2 Commonly Asked Questions About Personal Injury Lawsuits

Personal injury lawsuits are all around you. You are probably seeing people who successfully file personal injury lawsuits and win a great deal of money. However, understanding personal injury lawsuits can be a mystery to some people. Here are some commonly asked questions about personal injury lawsuits.

If I File A Personal Injury Lawsuit, Will The Person Have Criminal Charges As Well?

There are a couple different courts in the United States. Two of them are criminal court and civil court. When you file a personal injury lawsuit you are filing a suit in civil court. This means that you are claiming that there was a grievance between two civilians. All of the injuries and damages in a civil suit will be awarded in money. The person will serve no jail time and owe nothing to the state.

However, this doesn't mean that the person won't have a criminal suit as well. For example, if someone was drinking and driving when they hit your car. You might be able to due them in civil court and get money for your medical bills, but the state will probably press charges as well. This means that the person will have to go through two trials, a criminal one and a civil one.

You do not have the power to file a criminal lawsuit, only the state can do that. You can report the incident to the police and they will decide whether or not to charge the individual. You only have control over the civil suit.

How Do I Pay The Attorney and Will It Be Worth My Money?

There are a couple different ways you can pay your attorney. The first, is through a billable rate. This means that when you agree with the attorney to pay them a certain amount for their time. With this option you will probably pay less in legal fees, but there is a more of a risk for you. You pay the attorney whether or not you win the case. This means that you could have paid thousands of dollars in legal fees and the case was not found in your favor.

The second way to pay the attorney is through contingency. This means that you agree to pay the attorney a fraction of the winnings, only if you win. The good thing about it is that it is less money for you upfront. However, if you do win the attorney will take a larger portion of the winnings, leaving you with less.

By understanding how personal injury lawsuits work you can talk with an attorney, like Stillman & Stillman P.C., decide if filing a lawsuit is right for you. 

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