Birmingham Injury Blog

Depositions are a critical part of an Alabama injury lawsuit such as a car wreck or products liability type of case. Depositions are a part of discovery but are the only type where the party (plaintiff or defendant) is required to answer without help from their attorneys.

When?
Depositions take place after the lawsuit is filed and normally after written discovery has been exchanged. Normally both the plaintiff and defendant are deposed the same day in a car wreck case - bigger cases (truck wreck, product liability, medical malpractice, etc) typically involve longer depositions so the depositions will take place over a period of days.

Where?
Normally at either your lawyer's office or the other lawyer's office. Sometimes its just a matter of space (for example in our current office we have only one conference room - when we move at the end of June we will have multiple conference rooms) or other times its just a matter of convenience. Rarely will a deposition be taken outside of a lawyer's office - I took one in a judge's courtroom as the trucking company planned on objecting to every question so we wanted a judge close by....

How long?
Depositions in small car wreck cases normally only take a couple of hours. Other cases may take longer. Some lawyers and I were deposing an executive from Europe - we deposed him for an entire week. That's unusual though - normally a full day is about the longest for most cases.

What are the rules to make sure telling the truth?
We have covered this before so feel free to click on these links:
1. Make sure you hear the question;
2. Make sure you understand the question;
3. Think about what is the truthful answer; and
4. Only answer the question asked - no more.

Conclusion
Depositions are very important in an Alabama injury case. We have only focused on depositions of the parties and will cover other types of depositions in another post (doctors, etc) as well as more tips on how to take, defend, and give a deposition. We hope this has been helpful to you and feel free to contact us through our blog (to the left is the contact us form) or you can call us at 205-879-2447.

(Our next post in this series will focus on motions for summary judgment - where a party is trying to get the judge to go ahead and rule on some or all issues in the case rather than a jury deciding those issues).

Many car wreck cases can be settled without having to file a lawsuit. Insurance companies have whole divisions of workers set up to process and resolve car wreck claims. Though you are trying to get as much money as you can for your claim, and they are trying to pay you as little as they can, you both typically have the same goal, resolving your claim without a lawsuit. For both sides, lawsuits bring added expense, added time and added uncertainty.

An insurance company looks at three main things in deciding whether to settle a claim. First, was their insured at fault? Even if they decide the first one in your favor, they will then look at the second issue - are the injuries you are claiming related to or caused by their insured? And finally, what is the value of those injuries? Obviously, someone with mild back pain has a claim that is worth much less to them than someone who has suffered a broken leg or who has had to have back surgery as a result of the wreck.

If you or your lawyer are not able to get the claim resolved, then a lawsuit will have to be filed. Once this happens, a typical case in Alabama state courts is not set for trial, until at least 9 months to a year after being filed. Oftentimes, most cases will not be tried at the first setting, either due to other cases being set before them, or difficulty for both sides in having the case ready for a jury trial.

Filing the lawsuit.

In order to initiate a lawsuit, a “complaint” must be filed by the plaintiff. This filing sets forth the basic facts of what happened, identifies the court you are suing the defendant in, sets forth the legal theories of why the defendant is liable to you, sets forth your damages (how the defendant hurt you) and asks the court for relief, in other words, what you want a judge or jury to do to help you.

Defendants have thirty days in state court and twenty days in federal court to answer the allegation. They will typically ask for and be given an extension. Shortly after all of the defendants answer, the judge will enter a scheduling order setting out deadlines for the parties meet in preparing their case for trial and setting the trial.

Discovery

Discovery is the part of litigation where the lawyer and parties set about finding out what the other side’s position and evidence in support or in defense of the lawsuit will be at trial. Discovery is made basically of both sides asking each other questions about what happened and what they expect to tell the jury. These questions can be written (Interrogatories, which each side will have to answer in writing), oral (Depositions, where each party or witness is asked questions in front of a court reporter who records everything that is said during the deposition) and Requests for Documents, which are requests that require the other side to produce documents supporting their position at trial.

Dispositive Motions

At the end of discovery, a party may file a motion with the court, asking the judge to decide certain issues. In these motions, the parties can ask the court to decide certain legal or factual issues, which they believe are not in dispute. They may even ask the court to dismiss the case or throw it out of court for lack of evidence.

Trial

While most everyone knows what trials are, few people other than lawyers have a good understanding of what goes on at a trial. Few trials have what lawyers call, “the Perry Mason” moment, where one side breaks down crying on the stand and admits it was all their fault.

Each side presents their evidence and testimony before a judge and jury. This can take several days or several weeks for long complicated trials. The judge manages the trial and makes legal ruling on the evidence and law. At the end, the jury considers the evidence and rules in favor of either the plaintiff or the defendant in the form of a judgment.

Post Trial

If either side is not happy with the trial, they have the right, within the time limits set out by court rules, the ask the judge to vacate the judgment or to appeal the judgment. The appeals are also costly and can be very time consuming. Many appeals can take from six months to a year before the appellate court rules and the case is resolved.

Conclusion
We hope this little summary has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or want more information feel free to call us at 205-879-2447 or fill out the contact sheet on this blog to the left of this post.

The Utah Personal Injury Law Firm Blog has posted an article that gives a good idea of what to expect when dealing with insurance companies if you are involved in a car accident.

If an accident is caused by an uninsured (or underinsured) driver and you should file the claim with your insurance company. If that is included in your policy then insurance should pay for all repairs and damages. Everyone should have as much uninsured/underinsured coverage as possible as such a high percentage of drivers in Alabama don't carry insurance or don't carry enough. Talk to your agent about how cheap it is to have as much um/uim coverage as possible.

If your vehicle is decided to be a "total loss," meaning it would cost more to repair than get a new one, insurance should figure out the value of your car prior to the accident and reimburse you accordingly to buy a new car.

They determine the value of the car by finding comparable vehicles as close to your residence as possible. You do not have to accept their first offer and should be prepared to make a counter-demand by finding your own comparable vehicles.

After an accident your insurance premiums may rise. This is normal, especially if you are responsible for causing the accident. Some insurance companies raise rates if you are involved in more than one accident, even if you're not at fault.

As we always say, if you are injured make sure and seek appropriate medical treatment as soon as possible. If you have any questions call us at 205-879-2447 or send us a message through our blog by filling out the contact sheet on the left side of the screen.

The Chicago Personal Injury Blog has posted an article that discusses why an autopsy is a double-edged sword when dealing with an untimely death.

The article says that an autopsy can shed light onto the cause of a loved one's untimely death and can help the medical examiner fill in the blanks of what happened. Loved ones can also be comforted by autopsy results. Sometimes knowing what happened is a comfort and alleviates feelings of guilt they might have over not noticing symptoms.

In other cases, autopsies can determine whether someone died of a hereditary disease that may affect other family members and provide clues for the future health of the survivors.

However, autopsies are expensive and there's no guarantee one can answer all the questions surrounding a loved one's death. Autopsies can cost $3,000-$5,000, according to this article and still might not provide all the answers.