Toledo Car Accident Trials  

Toledo car accident trials can be complex. Typically, a person would file the complaint, which is a lawsuit, and the other side would respond to the lawsuit with an answer. There are interrogatories and requests for production of documents filed by both sides. Interrogatories are questions answered under oath by the plaintiff and defendant. Depositions are question and answer sessions where the attorneys would question the plaintiff and defendant and the defense attorney would ask the plaintiff questions.

There would be lay witness discovery, which refers to depositions of witnesses or lay witnesses, witnesses not made by experts. After that, the case would probably go to mediation where there would be an attorney who is a mediator, either a private mediator or a court mediator, who will try to settle the case. If that does not work then it proceeds on to trial, which a competent car accident lawyer can describe in full detail.

Length of a Case

Some cases, the defendant may admit responsibility for the accident. In this case, an attorney would show damage evidence—meaning medical bills, lost wages, and doctor’s testimony about the impact of the injury on the person’s life.

In some cases, there is clear liability. In other cases, there are three defendants, a plaintiff, and four different accident reconstructionists that each have their own theory of how the accident happened. Some cases are easy, other may involve an individual spending $50 to $100,000 just on expert witnesses in their Toledo car accident trial.

Important Elements of Car Accident Case

Liability is an extremely important element in a car accident case. A person should know that the jury has to decide who to believe and who might be dishonest. The person’s credibility and the attorney’s credibility are everything because once a person loses their trustworthiness, the jury is most likely not going to rule in their favor. Toledo car accident trials require a jury’s trust.

Car Accident Trials and Bench Trials

Toledo car accident trials can be jury trials or bench trials, but the vast majority are jury trials. There are rare instances in which a case has both sides agreeing on what a judge should decide. Normally it is difficult to get both sides to agree to waive the jury trial.

In essence, when an attorney files a lawsuit, the plaintiff can request a jury trial or not request a jury trial and the defendant can request or not request the jury trial. It is difficult to get plaintiffs and defendants to agree one way or another.

Further Information

Individuals should know that the vast majority of cases settle without even filing a lawsuit. The vast majority of cases that are filed in the court with a lawsuit are settled before a trial. The mediation system works when trying to settle cases and the cost and risk of going to trial are not in the interest of both the plaintiff and the defendant. This is why many Toledo car accident cases often do not end in a trial.