Best Admiralty & Maritime Lawyers in National City, CA

The first thing to do is to contact a qualified personal injury attorney. At CaseyGerry, the following are the key action items we provide to our clients:

This is a pre-trial procedure in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the other party or parties. The idea is that both sides should share pertinent information before going to trial, so the trial can proceed smoothly and not be held up by parties requesting information and delaying the process.

We carefully investigate! At CaseyGerry, our in house investigation team gathers information to determine if we believe you have a solid case and are able to represent you. This usually includes interviews of witnesses, visiting the location of the incident, and collecting any pictures, videos, or related documents. This process can take some time because we often need to order medical or government records.

The lawsuit begins when the plaintiff files a complaint with the court that describes what happened and names the responsible defendant. After the complaint is filed, the defendant then has a limited time to respond to the court with an answer, in which they can admit or deny what is alleged in the complaint. After the complaint is filed, the plaintiff and defendant have the right to demand that each other respond under oath to written questions (called Interrogatories), document requests, inspections, medical exams (related to the injuries from the incident), and make themselves available for depositions. It is important that our office is able to reach you promptly during this period because there are penalties the can be imposed if a party to the lawsuit does not respond within specified periods. Throughout this phase and the rest of the case, our office works with various experts as needed to understand the evidence related to the incident and any injuries, and to develop the case.

At the end of the Discovery phase, either party may ask the court to decide the case in their favor if they can prove with what they collected during Discovery that the other side cannot win. In practice, a summary judgment is usually filed by the defendant. If the defendant wins, the case is over (unless the plaintiff appeals). If the plaintiff wins, the case can go forward to trial.