This is the final stage (other than an appeal) of a personal injury claim. If our client (the plaintiff) and the defendant/defendants don’t reach a final agreement on a settlement throughout all of the other stages of a claim, this is the final option.

The trial is when both parties go before a judge and jury in a court of law. Most of our cases (as I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts about “Filing a Lawsuit”) go to Circuit Court rather than County Court.

When a case goes to trial, the outcome is essentially up to the appointed judge and jury. Both the Plaintiff’s Attorney and the Defendant’s Attorney present an opening and a closing statement as well as evidence to support each side. There are many factors that contribute to damages such as past medical bills, proposed future medical disabilities/treatment, lost time from work, and pain and suffering. Each side presents an argument which they think the Plaintiff is owed based upon the evidence of damages and, at the end of the trial, a verdict is rendered by the jury. The jury consists of six (6) drivers licensed in the State of Florida.

We, being in the group of top trial lawyers in America, are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. There are over 4000 members throughout the country (with several members in Canada and England.) Less than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members.

This shows you that we really do mean business and that we take our clients’ cases seriously. If your case goes to trial, we want you to feel secure in knowing that we accomplish serious results when it comes to complex cases.

I hope these blog posts have been helpful to you in providing the information needed to understand the eight stages of a personal injury claim. If you have any questions regarding your personal injury claim or a potential personal injury claim, give us a call: 888-WE-MEAN-IT (888-936-3264). We are here to help and we mean business.

Steve was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. As was the practice for new doctors his father worked day and night during his medical residency at Charity Hospital there. Steve comes from a long line of doctors. His father, his grandfather, his great grandfather, even two uncles were all specialists and/or surgeons in their chosen medical specialties, including internal medicine specialist, obstetrics / gynecology, neurosurgery and general practice / surgery. His great-great grandfather was the Surgeon General of Ohio during the Civil War.