Will Your Texas Personal Injury Case Settle?

If you’ve been injured by someone else’s negligence, you have many things going on, and bringing your personal injury case to a close is prominent among them. The fact is that many personal injury cases do settle before they go to court. Settling out of court helps minimize time, expense, and stress, and it’s a great option if the insurance company is willing to negotiate a settlement that fully covers your damages. An experienced Round Rock personal injury lawyer will negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf and will help you determine if going to court is your best path forward.

Your Injury Case

Every personal injury case is unique to its own circumstances, but generally the more complicated your case, the more probable a trial becomes. For example, if you’ve been seriously injured on the job or were injured in a commercial trucking accident, your case is more likely to end up in court than is a straightforward case involving a car accident.

The Discovery Process

Depending upon the complexity of your case, settlement discussions could begin almost immediately, or they might come later (especially in larger cases). Once your personal injury case is filed, both sides will begin their pretrial investigations, which is known as the discovery process. This can include a wide variety of evidence, including:

 

  • Evidence that was gathered at the scene of the accident
  • Written answers solicited from the opposition (known as interrogatories)
  • Testimony that’s given under oath (known as depositions) 

 

The insurance company isn’t likely to engage in negotiations before the discovery process is complete. 

Expert Witnesses

Many complicated personal injury cases hinge on the testimony of expert witnesses. These witnesses come in and explain the nuts and bolts of what happened in a way that non-experts can better understand. In fact, expert witnesses can be so important that insurance companies will sometimes wait to settle until they’ve seen the expert witness list. 

Arbitration

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution, and it provides a mechanism for keeping your case out of court. In arbitration, both you and the insurance company must agree ahead of time to accept the arbitrator’s forthcoming decision as binding. The arbitrator is a neutral third party, and there can be advantages to the arbitration process, including that: 

 

  • Instead of being assigned a judge, the parties can choose their arbitrator.
  • The process is often faster than going to court.
  • The results are generally not made public, and if both parties agree, they can be made confidential.

If Someone Else’s Negligence Leaves You Injured, You Need an Experienced Round Rock Personal Injury Lawyer 

If you have a personal injury case, you naturally want to resolve it as quickly as you can, but you also want to ensure that it adequately covers the damages you’ve suffered. Attorney Elissa Henry at Elissa I. Henry Law Firm, PLLC, in Round Rock, Texas, is here to help. Ms. Henry has the experience, determination, and compassion to skillfully advocate for your claim’s best possible resolution – whether it goes to trial or not. For more information, please contact or call us at (512) 766-4529 today.