The 2 Stages of a Personal Injury Lawsuit – Pre-suit & Litigation

One of the biggest misconceptions that personal injury clients have is that every personal injury lawsuit ends up going through a trial. While it is extremely important to hire a personal injury attorney who has extensive litigation and trial experience, the reality is that the majority of personal injury cases do not end up in trial. In fact, most personal injury cases resolve without even having to go through litigation.

There are two separate and distinct stages of a personal injury lawsuit: (1) pre-suit and (2) litigation. The pre-suit stage is the portion of the case where the case has not been filed in the court system yet and JB Law, P.A. is dealing directly with the insurance company. During pre-suit, the insurance company typically has not retained a law firm and the assigned insurance adjuster is JB Law’s point of contact.

Not coincidentally, the best litigators and trial attorneys often have the strongest pre-suit results. This is because the insurance companies know who is willing to litigate and who is not. Not every personal injury lawyer is an accomplished litigator or trial lawyer so an injured person must be aware of who they are hiring to protect their injury claim.

Resolving a Personal Injury Case in Pre-Suit

There are multiple benefits to resolving a case in pre-suit. Cases that resolve in pre-suit (a) do not require a Plaintiff to go through a deposition or Compulsory Medical Examination with the insurance company’s doctor and (b) the attorneys’ fees are lower than litigation. It also takes significantly less time than litigating the case so the client gets their money significantly earlier in the process.

However, it is not always that simple. Many times, the insurance company will not make a quality offer during the pre-suit stage of a lawsuit. At that point it is in the best interests of the client to file the case and go through litigation. Approximately 99% of cases placed in litigation resolve without the need of a trial. In fact, a case can be resolved any time during the course of litigation if the two sides come to an agreement. In Florida, every single case must go through mediation prior to trial. In larger cases, the Court can often require the parties go through multiple mediations if the Judge believes the parties are close to resolution.

Hire Boca Raton Personal Injury Firm, JB Law

At JB Law, the clients do not have to worry about anything but getting healthy during the pre-suit stage of the case. We do our best to resolve our clients’ cases so they pay less in attorneys’ fees and costs. But we are also eager to fight for our clients and take on some of the largest insurance companies and corporations in the country. JB Law, PA has extensive experience litigating large cases against companies like Uber, Walmart and Publix along with insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate, Geico and AIG.

Do not trust your personal injury case to a firm that does not actively litigate cases and bring cases to trial. Do not fall victim to one of the advertising firms where you will get lost in the shuffle and just become a number in a file cabinet. At JB Law, all clients are given the attention they deserve and are provided with my personal cell phone. It is not my “work” cell phone number. It is my only cell phone number. My clients can always reach me and always know what is going on with their case.

If you ever have any questions about your legal rights, please reach out to me on either my cell phone (305) 803-1865 or my office line (561) 717-9551 .