Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorneys

Trial

After discovery closes and all dispositive motions are heard and decided, your case will proceed to trial.  Although your accident attorneys seek to win you just compensation as quickly as possible, trial may not come for months or even years after the filing of the lawsuit.

Trial is where your case is ultimately won or lost.  At trial, it is the burden of you and your personal injury attorney to prove your case through the presentation of witnesses and other evidence.  A brief breakdown of the trial process follows.

Pre-Trial

Before trial commences for your personal injury lawsuit, pretrial briefs are provided to the judge.  The parties meet and discuss potential instructions to the jury.  Settlement may be discussed at this time.  If, however, settlement of your personal injury lawsuit cannot be reached, the case will finally proceed to trial.

Jury Selection

On the first day of trial, the attorneys on both sides participate in a process called voir dire, whereby a jury is questioned and selected.  An experienced trial attorney knows how to select the jurors who will fairly evaluate your case and eliminate those who may be biased. 

Some potential jurors have a bias against accident victims and believe that many personal injury cases are “frivolous,” or that accident victims tend to fake or exaggerate their injuries.  These jurors cannot fairly evaluate your case, and an experienced personal injury attorney will eliminate these individuals as jurors.

The jury selection process is a critical part of the trial.  Therefore, it is important to select an attorney who has been before many juries and won.

Witnesses and Evidence

As trial proceeds, your accident lawyer will need to fight to put on evidence that proves your case, and fight to keep out any potential evidence that hurts your injury case.  Fro instance, if your injury attorney believes that a question is improper, he will object and prevent opposing counsel from asking that question.  An experienced personal injury attorney has a strong command of the rules of evidence, and will not sit idly by while the insurance company seeks to admit improper evidence or question witnesses improperly. 

In presenting your case to the jury, it is your accident attorney’s job to prove that the Defendant is at fault and that you have been injured.  Beyond that, your accident attorney must prove the extent of your injuries, through the use of lay and expert witnesses.  This will typically include the testimony of the accident victim as well as at least one treating physician.  If liability for the accident is still an issue at trial, your accident attorney may call an accident reconstuctionist.  If your injuries are lifelong and disabling, an economist might be called to establish lost earnings. 

Trial typically last several days, but may last weeks or even months, depending on the complexity of the issues involved.  An experienced accident attorney is prepared to go the distance with you to win your case.

Argument and the Verdict

Once all the witnesses are called and all evidence is admitted, the judge will the read jury instructions.  Jury instructions are legal rules for the jury to apply to their factual findings in deciding the case.  Any remaining disputes regarding jury instructions will be resolved by the judge. 

Following jury instructions, the parties will make their final arguments.  When your accident attorney makes his argument, he summarizes all of the evidence he presented on your behalf.  An experienced accident attorney provides the jury with a clear picture of the accident and your injuries.  A good argument can make the difference between a full and fair recovery or no recovery at all.

After the parties make their arguments, the jury will deliberate and reach a verdict.  The length of deliberations vary, and can last between minutes and days.  If your injury lawyer has convinced the jury, however, you will be awarded a verdict that fairly reflects your damages.  A jury verdict can be substantial.  Accordingly, your choice in accident attorney is critical when your case may need to be decided by a jury.

As you can see, the process of a Personal Injury Case is a long and complicated one, and not something you should do with an inexperienced lawyer.  Contact the Oronoz Injury Law offices at 702-878-2889 to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.  We can help you get the compensation you deserve.