What to Expect During the Car Accident Lawsuit Process

If you or a loved one were involved in a car accident, you may be experiencing severe pain and be out of work while facing high medical bills. The uncertainty of this is unsettling to most. You naturally may be wondering what the car accident lawsuit process is like. To answer your questions, we will explain what to expect during the lawsuit process, how the process differs depending on what state you live in, and what to expect if your case ends up going to trial.

Need to Know:

• Get medical attention, if necessary, and notify your insurance company immediately.
• Do not admit fault or accept any settlement offers from the insurance company without speaking to an attorney. An insurance company is looking to resolve your case for the lowest amount of money possible. They are not on your side and certainly not looking to help you.
• Hire an experienced attorney who can help you file a lawsuit and get the compensation you deserve.

In This Article:

• How to Start a Car Accident Lawsuit
• How Car Accident Laws Vary by State
• What Happens During a Car Accident Lawsuit?
• Case Study: $9,950,000 Settlement in Case With Disputed Liability
• What to Expect if Your Car Accident Lawsuit is Going to Trial
• Case Study: $13.5 Million Recovery for Our Client
• Consulting an Experienced Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyer

How to Start a Car Accident Lawsuit

There are some immediate steps you should take after a car crash, including getting medical attention if you are injured or concerned, speaking to the police, and notifying your insurance carrier. You may also be in position to obtain contact information from any witnesses.

When speaking to the police and insurance representatives, do not admit any fault and do not accept any settlement offers. Your next step should be to contact personal injury attorneys.

Do not delay in reaching out to lawyers for free consultations. Not only is it beneficial to begin investigating your case while the evidence is easiest to ascertain, your lawyer can also help you file any time-sensitive paperwork.

Choosing a Car Accident Attorney

When meeting with an attorney, be sure to bring all documentation you have relating to the accident, such as:

• Copies of police reports
• Pictures of the accident scene, the damage to the vehicles involved and any other photographs or videos of the accident or relevant to the accident
• Contact information of the other driver, his or her insurance company, and any witnesses
• Medical reports or prescriptions you have received
• Any notes about the accident or injuries that you have kept
• Any correspondence from insurance companies or the other driver
• A copy of your insurance policy or declaration (dec) sheet
• Your no-fault claim number, if applicable, and any other claim numbers from any of the insurance companies

These documents provide a useful starting point, but an experienced attorney often needs to dig deeper, especially given how evidence such as witness statements and police reports can be subjective.

Take, for example, one case at Block O’Toole and Murphy, where our client’s leg was broken in a hit and run accident. The police had little evidence to follow — our client knew she was hit by a truck but did not see its license plate — and so they dropped their investigation. Unfortunately, without a defendant to sue, our client wouldn’t have a case.

Even though the accident had happened weeks earlier, our firm hired a private investigator to track down the truck driver. The investigator found surveillance video of the accident from a local business, and was then able to continue tracking the truck by asking other businesses along the truck’s route for their surveillance videos, eventually leading him to the defendant’s front door. Finally, our investigator knocked on the truck owner’s door and interviewed him, and the driver admitted he hit our client, enabling us to move forward with a case.

Don’t Be Afraid of Lawyer Fees

There is generally no up-front cost with personal injury attorneys, because they operate on a “contingency basis,” which means that they are not paid unless your case is favorably resolved. Your attorney’s payment will be a portion of the recovery (settlement, judgment, or arbitration). When it comes to something as critical as your health and mounting medical bills, give yourself the best chance and hire a professional.

What Your Lawyer Will Do Next

Your attorney may contact the other vehicle’s owner or insurance carrier and exchange information with the insurance company, particularly regarding the injuries you suffered, and discuss how liability might be assessed.

There may be some instances where a settlement will be discussed during these preliminary conversations.

With rare exceptions, your lawyer will advise you not to take the first offer from the insurance company. If liability is contested or the extent of your injuries are not yet known, there is likely going to be a significant difference between the initial offer the insurance company makes and the amount of money you may be able to ultimately recover for your injuries.

In these situations, your attorney may formally begin the car accident lawsuit process by filing a legal complaint.

