The Cassidy Law Firm Blog

Monday, May 23, 2022

What is Included in a Personal Injury Complaint?

More often than not, a personal injury action is settled before there is a need to even initiate litigation. The insurance company is sent a demand letter outlining the damages and relevant facts associated with the accident and the injuries incurred by the claimant. A settlement offer is made and often settlement negotiations ensue until a mutually agreed upon settlement amount is reached. There are times, however, when negotiations fall through for one reason or another. In many of those cases, initiating legal proceedings against the at-fault party or the insurance company for the at fault party is necessary in order to either show the insurance company that the claimant will continue to hold them accountable for paying full and fair compensation or to go to court so that a jury orders the payment of full and fair compensation to the injury victim. In order to initiate litigation, a personal injury complaint must be filed.

What is Included in a Personal Injury Complaint?

The personal injury complaint begins the litigation process. Once filed, the defendant will file an answer to the complaint. Sometimes, the defendant may even file a motion to dismiss in response to the personal injury complaint. With a motion to dismiss, the defendant seeks to have the judge essentially throw out the lawsuit. In most cases, however, the defendant will simply file an answer to the personal injury complaint. After this, the discovery process will begin which is the time where both sides work to gain as much information as possible about the case in general, build their own case, and find out the details of the case the plaintiff, the injured party, is building as well.

The complaint should contain the basic information about the case in order for litigation to proceed. This will include, for instance, the date in which the accident that resulted in injury to the plaintiff occurred. Furthermore, the complaint should detail the circumstances surrounding the accident as well as what actual happened. Lastly, the complaint should request relief, or damages to compensate the plaintiff for the harm suffered due to the negligence of the defendant.

It should be noted, however, that the complaint does not need to be overly specific and, for the most part can be fairly general. The basic facts of the case should suffice for purposes of a personal injury complaint. The details will come further on in the litigation process, especially during discovery. Claimants should be mindful of the two year statute of limitations applicable to personal injury claims. Claims brought outside of the two year time limit are likely to be barred by a judge and never allowed to proceed in court.

The complaint will be served on the defendant along with a case information statement. This statement will list general information about the lawsuit. The purpose of the case information statement is to help the court track and schedule the matter for hearings and more. A summons must also be included with the complaint when it is served on the defendant.

New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys

The trusted personal injury team at the Cassidy Law Firm fights for the injured. Have you suffered harm due to the negligence of someone else? Reach out to us as soon as possible. Contact us today.


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