What Happens After a Deposition During a Personal Injury Case?
When you’ve filed a personal injury case, you might have a vague idea about what the process will be like for you. One aspect of your case is the deposition, and many people don’t know what this step entails. We’ll go over what a deposition is and what comes after the deposition so you can feel confident in your case.
Navigating a personal injury claim can be confusing, which is why you’ll want a Biloxi personal injury lawyer on your side to help you decide what’s best for you and your case. Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law, can provide you with the legal support you need and ensure that you understand the legal process every step of the way.
What Is a Deposition?
After you file a claim and before it goes to trial, there is a step called a deposition that you will have to go through to gather information about the accident that caused your injury. By definition, the deposition is the sworn out-of-court testimony of any witnesses and is part of the discovery process. Though it is not held in court, there is usually a court reporter present to record the statements, and both parties’ lawyers are there to ask the witnesses questions.
The questions that are asked are used to find out more information about what caused the injury. Sometimes statements from depositions are used at trial, although they are usually considered hearsay and are inadmissible. Their main use is to find more leads on potential evidence for either side in the case.
Depositions can either be interrogatory or written. In an interrogatory deposition, witnesses receive a subpoena to appear in person to be questioned about information they might have that can add to the personal injury claim or to evaluate if their testimony will be helpful if the claim goes to trial.
When it’s a written deposition, both parties submit questions in advance and the deponent, or witness, only answers those questions. Although this method is cheaper since nobody needs to attend a court event, it’s not as helpful in the case because attorneys cannot ask witnesses follow-up questions to their answers.
What Comes After the Deposition
The deposition is part of the case’s first step—discovery. After the deposition, the court reporter will create a transcript of the testimonies so the lawyers, judge, and jury have a written document to reference for the information gathered. If your lawyers feel like they did not get enough information from the deposition, they will call more witnesses to be deposed.
The opposing party might request an independent medical examination to get another evaluation of your injuries. Although the examination will be framed as unbiased, it most likely will be an attempt by the other party’s lawyers to disprove the injuries you claim to have and their severity.
Once all the necessary information has been gathered by both sides, mediation begins. Your lawyer will work hard to reach a fair settlement with your insurance company or the other party who is liable for your injuries. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, then your personal injury claim will go to trial.
Hire a Biloxi Personal Injury Attorney
Filing a personal injury case can be confusing and intimidating. You’re already trying to recover from your physical and emotional injuries from the accident, so working toward recovering financially would be one more thing to worry about. Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law in Biloxi will fight for your rights so you don’t have to.
With over ten years of experience, Corban Gunn has what it takes to hold the negligent party accountable for their actions. You shouldn’t have to struggle to pay for injuries you didn’t cause. Our office is prepared to work tirelessly toward justice for you. Contact us today so we can get started on your case as soon as possible.
