Do Personal Injury Lawyers Go to Court?

Do Personal Injury Lawyers Go to Court?

If you recently suffered a personal injury, chances are you have already heard a lot about how insurance (yours or someone else’s) might cover your costs and losses. Your friends or family may have told you that your goal should be to get an insurance settlement. An insurance company may even have contacted you directly with an offer to settle your personal injury claim for what seems like a generous sum.

You've probably also heard that you ought to hire a personal injury lawyer to help you with your claim. But if all it takes to get paid for your personal injury is securing an out-of-court insurance settlement, you might wonder: Does it really help to have a personal injury lawyer? Do personal injury lawyers go to court? Or is obtaining compensation for a personal injury something that you can handle on your own?

The answer to those questions is: yes, yes, and no, respectively. Hiring a personal injury lawyer is the most reliable way to secure the maximum amount of money possible for your claim. In some cases, that will involve the lawyer going to a court (or some other proceeding) on your behalf to protect and enforce your rights. And you cannot realistically hope to achieve anything close to the same outcome on your own. If you are in search of an attorney reach out to Emroch and Kilduff to support you and your claims.

What do personal injury lawyers do?

Personal injury lawyers handle all aspects of obtaining financial compensation for their clients' injuries.

They:

• Investigate how a personal injury happened;
• Identify the party or parties whose wrongful actions were to blame, and who may owe money damages to their clients;
• Answer their clients’ questions about the process of obtaining money for a personal injury;
• Advise their clients on important decisions affecting their rights and options;
• Prepare and pursue insurance claims, lawsuits, and other legal actions seeking compensation for a client’s injuries and losses;
• Negotiate with insurance companies, defense lawyers, and other parties seeking a favorable settlement of their clients’ claims;
• Go to court to present their clients’ claims to a judge or jury at hearings and trials; and
• Collect and distribute the money owed to their clients through an insurance claim, settlement, judgment, or jury award.

The specific actions a personal injury lawyer might take on behalf of a client can vary widely from case to case, depending on the client's needs, priorities, and particular legal rights. But their goal in virtually all cases is the same: to get their clients as much money as possible as compensation for their clients' expenses, financial losses, and difficulties resulting from a personal injury.

Why might a personal injury lawyer go to court?

Personal injury lawyers do not always need to go to court to secure money damages for their clients. But, to obtain the maximum payment possible, they do always need to have the ability to go to court if that’s what the case requires.

Why do you need to take a personal injury case to court? Simply put, in most cases, only a court has the legal authority to decide the injured person's rights and to force an at-fault party to pay damages.

The injured party and the at-fault party (and that party's insurance company) can sometimes agree to a payment—that's what a settlement is, in a nutshell. If they can't agree, a personal injury lawyer will usually need to go to court to ensure the injured party receives fair compensation.

Specifically, personal injury lawyer might go to court to:

• Make a formal claim for money damages on behalf of an injured person;
• Meet a deadline for preserving the injured person's rights to payment while settlement negotiations play out;
• Put an at-fault party (and that party’s insurer) on notice of the injured person’s claim, as is sometimes required by law;
• Force an at-fault party or a third party to turn over information relevant to proving a personal injury claim;
• Ask a judge to decide the case in the injured person’s favor without a jury trial;
• Present the injured person’s case to a judge and jury in a trial;
• Enforce the terms of a settlement agreement; or
• Obtain a court order directing payment of a judgment or jury award.

This is not an exhaustive list of when a personal injury lawyer might go to court. But it illustrates how, in any personal injury case, a lawyer may go to court multiple times for multiple reasons, even if the lawyer hopes to settle the case without a trial.

Personal Injury Lawyers Go to Other Proceedings, Too

For most lawyers, going to court means representing their clients in a legal proceeding supervised by a judge. But that's not the only proceeding that a personal injury lawyer may need to attend for a client. Lots of circumstances may require personal injury lawyers to appear in a proceeding to fight for their clients' rights, even if it happens out-of-court.

For example:

Presenting evidence and arguments in official investigations, the outcome of which may affect a client’s personal injury claim;

Representing clients in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings such as a non-binding mediation;

Representing clients in administrative hearings; and

Speaking on behalf of clients at press conferences and in other settings that draw media attention.

The same skills that personal injury lawyers use when they go to court also serve their clients’ interests in these out-of-court proceedings. These include public speaking, the ability to present and explain evidence in clear language, a thorough understanding of the law and legal procedures, and an abiding focus on protecting and promoting their clients’ rights.

Going to Court Is Always Possible, so Connect With a Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Personal injury lawyers obtain financial compensation for clients not just by going to court, but by possessing the skills, knowledge, and resources to fight for their clients' interests wherever and whenever necessary. That makes hiring a personal injury lawyer to handle your injury claim always the right decision.

To learn more about how a personal injury lawyer can help you, contact one today for your free consultation.