Basic Provo, UT Car Accident Timelines–With Litigation.
Litigation–The Lawsuit.
If you can’t settle your Provo, Utah car accident case pre-litigation, you have to file a lawsuit. Here are the basic timelines associated with a Utah car accident lawsuit.
Venue of Lawsuit.
If the insurance settlement offers are not adequate and fair a lawsuit can be filed. The location of the lawsuit is generally the place where the wrongdoing occurred and statutes of limitations to sue the at-fault driver is generally four years in Utah.
Statutes of Limitations.
Most car accident have a four year statute of limitations. Although there are several exemptions which your personal injury attorney should diligently look for. You can also sometimes file in the county where the defendant resides at the time the lawsuit is filed.
Complaint and Answer.
Complaint. First, the injured person’s personal injury attorney must draft a complaint which states the factual and legal basis for the lawsuit. No amount of compensation is required to be pled, just that this case fits a particular Utah Tier.
Service of the Complaint. The defendant must be personally served with the lawsuit. After service the defendant has 21 days to file with the court a written answer. The answer triggers the time lines for fact discovery to start.
Fact Discovery
Initial Disclosures.
Depending on your tier structure that you pled, you will have 120 to 210 days of factual discovery. Almost immediately after fact discovery begins the parties will automatically exchange initial disclosures. These initial disclosures provide the names of all known people who may have any knowledge of the case, along with all exhibits of evidence known to either party. Failure to disclose these items in your initial disclosures will bar you from using them at trial. Up front loading and preparing of your initial disclosures is important because you will be under pressure to produce any and all evidence known to you. This is where the injured client really needs to help the personal injury attorney accumulate these items.
Expert Witness Discovery.
Even before fact discovery closes, the personal injury attorney is selecting his expert witnesses. Normally at least a medical expert will testify to the jury about the party’s physical injuries but also about how there were caused. Expert discovery has strict time lines and devastating results when you miss these deadlines, such as having your case dismissed or severely limited.
Expert witness cost a ton of money and sometimes you need several of them. Count on it that the insurance companies will have more money then the plaintiffs lawyers ever will. Common types of expert witnesses in personal injury cases are chiropractors, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, economists, life care planners, and accident reconstructionists. Not every case has all these experts, but generally ever case will need a medical expert to show causation of the injuries.
Summary Judgment Motions/Motions to Strike.
Generally, after fact and expert discovery closes, the parties make attempts to reduce down the other party’s defenses and claims. The same goes for experts. Each party will make motions to strike or restrict the testimony of the other party’s expert witness. These motions are time consuming and delay the case.
Pretrial Conference.
Once fact and expert discovery are completed, along with motion practice, generally one of the parties will move the court for a Rule 16 pretrial conference to obtain a jury trial date, along with pretrial motion in limine practice cutoffs.
Motions in Limine.
Once a jury trial date is set, the parties will begin filing motions in limine in an attempt to shape the course of the trial itself before the trial begins. Motions in limine are as varied as the weather can be. Generally, the insurance defense attorneys have a host of standard motions they file before trial. In addition to the stock motions, you will see tailored motions custom to the facts of the subject case.
Rule 26 Pretrial Disclosures.
28 days before the jury trials is scheduled, the parties exchange a witness list of those expected to be called and those witnesses they may call at trial. The same goes for exhibits. Any failure to disclose witnesses or exhibits at this stage nearly always requires exclusion of that evidence at the trial. Additionally, if you have objections to the evidence produced in the other party’s pretrial disclosures you must state your objections or forever waive them at trial.
The Jury Trial.
Stress and nervousness is what you will feel. Even the most experienced attorneys will also feel stress and nervousness. That is the nature of a jury trial.
The mechanics of inside a court room jury trial is for another blog post.
The Appeal.
If the jury verdict is large, the insurance company will surely appeal. An appeal can take 1-2 years depending.
PROVO, UTAH CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER–JAKE GUNTER
The turn cycle of a personal injury case at minimum is four months if you are lucky. Generally they take nearly one year. If litigation breaks out and lawsuit is filed, expect well over a year to resolve the matter.