How Car Accident Laws Vary by State

While the process of a car accident lawsuit is similar across the United States, there are a few legal differences that may affect whether or not you can file a lawsuit.

Fault or No-Fault Theory

Whether or not you live in a “fault” state determines whether you can file a lawsuit as a matter of course. In fault states, car accident victims can sue for any amount of damages.

In “no-fault” states, all drivers are required to have no-fault insurance, which provides automatic coverage regardless of who was at fault for the accident. In New York, drivers are entitled to up to $50,000 for medical expense coverage, lost wages, and other out of pocket expenses, provided they file a no-fault application within 30 days of the accident.

However, no-fault states do have strict requirements for bringing a lawsuit following a car accident. In New York, victims can only file a lawsuit if they meet the serious injury threshold.

Negligence Theory

In personal injury law, “negligence” refers to careless conduct which causes damages. Depending on what state you’re in, different principles of negligence will determine whether you can collect damages.

• In “contributory negligence” states, a victim is not entitled to any damages if they were found to be partially negligent in a car accident. For example, if the defendant ran a red light but the plaintiff did not attempt to brake or turn even though they had time to react, the plaintiff would not be awarded any damages. Only four states — Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia — and Washington, D.C. follow this principle.
• In “pure comparative negligence” states, like New York, a plaintiff can recover damages from anyone else who was at fault in the accident. However, if the plaintiff was also at fault, their compensation will be reduced accordingly. To use the above example again, a jury may find that the plaintiff was 33 percent at fault for the accident, in which case their recovery would be reduced to 67 percent of the total damages, instead of 100 percent.
• In “modified comparative negligence” states, victims can recover a percentage of their damages, but only if their percentage of fault does not exceed a certain maximum. For example, in Connecticut, plaintiffs cannot recover damages if they were more than 50 percent at fault for an accident.

Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations refers to the timeframe in which you can file a lawsuit. Depending on the state your accident occurred in, this could be anywhere from one to six years. In New York, you have three years to file a personal injury lawsuit against a private defendant, and two years to file a wrongful death claim. If you are suing a municipality, such as New York State, you only have 90 days to file a Notice of Claim, and one year and 90 days to file a lawsuit.

What Happens During a Car Accident Lawsuit?

Most personal injury lawsuits settle out of court, but an experienced attorney will prepare for your case as if it were going to trial. Whether or not your lawyer negotiates a settlement, the steps for a lawsuit pre-trial are the same.

A Complaint Is Filed and Served

Once your attorney has filed a complaint stating your claims against the defendant, it must be “served” on the defendants. In the case of a car accident, a negligence claim will usually be included in this complaint. In rare circumstances regarding accidents involving emergency or hazard vehicles, your attorney may file a reckless disregard claim.

In New York State, negligence claims can also be based on violations of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, such as failing to stop and yield at a stop sign, following the vehicle ahead too closely (rear-end collision), failing to yield to a pedestrian, failing to yield the right of way to another vehicle, and unsafe lane change.

The Defendant Answers the Claim

The defendant’s attorney, generally a lawyer appointed by the insurance company for the defendant vehicle owner, will then “answer” by admitting or denying knowledge or information of the allegations made in the complaint.

They will also generally assert defenses to shift liability, or blame, from their client. Common defenses include that the defendant driver was faced with an emergency or had an unexpected medical event or mechanical problem. The defendant’s attorney may also assert that the plaintiff was partially or solely responsible for causing the accident or failed to reasonably treat their injuries.

In some instances, they may make a “crossclaim” and try to blame a third-party for the accident, such as another vehicle or a municipality for the condition of the roadway or the traffic signs.

An experienced personal injury won’t be deterred by multiple defendants in a case — in fact, it can be a good thing, especially in a state like New York, which uses the approach of “pure joint and several” liability to deal with multiple defendants.

Discovery Begins

During discovery, your lawyer and the defendant’s lawyer will exchange documents relating to your case’s liability and damages.

In car accident lawsuits in particular, an experienced attorney will seek black box data from both vehicles, if available. This information can be invaluable, as black box data contains precise information about the moments before a crash.

However, hiring analysts to extract and interpret the data is expensive, and if the defendant is not cooperative, your lawyer will have to get a court order for the black box data. Our attorneys have regularly had to do this, but it’s well worth the effort — if a defendant does not want to share their data, it usually means it will be very advantageous to our case.

