Posted in Wisconsin Workers Compensation Related News
If you have been recently injured in any type of accident, and it was the result of negligence and carelessness on the part of someone else, you will most likely be able to file a lawsuit. You can decide if you want to pursue damages for the injuries that you sustained, and the law (though it varies by state) is that you have the legal right to pursue financial compensation for lost wages or medical expenses incurred during an accident. This means that you can file anytime within 1 to 6 years, depending on your state’s statute of limitations. You should not wait until the end of the statute to file, because the process can take a very long time to settle. Also, your witnesses and their testimonies can disappear or get fuzzy, and the physical proof or evidence may be tampered with or disposed of in the meantime. In a lot of cases, however, it is possible that you can reach an agreement with the other party outside of court. This means no judge or jury will be involved in your lawsuit. The United States Department of Justice, or DOJ reported last year that over 90 percent of personal injury cases that were filed were resolved out of the court.
This is due to legal fees, court costs, and risk factors. Because each side in a personal injury lawsuit pays their attorney somehow, the longer a case is in session, the more money spent on attorneys. A hurt plaintiff typically pays their attorney on a contingency fee agreement, and the defendant typically pays their attorney by the hour. Imagine how much more affordable it would be if these fees did not come into play. The longer amount of time that a case goes on, the higher the cost of payment for court costs. Service fees, filing fees, court reporter deposition fees, deposition transcript fines, statutory witness fines, expert witness fines, and medical records fees are only a few of these court costs. In a case that involved serious injuries, court costs can add up to over ten thousand dollars. These costs are ordinarily paid by the plaintiff’s attorneys and they are reimbursed from verdict or settlement proceeds. The defendant, however, usually pays these costs out of pocket and are reimbursed by their insurance company. There are a lot of ways that negotiations made out of court are more beneficial for personal injury cases. You should reach out to injury lawyers to understand the process better and for more information on how you can receive the fairest compensation possible.
