South Florida Personal Injury Blog

If you are injured in an accident – whether it’s a car accident, on the job, or elsewhere – you may be entitled to money from the person or people responsible for the accident. This money is typically called “damages,” and the amount you request is called your “claim.”

Your personal injury lawyer will talk to you about a settlement, which is the amount of money you receive from the responsible person or people. After you have agreed to a settlement amount, you let the responsible parties off the hook for the accident and agree to never ask for more money from them. In order to start a case against the responsible parties, you must file a lawsuit against them with the local court in which you are the plaintiff, and they are the defendants.

As the plaintiff, it’s up to you and your attorney to prove that the defendants were responsible for your personal injuries. This proof will determine the amount of monetary damages that you receive. This is true whether or not you end up in court. The better you can prove that the defendants were responsible for your injuries, the less likely you will have to go to court at all.

Your personal injury lawyer will always try to avoid going to court because it is much less expensive. Instead, he or she will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the defendants or the defendants’ lawyer for your monetary damages. Usually, these negotiations are done with the lawyer for the defendants’ insurance company. This is especially true in automobile accidents where auto insurance companies are involved.

If the defendants’ lawyer refuses to pay you monetary damages in an amount that you and your lawyer believe is high enough, you may decide to go to court. Then, a judge or a jury will decide who is at fault for the accident and how much money, if any, you are entitled to receive. This happens most often when fault is not clear-cut. Sometimes, the defendants’ attorney may claim that you or someone else was partially at fault for the accident. There may be more than two parties, such as in a crash involving three or more cars. In a case like this, a judge or jury may be required to decide where the fault lies and how much money is appropriate for each person who suffered injuries.