Courtroom Secrets

It is important for everybody who has a personal injury case to understand what exactly goes on in the courtroom. There is a general misconception about how the legal process and trial in particular work. I don't want anybody to be caught off guard when they enter into a courtroom, so I always make sure my clients are prepared. In this article, I'd like to address a few realities of the courtroom that throws most people do not know.

- Frivolous lawsuits never make it to trial: The notion of frivolous law suits has been greatly exaggerated in the media and by insurance companies to make injury victims appear to be greedy. The fact of the matter, though, is that frivolous cases will never make it to trial. The legal process is long and has too many barriers in the way that will end a frivolous case before it reaches the courtroom. Using a process called "summary judgment," the defense can make a motion to dismiss a case based on its pleadings. A judge hears this argument, and will throw out the case if he or she deems it to be frivolous. That will end the case, thus ending it before a jury ever has to hear it. Because of the barriers that halt a frivolous case in its tracks, you can be sure that if something makes it to trial, it is not frivolous.

- "Insurance" can never be uttered in the courtroom: Considering almost every accident or injury case will be fought against an insurance company, you would think that the word "insurance" would be common in the courtroom. There is a rule in place, however, that does not allow the word to be uttered during trial. While in reality, it may be you against the other insurance company, in the eyes of the court; it is you against the at-fault driver. The thought process behind this rule is that if the jury knows the person has insurance, they will likely award a lot more money to the victim. I personally see this as an antiquated notion that confuses the jury more than anything, my opinion does not change the fact that the rule is in place.

- A case can be decided by a jury or a judge: It comes as a surprise to a lot of people that a trial does not necessarily have to be decided by a jury. A jury trial is the most common way that personal injury trials are resolved, but the default way is for a case to be heard and decided by a judge with no jury. This is known as a bench trial, and unless a side requests a jury, the case will be heard in this manner. The misconception about frivolous cases often pervades the judgement of the jury, so the insurance company will usually request a jury.

- Insurance Companies can demand an "Independent Medical Examination": An insurance company has the right to compel you to see a doctor of their choosing to examine your injuries. Although the doctors are paid big bucks by the insurance companies to side with them, this is called an "independent medical examination." Make no doubt about it, these doctors are looking for any way to help the insurance companies lower or deny your case, so it is important to have an experienced injury lawyer that can fight against this.

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