Can You Represent Yourself In A Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
One of the things that some people may consider if they become injured is going to court to get a personal injury lawsuit resolved. If you’re in a situation where you know that your injury was not your fault, and that the other party responsible was actually acting irresponsibly at the time, you have every right to do this and, in fact, you should seek damages.However, some people, especially those who know they have strong evidence on their side, think that if the case is strong enough to easily win, is there even a need for a personal injury lawyer to be involved at all? After all, if the case is going to be a win anyway, what’s the point in having someone argue on your behalf, let alone collect a fee at the end of the trial? If you do it yourself, you can save money.
So is this possible? Can you represent yourself in a lawsuit where you are seeking damages for negligence?
Technically Legal
Is it the right of every American, if they decide to exercise it, to self-represent in court, and a civil case, like a personal injury lawsuit is no exception. However, deciding to represent yourself in court means that you will need to undertake many responsibilities. If your only experience with courtrooms has been gleaned from film and television, there’s far more to it than marching back and forth in front of a jury, giving a speech, or badgering a witness until they break down into tears or anger.
There’s a lot more to overseeing a court case then just the day at court, and there’s a reason that lawyers go through several years of tertiary education before they are awarded a degree and license to practice law in a given state.
Paperwork
There are huge amounts of legal files and documents that need to be prepared in anticipation of a court case. If you don’t have a lawyer representing you, you’ll be responsible for ensuring that all of this paperwork is properly sorted out.
The goal of any court case is to ensure proper records, documentation and files are observed. If you don’t already know how to create this necessary paper trail, you’ll have to learn.
Legal Protocol
Of course, the biggest advantage that a personal injury lawyer brings to the table is experience. He or she already knows exactly what needs to be done, where there are legal opportunities, where there are legal challenges, and how to overcome them. No time is wasted in getting acquainted with how to conduct a court case because a lawyer has already done so many times. You, representing yourself, will need to get up to speed on all of this.
Expert Resources
Attorneys that specialize in personal injury have a valuable arsenal of different contacts. If they need a medical expert in brain injuries, or auto accidents, they know who these people are and how to reach them. If they need to get forensics engineers to research the damage on an automobile or a defective product, they already know who to speak to.
In many, many ways, a personal injury lawyer isn’t just someone that argues on your behalf, they are your guide in an unfamiliar and very complex legal world.