Willa Pandemic Affect My Personal Injury Case?

When you have a personal injury case, you will want to have the case resolved as quickly as possible. However, when a major event, such as a pandemic, occurs that affects everyone, you may be concerned about whether your case will be affected. You may have a difficult time meeting with your attorney, but fortunately, you have ways that you can continue to move your case forward.

You May Find Seeking Medical Treatment More Difficult

One challenge of receiving medical treatment is that some hospitals might be crowded as patients receive treatment during a pandemic. However, you will still need to fight to receive the treatment you deserve and schedule any necessary appointments, such as physical therapy.

Also, make sure to document your efforts to receive medical treatment so you can counter the argument that you must not have been that injured because you did not seek treatment.

Fortunately, clinicians can meet with patients through video chat rather than face to face. This allows hospitals to avoid accidentally spreading the virus to you when you are having a meeting in person. Also, you can remotely communicate with medical experts regarding your case to gather the medical evidence that you were injured.

Settling Will Be Easier Than Going to Trial

If your plan was to go to trial, your case might not proceed as fast if the courts do not have normal operations. In most cases, the courts are considered essential services. However, many states only consider certain court cases to be essential services, such as domestic violence injunctions. Personal injury cases are often not considered essential.

This may encourage you to settle your case out of court, but because the defendant faces no pressure from a jury trial, they might be less willing to settle the case unless you provide a great offer. For this reason, you will want to speak with your attorney and discuss whether a particular settlement offer is worth accepting.

If the case can only be handled through a trial, you do have some procedural flexibility. Some courts can hold hearings by telephone. You may also agree with the other party to use an extension and resume the case later. A high-stakes or contentious case may be easier to resolve with a jury trial, so you may need to wait. 

You Can Meet With Your Attorney Remotely

You may be concerned with your ability to meet with a personal injury attorney, but many law firms have invested in becoming entirely paperless. Increasingly, law firms have also created their own digital infrastructure, which allows you to more easily communicate with the law firm and also allows the organization to continue to perform work during the discovery process.

The entire settlement process could be handled remotely. However, a lack of online dispute resolution software may make negotiations difficult. Instead, the bidding rounds might need to be handled through a series of telephone calls or video conferences.

A small law office can meet with clients to perform a third-party arbitration or mediation. This is another alternative to taking a case to court and can help you receive the relief you need much sooner. Video conferencing software can facilitate meetings that would have to be carried out face-to-face in the past and come with useful features such as a digital whiteboard. 

If you are concerned about how a disruptive global event can affect your case, give us a call at the law offices of Wegner & Associates. We have fought for the rights of our clients to receive compensation for over 40 years and will work hard to move your case forward.