Choosing the Right Lawyer is No ACCIDENT- A Personal Injury Guide - By Jeff Adelman (2025 Edition)
If you are reading this, you likely have been injured as a result of a car accident or slipping or tripping on someone’s premises as a result of negligence. In the pages that follow, I will provide insight as to what you should expect from a lawyer (attorney) fighting on your behalf for personal injuries. This book is intended as a general guide if you are unfortunate to have had this happen to you. It has been with the least amount of “legalese” as possible, so you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it.
If you are reading this, you likely have been injured as a result of a car accident or slipping or tripping on someone’s premises as a result of negligence. In the pages that follow, I will provide insight as to what you should expect from a lawyer (attorney) fighting on your behalf for personal injuries. This book is intended as a general guide if you are unfortunate to have had this happen to you. It has been with the least amount of “legalese” as possible, so you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it.
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Choosing the Right Lawyer is No Accident
THE COMPLAINT: FILING A LAWSUIT
Nobody should want to be involved in a lawsuit, but sometimes it’s
unavoidable. However, just because a lawsuit is filed does not mean you
are automatically going to trial. The vast majority of claims still settle,
even if they are in lawsuit.
Filing a lawsuit can move the process closer to conclusion, but whoever
you hire as your personal injury attorney has to have the skills to navigate
the waters of litigation in the event that your claim must go all the way
to a jury.
Once a Complaint (the lawsuit) is filed with the court, a Summons is
issued in the name of the Defendant. Your attorney will then hire a
Process Server to physically hand the complaint (serve process) to the
Defendant individual or registered agent of the corporation. It does not
have to actually be the Defendant. It can be their spouse, or anyone in
the house who is at least 15 years old. It sounds archaic in the 21st
century, but it is still the way things are done.
There may be situations where a person is hiding their whereabouts, or
cannot be found, and there are ways of dealing with that as well such as
service of the Secretary of State. I’m not going to go into detail about
those situations in a layperson’s guide to personal injury law, but if you
really want to know, reach out to me.
Once the Defendant is served with the complaint, they have 20 days to
file a response, referred to as an “Answer and Affirmative Defenses.”
“Affirmative Defenses” provide reasons why a defendant thinks they
should not have to pay, or should not have to pay as much. The
Complaint, Answer and Affirmative Defenses are called “Pleadings.”
Once the Defendant has responded, the next step toward is “Discovery.”
Side note: When your case is filed, you may have heard repeatedly from
your attorney that they were dealing with State Farm, Allstate, GEICO,
or another automobile insurance company. But when you look at the
Jeff Adelman, B.C.S., Esq.
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