Someone that has been injured in an accident could strive for achievement of a negotiated settlement. However, those victims that have failed to settle with the opposing party would be able to pursue a personal injury lawsuit.
The first steps in that pursuit:
File a complaint with the court
• Give the identity of the plaintiff and defendant
• Explain basis for lawsuit
• Name court where filing will take place
• Explain court’s jurisdiction to hear case
• State legal theories behind the presented allegations
• State nature of requested relief/state demand
• Sign complaint, or have your injury lawyer in Gloucester to sign it
File a summons: It should explain to the defendant why he or she is being sued and then pay court the filing fee.
Next steps
Get a copy of the complaint and the summons
Serve both of those copies on the defendant
—That gives the court jurisdiction over the filed case
—Give the court proof of the fact that the required copies have been served on the defendant
Complete the above steps within 30 days of the date for the filing of a complaint.
Be sure to complete the first steps and the next ones before the deadline, as stated in state’s statute of limitations.
What happens if the plaintiff cannot complete them before the deadline?
The plaintiff would have the right to ask the court for an extension of the deadline. The court would want to hear the reason for that particular request. Still, courts usually grant an extension.
Final steps in filing process
Await response from defendant: That response could come in one of 2 forms
—It could be the answers to the plaintiff’s allegations.
—It could be a filed motion for dismissal of the case
What happens after the plaintiff has completed the filing process?
If the defendant has answered the plaintiff’s allegations, then the court should schedule a time for a trial.
If the defendant has filed a motion to dismiss the case, a judge must decide whether or not to agree to the defendant’s motion.
If a judge were to rule in favor of the defendant, the case would be dismissed. That would bring to an end the process that the accident victim had chosen to use.
If the plaintiff had been injured while using a purchased product, that plaintiff/consumer could try joining an effort by numerous parties to sue someone that had played a part in the creation or distribution of that same product.
—One or more of the product’s designers could be sued
—The head of the plant where the product was manufactured could be sued.
—The marketers that had designed the product’s label and had coordinated its distribution might get sued.