Montana Car Accident Lawyer
Car accidents do not always cause personal injuries. However, when a car accident does result in injury, it’s vital to contact medical services and law enforcement. Even in accidents where the injuries sustained seem minor, it’s important to seek medical attention. You should do this to document the fact that you were injured at all, and because injuries that seem minor at first often turn out to be more severe as the days pass. Speaking with law enforcement after the accident is also important because it can preserve important facts about the wreck including whether your accident resulted from the actions of a negligent driver.
If you are injured in an accident, or a rear-end accident because of a negligent driver, you may need to file a personal injury claim to receive monetary compensation for your injuries and any other losses you have sustained. Severe personal injuries, such as a traumatic brain injury, can lead to large medical bills and time off work resulting in lost income, among other expenses. Personal injury claims exist to help people obtain fair compensation for such losses as well as for pain and suffering and emotional distress. The best way to ensure you have a successful claim is to work with an experienced Montana car accident lawyer. They will have the knowledge and expertise to pursue your right to compensation and protect your best interests throughout the entire process.
Steps in a Montana Personal Injury Claim after a Car Accident
Personal injury is a term used to describe a type of lawsuit in which the individual suing (the plaintiff) has suffered physical and/or emotional harm due to the wrongful actions or inactions of the party they’re suing (the defendant). Every personal injury claim involves issues relating to liability and the right to financial compensation. In a personal injury claim, a person is liable if their conduct makes them legally responsible for the harm done. If liability is established, then the question becomes whether the victim was harmed and, if so, what amount of money will compensate them for that harm. Putting together this evidence is often complicated and requires a thorough understanding of the laws and procedures that apply. An attorney who has the experience and the skills to prepare the personal injury claim properly can make all the difference.
If liability is clear, a personal injury claim is properly prepared, and the negligent driver is adequately insured, it may be possible to obtain a fair settlement by negotiating with the insurance company before filing an action in court. In many cases though, it is necessary to file a lawsuit to obtain the compensation that the injured person deserves. Below are four typical steps in a Montana personal injury claim that goes to court.
Step 1. Filing the Complaint
A complaint is the document that starts the lawsuit. The person filing it is called the plaintiff. The person or company it is filed against is called the defendant. The complaint will contain “allegations” describing what happened and set forth the legal basis (such as “negligence”) that entitles the plaintiff to recover damages from the defendant. The complaint also specifies the type of damages or other “relief” being sought.
Step 2. Defendant’s Motion or Answer
Following the complaint, the defendant will usually respond by either filing a motion to dismiss or filing an answer. The motion to dismiss commonly argues that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover even if everything they say in the complaint is true. This motion is usually based on a legal argument. Both sides submit briefs to the court and may also argue the motion in person if the judge orders. If this motion is granted, the plaintiff’s case may be dismissed, or the plaintiff may be given a chance to amend the complaint to address a legal insufficiency. If the motion is denied, or if the defendant does not move to dismiss at all, the defendant will file a response to the complaint. This response is called an answer. The answer will admit or deny each of the plaintiff’s allegations and usually will also assert various “affirmative defenses.” These defenses may claim, for example, that the plaintiff or another party was responsible for causing the accident, or that the plaintiff’s injuries were not caused by the accident but by some other event.
Step 3. Discovery
An important part of any legal case is discovery. This is the process by which each side learns information that is known to the other side and to various witnesses. Ordinarily, discovery begins with written questions that ask the other side to provide factual responses to “interrogatories,” to produce documents that contain relevant information, and to admit certain facts that the party asking believes are not in dispute. This process has increasingly become a battleground involving letters, meetings, arguments, motions, and briefs about what each side is entitled to discover from the other. After the written discovery is underway and enough information and documents have been obtained, depositions take place. Depositions allow each side to interview the other party and witnesses under oath in front of a court reporter who produces a verbatim transcript of the questions and answers.
Step 4. Summary Judgment Motions
At the close of discovery, either party or both parties may move for summary judgment. These motions ask the court to grant judgment in favor of the moving party as to the whole case or part of the case based on the facts that are then known. The question of deciding summary judgment motions is whether there is a genuine factual question to be decided by a trial. If there is no real question to be decided, the court will grant judgment as to that issue. If the court finds that there are genuine issues of fact, those issues will be decided at the trial.
Step 5. Settlement Mediation
In most cases, around the time that summary judgment motions are made, a settlement mediation is held. The mediation may be ordered by the court or organized voluntarily by the parties. Mediation is a non-binding process in which the parties and their lawyers meet with a neutral mediator to see if they can reach a settlement agreement. The mediator may be another lawyer, a magistrate judge, or another professional appointed by the court. Mediations often last all day but usually not more than one day. If they are successful, the case may be resolved at that time without trial. In some cases, an agreement at a mediation requires approval of the court, such as when the interests of a child are involved.
