client, it is extremely important to be honest with us about everything that might have an impact on your case. We are here to help you. From my experience, it can have a great negative effect on your case if you are not honest with us from the start.
In my next post I will talk about the 7th Stage of a Personal Injury Claim- Mediation.
