Home Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Car Accident Trial Process in Chicago
Car accident claims often settle and don’t need to go to trial. But more complicated and contentious auto accidents might be decided by a jury. If you were hurt in an auto collision someone else caused, learn more about the trial process. You might have to prepare to go to court to get fair compensation for your injuries. But you never have to go through litigation alone.
Our team at Staver Injury Lawyers is here to help walk you through the car accident court and trial process. Call a Chicago car accident lawyer from our firm at (312) 236-2900 or use our online form to schedule a free consultation.
Pre-trial conferences help simplify things for trial. Each side can stipulate to certain facts or admissions of liability. We can settle certain issues that we don’t have to argue at trial. It limits the number of issues we need to prove to the jury. With the judge, we’ll create a schedule for when briefs and motions are due. We’ll also, one more time, figure out if we can settle the issue without going to trial.
By the time discovery is over and we’re preparing for trial, we have all of the evidence we’re going to use. This might include a crash report created by the police, photos of the damaged vehicles, photos of your injuries, your testimony, a medical expert’s testimony, and more.
Each piece of evidence is an exhibit. We’ll carefully label and organize our exhibits. We want them easily accessible at trial, so we can grab the next piece of evidence quickly and not waste the jury’s time.
We’ll settle on the witnesses we’ll call to the stand during the trial. We want to limit how many witnesses we need to establish your case. More isn’t always better.
Jurors have lives they want to get back to as soon as possible. Using witnesses that don’t add much to your case or offer duplicate testimony draws out the proceedings, which the jury might not take well. We decide which witnesses offer the greatest impact.
In most personal injury cases, we’ll want you to testify. You’re the best witness about what you experienced and your injuries. We might also have a medical expert or accident reconstruction expert testify.
Another vital step is preparing each witness for trial. Most people have never had to testify in court before. It’s intimidating. We make sure each witness knows what we’re going to ask and how to best answer. We don’t want witnesses to memorize their testimony.
Instead, we want them to understand the most important facts to get out to the jury as well as the facts to downplay because they’re less favorable to the case.
We can’t predict what a defense attorney will ask, but we can make an educated guess. After years of taking auto accidents to trial, we know how defense lawyers work and what they’ll focus on.
We know the common strategies they use to sow doubt in the jurors’ minds. We prepare each witness for the questions the defense might ask them and how to remain calm and answer truthfully under stressful circumstances.
Someone we want to testify might not do so willingly. If that person’s testimony is critical to your case, we’ll ask the court to issue a subpoena requiring that person to appear at the trial.
We prepare for any potential question of law that could come up in your case. We thoroughly research all of these issues so we can address them in court when necessary. We might need to know case law to argue for or against a motion or to establish a certain argument with the jury.
We might use a formal or informal focus group to test the strength of various themes of our case. A focus group isn’t meant to see if we’ll win or lose a case. It’s meant to gain reactions to certain themes we might want to use in our strategy.
A motion in limine is a pre-trial motion asking the judge to exclude certain evidence. Either side can file this type of motion and ask for certain types or pieces of evidence to be excluded based on the Rules of Evidence.
We want to file this type of motion as soon as possible. It helps us to have the judge’s decisions to finalize our plan for trial.
We want our argument to flow, from the opening statements to the final sentence of our closing statement. We want to set the stage for the jury, help them imagine your experience, and prove each fact of the case like building blocks, one on top of the other.
This requires careful thought. We’ll dedicate a great deal of time to drafting our opening statements, questions for witnesses, questions to cross-examine the defense witnesses, and our closing remarks.
A judge might require us to file a written memorandum. In these documents, we outline the facts that support our claim and the type of relief we want (compensation). We’ll list our witnesses and exhibits.
We’ll also point out the issues of law we have to address at trial. These documents make sure the judge is fully prepared for the case and can proactively address any issues they notice.
After months of preparation, it’s time to select the jury. We want to get you a jury of peers that are fair and likely to be sympathetic to your situation. This takes careful planning.
We’ll carefully consider the questions we ask potential jurors and the individuals we don’t want to sit on the jury. We’ll ask questions related to the potential jurors’ backgrounds, experiences (like if they or a loved one have ever been in a car accident before), and their opinions and beliefs.
Everyone has unconscious biases. Our questions are meant to identify any biases that might work against us at trial. It takes time to craft good questions.
We want to have a conversation with potential jurors as best we can to draw out honest answers, see a bit of their personalities, and have time to observe their body language. All of this and more goes into noticing people who might not be a good fit for the jury.
It’s essential to determine which court has subject matter jurisdiction over the collision and personal jurisdiction over you and the defendant is essential. If you file your lawsuit in a court that doesn’t have jurisdiction, it will immediately dismiss the case, or the defendant will file a motion to dismiss successfully.
Jurisdiction isn’t complicated if you and the defendant are both from Illinois. But if the at-fault driver or other liable parties are from a different state, then you should consult an attorney about where to file and whether you should file in state or federal court.