A good attorney will also exchange information regarding the cost of your medical treatment, including medications, surgeries, follow-up appointments and diagnostic tests, to begin showing the insurance company the cost of your past care.

Your attorney may also retain medical professionals as experts to state their opinions about physical limitations your injuries caused, the amount of medical care you are expected to need in the future as a result of the injuries you sustained in the accident and whether the limitations from your injuries have affected your ability to work.

Deposition and Testimony

During the discovery phase, attorneys may also use depositions to secure testimony which can be presented at trial. The deposed witness must answer under oath, in the presence of both attorneys and a court reporter who records what is said.

A deposition is also an opportunity for an attorney to scrutinize somebody’s character and background, which can help them understand how that person may present themself to a jury at trial.

In the case of a car accident, the defendant’s attorney will generally have to provide a report to the insurance company about the injured party, including whether he or she is believable and likeable (which can affect the value of the case).

By the time the initial discovery phase is completed, both sides will have given their version of the car accident. This is the stage of the car accident lawsuit process where many cases settle – but not always.

Negotiation and Settlement

Once the discovery phase is complete, your attorney may draft a letter which will restate the defendant’s liability in the accident, the injuries you suffered and the other damages which must be compensated in order to “make you whole again.” This is a negotiation strategy many attorneys employ.

When appropriate, both (or all) lawyers will begin to discuss a possible settlement. If an agreement is not reached but the two (or more) sides are close, a mediation may be agreed upon.

If the sides are too far apart to reach a satisfactory settlement, however, the mediation may end without a resolution. This does not mean settlement negotiations have ended, however. In some cases, information learned at a mediation can lay the ground for another mediation attempt or further negotiations which may prove more fruitful.

Case Study: $9,950,000 Settlement in Case With Disputed Liability

Though every car accident lawsuit follows the same steps, each case has its own complexities. If there are any hurdles to overcome in your case, having an experienced attorney who is willing to go the extra mile is essential to a successful outcome.

For instance, in a particularly devastating case our firm handled, our client was a 28-year-old social worker who was in her employer’s parking lot, loading groceries for underprivileged families into her car trunk. Suddenly, she was struck from behind by a commercial van, pinning her to her own car. The damage to our client’s leg was immediate and irreversible — after two emergency surgical attempts to save her leg failed, she underwent an over-the-knee amputation.

Our firm actively helped our client navigate every step in her lawsuit, including following up on her workers’ compensation claim, speaking to her new landlord on her behalf while she waited for her first worker’s compensation payment to arrive, and following up with her apartment on accessibility issues. Additionally, handling attorneys Stephen J. Murphy and David L. Scher played a crucial role in investigating the accident.

There were two defendant drivers blaming each another for the accident. Both vehicles were driving in the same direction on the road next to the parking lot. A woman driving a Buick attempted to make a right turn into the parking lot. A man driving a commercial van tried to pass the Buick on its right side, just as it was turning into the lot. This led the commercial van to careen into the parking lot and strike our client.

According to the Buick driver, they were on a one-lane road and she had turned her blinker on, making the van driver’s choice to pass her — especially on the right side — extremely negligent. However, the van driver had a different story: he alleged that the road had two lanes; the Buick driver had made a right turn from the left lane; and he did not see her blinker turn on.

The initial police report seemed to side with the van driver. The Buick driver was issued a ticket for an improper turn, but the van driver did not receive a ticket.

Unfortunately for our client, the van had a much larger insurance policy than the Buick did. If our attorneys could not prove any fault lie with the van driver, the amount of money our client could collect wouldn’t be nearly enough to compensate her for her injuries.

Murphy and Scher researched whether the road was intended to have one or two lanes and requested surveillance footage from our client’s place of work. Both efforts paid off: though wide, the street did have just one lane; and the surveillance video clearly showed the van driving too fast and too close to the Buick.

At the same time, the Buick did start its right turn while close to the double yellow line, and it was unclear whether the driver had turned on her blinker before beginning her turn. Any reasonable jury would place some blame with both drivers.