Step 6. Trial
When the plaintiff and the defendant cannot reach a settlement agreement, the claim moves to trial. Most personal injury cases are tried before a judge with a jury, but some are tried before a judge sitting without a jury. If there is a jury, the jury decides factual questions and the judge decides legal questions and instructs the jury as to applicable law. As most people know from watching movies and television, both parties at trial have a chance to present their own witnesses and cross examine the witnesses of the other side. Both parties also have a chance to introduce evidence, object to the other side’s evidence, and argue their case to the jury. During the trial, the plaintiff’s legal team presents and argues the law and provides evidence that shows their client deserves fair and full compensation.
Step 7. Deliberation
After all the evidence has been presented and the judge has instructed the jury as to the applicable law, the jury deliberates on the questions presented to them. In car accident cases, this usually involves determining who was at fault in the accident and what amount of money properly compensates the plaintiff for those injuries. At the end of their deliberations, the jury comes back into court and delivers the verdict in front of the judge, the parties, and their lawyers.
Step 8. Post-Trial Motions and Appeal
After the jury verdict, the parties may make certain motions raising issues that the judge will decide. These may include whether the losing side is entitled to a new trial or whether the court should render some judgment other than what the jury found due to the weight of the evidence or some legal reason. At some point after the verdict, the court will enter judgment for one of the parties. After that happens, the losing party has a limited time, usually 30 days, in which to appeal the verdict or certain issues to the Montana Supreme Court. In some cases, both sides appeal certain issues. The issues on appeal are argued to the Supreme Court in briefs submitted by the parties and sometimes the court also receives oral argument. When the Supreme Court reaches its decision, it publishes an opinion that resolves the issues. After that, the case returns to the District Court where it either ends or results in a new trial or other further proceedings.
How Montana’s Comparative Negligence Law May Affect Your Car Accident Claim
Under Montana law, modified comparative negligence principles apply to personal injury claims. This may affect what damages an injured victim can recover damages from a negligent driver. If the plaintiff is also at fault in the accident, their monetary compensation can be reduced to account for their percentage of fault. If their fault is greater than that of the defendant, they will be barred from recovering at all.
Car insurance adjusters are also guided by comparative negligence when evaluating a claim. Whether you share in the fault of the accident may not be clear cut. This is where it’s beneficial to have an experienced and trusted Montana car accident lawyer in your corner. They can negotiate with insurance adjusters to ensure they’re offering you the best possible settlement deal.
Montana’s Statute of Limitation for Your Car Accident Claim
A statute of limitation is a state law that provides a time frame in which you can bring your claim in court. In Montana, the statute of limitations that applies to a claim for car accident injuries is usually three years. However, depending on the facts, other special statutes of limitation may apply. The primary purpose of a statute of limitation is to encourage individuals to file their claims so that both sides have a chance to investigate the case before evidence is lost and witnesses disappear or forget what happened. If you do not file your case within the statute of limitations, you probably will be prevented from pursuing your claim at all.
After a car accident, it’s essential to consult an attorney as soon as possible. Not only can they help you assess the validity of your claim, but they can also make sure you properly file your claim and that you do it within the statute of limitations to help ensure a successful outcome.
What Damages Can You Recover in Montana Car Accident Claim?
In a personal injury case, damages refer to the money you can recover. How much your claim is worth and what type of damages you can recover depend on the circumstances of your accident and the injuries you sustained. However, the categories of damages that a person may recover in a personal injury claim include:
Economic Damages
These damages may include:
Medical expenses
Past and future lost wages and earning capacity
Property damage
Loss of the ability to perform household services
Some of these damages can be determined by documentary evidence that includes medical bills, receipts, tax returns, and W-2s. Expert testimony is often required though to determine certain elements of economic loss such as the nature and extent of medical services that will be required in the future, the reasonable value of medical services, how your injuries affect your future earning capacity, and the market value of household services you are no longer able to perform because of your injuries.
Non-economic Damages
Non-economic damages do not lend themselves as easily to mathematical calculation but nonetheless may be a very significant element of damage. For example, maybe you can go back to work and do not require significant additional medical care, but you will suffer from chronic, severe pain for the rest of your life. Maybe you have recurring nightmares that now don’t allow you to engage in certain recreational activities that you used to enjoy. Montana law usually allows you to be compensated for these losses as well as the economic ones when you are wrongfully injured.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are available in Montana if the defendant acted with “actual malice.” For punitive damages to be appropriate, the defendant must have consciously disregarded the high probability of injury to the plaintiff. In other words, it must have been obvious that this conduct would be likely to result in injuries to others and the defendant decided to engage in that conduct anyway. For example, punitive damages are sometimes awarded in car accident cases where drunk driving was involved.
Work with a Skilled Car Accident Lawyer at Morrison Sherwood Wilson Deola
If you have been injured in a car accident, you deserve to be represented by attorneys who understand the system and know how to get you the fair and full compensation that you are entitled to under the law. Car accident personal injury cases can be much more complicated than they first appear. Without a qualified legal team on your side, you may wind up with inadequate compensation or no compensation at all.
At Morrison Sherwood Wilson Deola, we believed in fighting for our client’s right to justice and fair compensation. We will negotiate with insurance companies, prepare your case for court if necessary, and do everything in our power to pursue the fair and full compensation owed to you. If you would like us to consider your case, please schedule a consultation at (406) 442-3261 or fill out our contact form.