Your Georgia Personal Injury Case Timeline

You’ve been in a car wreck. A doctor made a mistake in treatment. You slipped and fell in a store. No matter how you were injured, you may be entitled to compensation. If someone else caused your injury, you have the legal right to bring a lawsuit against them. However, the actual legal process of bringing a lawsuit can be confusing, to say the least. The good news is, our Georgia personal injury lawyers are here to help clarify the process so you can know what to expect:

1. Contact a Georgia Personal Injury Lawyer

It is important to contact an experienced lawyer as soon as possible after you are injured. In fact, you should call a few before you choose which lawyer is right for you. Luckily, most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations, so you can talk to as many as you need to find the attorney who fits your personality.

2. Your Lawyer Gets to Work

During your consultation, you will need to share all the details of the incident — even ones that you may think make you look to blame for your injury. You should also share any photos you took at the scene, medical documents, or any other evidence you may have collected since the incident. All of this will help your lawyer start to build their case on your behalf. Your Georgia personal injury lawyer will also conduct his or her own investigation to gather evidence. They may work with different professionals to reconstruct what happened. Once they have a strong case, they will meet with the insurance companies to try to work out a settlement that is favorable for you. We hope this works out because it means you get your money much faster.

3. Take It to Court

If the other side refuses to offer a fair settlement, your lawyer will take the case to court. Georgia has a two-year statute of limitations, which means you have just two years to file the lawsuit. As such, you will want to call a lawyer as soon as possible to get the process started. Once the lawsuit has been filed, each side will have a “discovery period.” This means each side gets to look at what the other side has in terms of evidence. They also get to depose witnesses and experts and explore all angles of the case. Depending on what is learned during discovery, either side may try to re-enter settlement negotiations. If the parties fail to agree on a settlement, your lawyer will take your case to trial. A jury may or may not be present at your trial. In either case, testimonies, diagrams, photos and other evidence will be presented to show that you deserve the compensation you are seeking. In many cases, a verdict handed down in a court trial is higher than what would be given through a settlement. Unfortunately, trials can often take months or years to complete. You will have to continue paying your bills out of pocket until a verdict is reached. However, a settlement is possible at any time during these court processes.

Why It’s Important to Speak with a Georgia Personal Injury Lawyer Immediately

As we mentioned before, you have a limited amount of time to bring a lawsuit. Even if you aren’t sure your injury qualifies as serious enough to file a lawsuit, it never hurts to call. At Andersen, Tate & Carr, P.C., our Georgia personal injury lawyers always offer free consultations. If we believe you are entitled to compensation, we will begin the above process immediately. Call us today at 770-237-9860 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation.