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Leave It To Court After Your Car Accident

2 December 2019

Lawrence Ross

When you are injured in a car accident, you have several options for dealing with the way it's affected your life. Many accident victims trust the at-fault driver's insurance company to pay them what is fair. Others decide they are owed more than what the insurer wants to offer and try to negotiate for a settlement. The only other option when those two don't work out is to take your personal injury case to court. Read on to find out how to cope with one of the most important aspects of a court case, being prepared to take the stand.

Preparation is Everything

By the time your case is brought before a judge and jury, many months of preparation are on the books. In fact, the legal practice of discovery is an integral part of trial preparation practices. Discovery can take longer to get through than the court case itself because so much information has to be sifted through, requested, verified, and recorded. As a participant in both discovery and the trial, you need to be prepared too. There is a lot you can do to make your time at your deposition and at trial more comfortable, smooth, and successful.

Getting Ready to Testify

Both the deposition, which is part of discovery, and the trial can be expected to challenge your memories of the accident. By the time you end up at the conference table, many months have gone by since the accident. You may still be dealing with some of the negative aspects of the accident but you may have forgotten details about the way the wreck happened and your first few weeks of being injured. To refresh you on the facts of the case so you can more easily answer questions, review the following important documents and information before you testify.

1. Your medical treatment history. Use your medical records, insurance statements, journal entries, calendars, diagnostic test results, and anything else you've accumulated to refresh yourself on your injuries and the misery of those first few weeks after the accident.
2. The accident or police report can refresh your memory of the responding officer's opinion as to how the accident occurred.
3. Eye-witnesses to the accident will provide statements about what they saw so review that information.
4. Take a look at any photographs of your wrecked vehicle, your injuries, and the accident scene.
5. Review your testimony with your personal injury lawyer. They can help you focus on what are likely to be the questions asked of you on the stand or during the deposition.

Speak to a civil litigation lawyer to learn more.

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