Once your lawyer is confident in the facts of your case and which court has jurisdiction, then they will write and file your complaint. Your complaint is the document that states your allegations, names the defendant, describes your injuries, and demands compensation. It’s a type of pleading, and it’s the official start of your lawsuit. Once you file your complaint, you officially become a plaintiff, and the other party becomes the defendant.
You have to send a copy of the complaint and a summons to court to every defendant you name in your complaint. It’s called service of process. Without it, the other party isn’t lawfully notified of the claim, and you can’t move forward. Your lawyer will make sure each defendant is served properly.
Once the defendant is served with your complaint, they have a limited amount of time to file an answer. In the answer, the defendant can say why they disagree with your allegations. This also is when the defendant can file a counterclaim. For example, the defendant might think you were also negligent. They could file a claim for contributory fault.
There might be something in your complaint that needs to be corrected or clarified. You can amend your complaint. The defendant also can update their answer.
Once the initial pleadings are complete, the next phase of litigation is discovery. This is the stage in which both sides demand information from the other. We’ll use various legal tools to gain more evidence, which helps us further evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your case. Discovery can take months, depending on the complexities of your auto accident.
Admissions are facts the other side has to either admit, deny, or object to answering. You also can ask the other side to admit or deny the genuineness of documents. These are important to establish the basic facts in your case, so you don’t have to waste time on them at trial.
Interrogatories are questions that the other side has to either answer or object to answering. Illinois limits how many questions you can ask—sub-parts to questions included. Your questions have to be relevant to the case and can’t unnecessarily burden the defendant.
You can demand that the other side give you a copy or reproduction of relevant documents or objects. You also can demand they grant you access to real property to inspect it, have a survey performed, or run tests.
Depositions are out-of-court testimony. You can ask for a discovery deposition, which is to learn more about your case and a person’s involvement or knowledge. Or you can ask for an evidence deposition, which is about obtaining a person’s testimony, which you can then use at trial.
You and the other side can ask the judge to make decisions about your case before trial. Common motions include a motion to dismiss if the other side thinks you don’t have a relevant case, or you’ve made a technical mistake.
You might believe your case is so strong that you file a motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to decide in your favor without a trial. Other common motions involve arguing about whether evidence is relevant or admissible at trial.
If you and the defendant don’t resolve your case with a settlement, then your lawyer has to prepare for trial. This includes filing a brief with the judge outlining your arguments. The lawyers will meet with the judge to see if there’s any way to resolve the case without a trial.
You can have either a bench or a jury trial. If you allow the judge to decide the case, it’s called a bench trial. More likely, though, you’ll ask for a jury to decide your case.
Voir dire is the process of selecting a 12-person jury from a pool of residents where you filed your lawsuit. Each side can ask potential jurors questions and then object to certain people being on the jury. This process can move quickly or take a great deal of time, depending on the issues in the case.
A trial begins with opening statements. The plaintiff’s lawyer goes first and tells the jury what they can expect from the case. The defendant’s lawyer goes second and tells the jury about how they’ll refute the plaintiff’s arguments. Opening statements are just a preview of what’s to come for the jurors.
Each side gets to present evidence to the court through witness testimony and exhibits, which can be documents, objects, photos, videos, diagrams, and many other types of evidence. The plaintiff calls their witnesses first.
The defendant’s lawyer gets to cross-examine each witness too. Once your lawyer has submitted all of their evidence, then it’s the defendant’s turn to call witnesses and submit exhibits to the court. Your lawyer can cross-examine the defendant’s witnesses.
Once both sides finish offering evidence to the court, each lawyer makes a final statement to the jury.
Before jurors can talk amongst themselves about who is at fault, the judge has to give them their instructions. These are important. If the judge instructs the jurors incorrectly, it can impact the outcome of your case. The jurors get to deliberate for as long as they need to reach a decision. The verdict must be unanimous.
If the jury decides in favor of the defendant, a lawyer should review the trial record immediately. The lawyer should look for grounds for an appeal.
You can’t appeal your case simply because you disagree or think the jury wasn’t fair. The judge had to have made a mistake in the case that potentially affected the outcome. You have a brief period to file an appeal.
The appellate court isn’t a new trial. Instead, it reviews everything that happened during the trial and decides whether the verdict is appropriate, the verdict should be reversed, or whether you should have a new trial.
If you have any questions about whether you need to go to court or what litigation is like after a car accident, call Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C. at (312) 236-2900. You also can send us your information through our online form.
We are experienced and dedicated trial attorneys. Let us guide you through the claims process. If necessary, we’ll fight for your right to compensation before a jury. No win, no fee.
When you’re fighting for maximum compensation, we know what it takes to get it.
We’re ready to fight for you. We’re ready to be your ally. And we’re ready to start right now. Don’t waste time, contact our law offices today.
FREE CASE EVALUATION – (312) 236-2900Serious injuries don’t happen on a 9-to-5 schedule, which is why we are always available to help if you have been hurt. Our team is available around the clock to provide the support you need.
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