Now that our attorneys had proved both vehicles shared some responsibility for the accident, they had an excellent advantage in settlement negotiations. As a result, the case settled for $9,950,000. This was one of the largest known results of its kind in New York State history.

What to Expect If Your Car Accident Lawsuit Is Going to Trial

If a settlement cannot be agreed upon, a trial will be scheduled. The trial date could be set six months or even a year or more in advance.

In a trial, the plaintiff has the burden of proof – they must show that the defendant was at fault for the accident and that the plaintiff sustained serious injuries and damages because of the accident.

Jury Selection

A trial can be done in front of a jury, or it can be done in front of a judge without a jury present in what is known as a “bench trial.” In the event of a jury trial, jurors are carefully screened for biases, prejudices, or anything at all that might make them unable to render a fair verdict and chosen in a process known as voir dire, or more commonly, jury selection.

Opening Statements

When the trial begins, both sides will give their opening statements to summarize their position on the case and give an introduction to the jury (or judge) about what the evidence is expected to show.

Witness Testimony

Both sides will then have the opportunity to produce witnesses and experts who will give testimony and be cross-examined.

Closing Arguments

After both sides have finished with cross examinations, each attorney will give their closing arguments. Because your attorney has the burden of proof, he or she will get to give their closing statement last, giving them the final word in the trial.

Jury Instructions, Deliberation and Verdict

Finally, the judge will instruct the jury on the law they must follow in reaching their verdict. In a car accident lawsuit, this will typically involve instructing the jury on the standard for negligence, as well as instructing the jury on how evidence may be considered, including witnesses and direct versus circumstantial evidence.

The jury will then meet, deliberate, and, unless the case settles during this timeframe, render a verdict. Although it is hard to predict how long a jury will deliberate for, many car accident jury deliberations are over in a day or two.

Case Study: $13.5 Million Recovery for Our Client

At any point in a trial, even while the jury is deliberating, a settlement may still be reached. By this point, both sides will have invested significant time and money and will be highly motivated to reach an agreement that they can both be content with. If the defense thinks the jury is likely to side with the plaintiff, they become highly motivated to offer a substantial settlement.

This is exactly what happened in one of our firm’s record-breaking cases.

The lawyers at Block O’Toole & Murphy fought tirelessly for our client, a 24-year-old woman who was struck by a car while walking home at night. Our client suffered catastrophic injuries from the accident, including a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures.

The defendant driver claimed that she did not see the plaintiff because of the dark clothing she was wearing and the dimly lit roadway. After questioning the defendant at the scene of the accident, the police initially found her to be free of legal wrongdoing.

In order to win the case, we would have to show the jury that the defendant should have seen our client and tried to avoid impact.

Our partners, Daniel O’Toole and Scott Occhiogrosso, dug deep to find the truth and show the jury a more accurate picture of what happened that night. They presented a team of experts who testified that the defendant should have been able to see the plaintiff at a distance of 174 feet. They also presented an accident reconstruction that estimated the defendant’s speed at the time of impact to be 50 mph, contradicting her statement that she was traveling at 25-30 mph. They even presented photographs of the victim’s belongings, which went flying so far as to create a “debris field” along the roadway.

The jury deliberated for four weeks, but before they could reach a verdict, the case was settled for a record-breaking $13.5 million. This is one of the largest reported settlements of a personal injury case in the history of Suffolk County, New York.

The team at Block O’Toole & Murphy was able to achieve this incredible result because they were relentless in their pursuit of justice for our client. By assembling a team of experts and reconstructing the accident, they were able to present the truth to the jury, even in the face of an aggressive defense.

Consulting an Experienced Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyer

While this article gives a general overview of the car accident lawsuit process, each case has its own intricacies. As evidenced by the above case examples, an experienced attorney will be able to handle all the complexities of your case, including conducting accident investigation, so that you can focus on recovering from your injuries.

The lawyers of Block O’Toole & Murphy have a proven track record litigating motor vehicle accidents and have won more results exceeding $1 million than any other law firm in New York every year since 2012. To receive a free, no-obligation legal consultation from one of our experienced attorneys, call 212-736-5300 or fill out our contact form. We are proud to serve all of New York and New Jersey.