Utah Personal Injury Settlement Timeline With Lawsuit
INVESTIGATE AND RESEARCH
Your attorney will research the law pertaining to your claims and investigate supporting facts.
FILE LAWSUIT
SERVICE
Your attorney will serve the lawsuit and summons on defendants.
MOTION TO DISMISS
In some cases, the defense attorneys will file a motion to dismiss the case immediately after it is filed for various reasons.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS
The parties exchange relevant documents, witness lists, insurance information, and damages computations.
WRITTEN DISCOVERY
The parties exchange written requests for information, along with corresponding objections and responses. They also send subpoenas for information to third-parties.
DEPOSITIONS
The parties depose other parties to the case, witnesses, family members, medical professionals, and others.
MEDICAL EXAM
In some cases, the defense will request that the plaintiff be examined by a doctor hired by the insurance company.
SITE INSPECTION
In some cases, the attorneys and/or retained experts will inspect the site of an accident.
EXPERT DISCOVERY
In many cases, the parties retain expert witnesses. During expert discovery, the expert witnesses produce reports and/or are deposed by the opposing party.
MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
In some cases, after expert discovery, the defense attorneys will file a motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to dismiss the case for various reasons.
PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCES
If the case survives summary judgment, the attorneys will have several pre-trail conferences with the court to set trial dates and resolve issues pertaining to the trial.
MEDIATION
If the parties have not mediated the case, the judge will likely order the parties to mediation prior to trial. In some cases, the parties may attend more than one mediation in a case.
TRIAL
The trial will be held before a judge or a jury depending on what the parties have requested. It can last several days up to several weeks.
PAY BILLS
After your case resolves either through settlement, mediation, or a verdict, you may ask your attorney to negotiate and/or pay any of your outstanding medical or other bills relating to the accident.
DISBURSEMENT
Your attorney will disburse funds to you, bringing your case to a conclusion.