Valdosta Personal Injury Litigators

Our personal injury law firm of Dodd & Burnham, PC has a long winning history of handling accident claims, products liability lawsuits, motor vehicle collision claims, and other various personal injury cases. Our Valdosta personal injury litigation lawyers of Dodd & Burnham understand the litigation process can be overwhelming for those that have been severely injured. A brief summary of the litigation process is outlined below. Please contact us for more detailed information.

Process of Litigating Injuries and Wrongful Death Cases

1. It best to first contact one of our Valdosta personal injury litigation attorneys as soon as you are able to following your accident or injury. You may be in a situation where time is of the essence to your case. Following specific steps and the advice of your experienced Dodd & Burnham accident litigator may strengthen or even save your case.
2. After you discuss the case with our Valdosta personal injury litigation lawyers, they then will file a formal complaint with the court. The court will then send a service of summons to the other party. This notifies the defendant that you are beginning a lawsuit. The defendant can reply to the court in the time allotted, which is called an answer. The defendant states their side in the answer.
3. Following the complaint and answer, our attorneys will then proceed with prepping the case. Our attorneys have the preparation experience and knowledge that is necessary when litigating accident claims. Once our attorneys are familiar with your particular case from every angle they can then comfortably move forward into settlement negotiations.
4. Not all accident claims end in settlement negotiations, but many of them do. The defendant may not want to continue through the long process of trial and may offer a settlement. With the assistance of our attorneys you can accept the settlement, or choose to move forward into trial. Our Valdosta personal injury litigators will assist you in deciding what is most appropriate for your case.
5. If settlement negotiations cannot be reached, with the assistance of our Valdosta personal injury litigation attorneys, you will have a verdict reached by trial. Before the process of trial begins, both parties will go through the process of discovery. Discovery is the formal practice where each party will question each other through a documented process regarding the case. These documents are referred to as interrogatories. Your lawyers will also question the other side’s witnesses at depositions. Specialty physicians are often used as expert witnesses by accident and wrongful death litigators, during both the discovery and the trial process.
6. During trial each accident litigator will provide a summary of the evidence and arguments that will be used to represent their accident claims. After the evidence is presented, all witnesses will be called to the stand, and both the plaintiff and defendant will be able to state their case. After each party presents their case, both parties will then give their closing arguments, which is lastly followed by a verdict presented by the jury.

This is a brief summary of the process of litigating accident cases. However, every injury case is unique. Our Valdosta personal injury litigation attorneys are experienced on various accident cases. If you are in need of a wrongful death litigator or personal injury attorney please contact Dodd & Burnham at 229.242.4470 for your private consultation, or submit our quick contact web form.