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The trial process of a Maryland brain injury follows the same several steps every time. The nature of a trial is controlled, allowing the truth of the matter to be made apparent to the fact finder. But before exploring the trial process in detail below, you should understand what it takes to make it into court. About 95% of personal injury cases settle. When they do not settle before trial, there are typically two reasons. The first reason is that the defense refuses to make a settlement offer that you, the plaintiff, deem appropriate given your damages. As Maryland brain injury attorneys, we will concerted effort to negotiate a higher settlement offer. In the majority of cases, we have been successful in doing so. But, in some cases, the defense does not calculate the value of your claim the same way we do.
Accordingly, they make a settlement offer that we advise you to reject. When they report that it is their best and final offer, we file suit and go to trial. The second scenario where we must file suit to obtain fair compensation for your brain injury is when the defense team denies liability altogether. Remember, we must prove each element of negligence at trial to establish liability. For whatever reason, they believe we will be unable to do this. This may be based on a lack of evidence or simply on the facts of the case. Whatever the matter, we will not rest until all options are exhausted. Thus, we will file suit and take your case to trial upon your go-ahead.
Pre-trial prep is an integral part of the trial process for a Maryland brain injury. There are several steps we take to prepare for your trial. First, note that we may still be able to settle your case during this stage. Just because we have initiated the trial process by filing suits and serving process on the defendant does not mean we will make it to trial. In some cases, the defendant just needs some additional encouragement to make a better settlement offer, which more accurately represents the value of your brain injury.
Pre-trial preparations may include collecting pertinent evidence to build our case, such as medical records, witness statements, and photographs of the accident scene. If you do not take pictures on-site, we may have to send someone to take pictures or video. This is useful in some slip-and-fall cases as well as accident cases. To prepare for trial, our attorneys also coordinate with expert witnesses. Experts can provide valuable testimony at trial. It is vital to find the correct witness for your case. Some experts are expensive, but they can make or break your case.
Jury selection is the first part of the trial process for a Maryland brain injury. This process is known as voir dire. The purpose of this process is to select a jury. But to do so, we want impartial jurors. This gives the best chance of a fair trial. But how do we know whether a juror is impartial? The Constitution guarantees the right to a fair trial. However, the court has limited resources. Thus, each side receives a limited number of peremptory challenges. This gives each side the ability to remove a juror without cause. While we can remove as many jurors as we like for cause, we are given a limited supply of peremptory challenges. Of course, the reason cannot violate the Constitution in any way. For example, we cannot remove a juror based on their race.
Opening statements for both sides are the first part of the trial for a Maryland brain injury. During opening remarks, we are setting the stage for a jury. If you were in a severe car accident, we outline the facts of your case from a macro level. This gives the jury an idea of what happened without going into detail. The details and the evidence come later. We also highlight the evidence we will present as a foreshadowing. This allows the jury to understand the direction we are leading them in and whether they want to buy into our argument.
After we present our opening outline, the defense presents their counter-argument. They may look to poke holes in one or two parts of our argument. This is likely a part of our case we already touched on during our opening statement just before.
This is the heart of the trial process for a Maryland brain injury. It is where we examine witnesses and present evidence. We may provide expert testimony, eyewitness testimony, or medical records and exhibits. We must present evidence to establish each element of our claim. For negligence, there are at least four bits we must prove. We must prove that the defendant had a legal duty, breached that duty, and caused the injury. We must also prove each economic and noneconomic damage you suffered. While we can do this via testimony, the most compelling evidence tends to be physical evidence, such as photographs and medical records.
We value and utilize your testimony to prove the extent of how your brain injury has affected your life. While there is some debate among injury attorneys regarding whether it is the best idea to put the plaintiff on the stand, if the brain injury is significant enough, it may garner an emotional response from a jury, bolstering your case.
When we call a witness to the stand to be examined, the defense gets the opportunity to cross-examine the witness. The cross-examination may consist of attempts to make the witness seem not credible. A successful cross-examination causes the jury to doubt everything they heard from that witness. If the defense is successful, the plaintiff will likely have failed their burden of proof. Remember, we have to convince a jury that it is more likely than not that something occurred. A witness who is not credible may not be sufficient evidence to convince the jury.
Closing arguments give each side the opportunity to summarize their case, reinforce their key points, and urge the jury to reach a favorable verdict. This is the final part of the trial process for a Maryland brain injury that we participate in. After that, it is more or less out of our hands until there is an opportunity to appeal.
The jury will deliberate privately and reach a verdict. They assess only the evidence presented and are not permitted to consider anything not shown to them inside the courtroom.
While not a part of the initial trial process for a Maryland brain injury, it can restart the process if the appeal is successful. But note that an appeal generally cannot be in protest of the jury not believing an argument. Rather, it must be an issue as a matter of law.
Our attorneys at Gelb & Gelb are happy to assist at any point in the trial process for a Maryland brain injury. We have been handling brain injury cases in Maryland since our founding 70 years ago. Having successfully resolved thousands of traumatic brain injury cases, we are well-positioned to maximize the compensation in your case.
Call today for a free consultation at (202) 331-7227.
Copyright © 2024 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.