Fair Exchange: Discovery in Personal Injury Cases
By far, the lengthiest part of many personal injury cases is the discovery process. In a previous post, our Louisiana personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams explained that discovery is the exchange of information between the parties. Here, let’s go into a little more detail about the purpose and the process of discovery.
The Purpose of Discovery
Whether you are a plaintiff or a defendant, discovery aims to find information, documents, and/or evidence that helps your case or harms your opponent’s case, or both. With that in mind, an attorney will typically cast a wide net by using several discovery methods.
The Methods of Discovery
There are various methods of discovery which means that many different ways exist to request information. To name a few, discovery can be requested in writing by sending written interrogatories. Interrogatories are merely questions that your attorney wants written responses to. Additionally, an attorney may request documents in writing via a request for production. They can request to inspect physical items or places if they deem it necessary. They may issue requests for an opposing party to admit facts, etc.
Moreover, in addition to written requests, an attorney may want to ask questions orally via a deposition. Once again, the purpose of discovery is for your attorney to gather as much information as possible regarding the case.
What Can be Requested?
The scope of discovery is relatively broad, and parties can request and receive discovery regarding any non-privileged information that is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending case. For example, suppose the case concerns a back injury alleged to have been received from a car crash. In that case, a defendant may ask to see the plaintiff’s medical records from before the car crash to determine if the plaintiff had preexisting back issues. Additionally, in the same circumstance, the plaintiff may request to see the defendant’s cell phone records to determine if the defendant was texting at the time of the accident.
Why Does Discovery Influence the Length of the Process?
Although the discovery process can be very useful, given the nature of discovery, the more complex the case, the more discovery that will likely need to be done. The more discovery to be done, the longer the discovery process may take. This is why the discovery process is the lengthiest part of any personal injury case. However, discovery can also help facilitate settlement if vital information is discovered that seems to make clear that one or the other parties has a strong chance at success.
Either way, if an attorney is hired soon after an injury occurs, the attorney can begin to gather relevant documents and information in anticipation of the discovery process. Also, the attorney can begin to identify information and documents that can be requested from other parties during discovery. Hiring a good personal injury attorney as soon as possible can be a helpful way to navigate a personal injury case and prepare for the discovery process.
Call Law Offices of Philip B. Adams
Being injured is bad enough, but long wait times for recovery just makes it worse. Let the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams fight for you and work to get you fairly compensated as quickly as we can. We are experienced Louisiana injury accident attorneys who know how to navigate the process and handle matters diligently and efficiently.
If you, a friend, or a family member has a potential personal injury case and needs a personal injury attorney, do not hesitate to contact the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams today! We are Louisiana accident attorneys and represent clients throughout the state. Visit our website to set up a consultation through our easy-to-use online form.