The Legal Process of Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Arizona
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by Arizona Personal Injury Attorney - Alexis Breyer
In our office 97% of our cases settle; however, we still have many cases that go to trial. If we cannot settle the case, the only way to force the insurance company to increase their offer is to file a lawsuit. In my opinion, having an attorney who has a reputation of filing lawsuits and going to trial is an advantage because insurance companies know which attorneys go to trial and which attorneys do not. An Arizona personal injury lawyer, like Mark, who has earned the certified specialist distinction from the State Bar of Arizona tells the insurance company that the attorney has a lot of trial and personal injury experience. Only 1-2% of the attorneys in Phoenix, Arizona have earned this distinction.
When an insurance company receives a letter of representation from a certified specialist, they know that the client has an attorney who will fight for a fair settlement. With that being said, we still have cases that have to be litigated and go to trial. It is important for people who have personal injury claims or family members who have a wrongful death claim, to understand how an attorney files a lawsuit and starts on the path to get a trial date.
In order to begin a lawsuit, the personal injury lawyer must file a Complaint. It is important to understand that a Complaint is different than filing a claim. Many personal injury victims think just because they have filed a claim with the insurance company that they do not have to worry about missing any statute of limitations. That thinking is wrong. A claim is where you report the facts of the accident to an insurance company. Filing only a claim with an insurance company will cause you to miss the statute of limitations in Arizona. To preserve your personal injury case, a complaint must be filed with the Court within the statute of limitations time period. A complaint is a legal document which must be filed with the Superior Court of Arizona or another Arizona Court.
In Arizona for most wrongful death claims, automobile accidents, slips and falls, motorcycle accidents and trucking accidents, the statute of limitations is two years. There are many instances when the statute can be one year, or even less. Some personal injury claims and wrongful death claims have to be filed within 180 days from the date of the accident. It is very important that people who want to pursue an injury or wrongful death claim in Arizona understand and be aware of the statute of limitations for their specific case. As personal injury and wrongful death law attorneys, we are happy to consult with you about your case and the statute of limitations for your particular injury case.
In any case, Arizona is what is called a notice pleading state, which means that an injury victim has to just provide brief details, not every fact in the Complaint; however, in recent years, Judges have been getting more and more strict on what is required to be detailed in the Complaint. Therefore, the more detail an injury victim can put in the Complaint, the better. We often even attach the police report.
Once the complaint is drafted, along with other documents that are required by Arizona law to be filed with the Complaint, it needs to be filed with the appropriate Court. Filing with the Court means that the clerk of the Court will stamp the Complaint, and other legal documents, and give the Complaint a court case number. Once you have a case number for the Complaint, the litigation documents then need to be "served" on the Defendant.
By "serving", that means a process server must be hired to bring the documents to the Defendant. Many times, however, the Defendant will hide and try to avoid being served by the process server. We have had many times where Defendants will hide out in their house so they do not get served. Sometimes, the Defendants will leave town so they do not get served. In the end, our process server usually finds and serves most Defendants.
If we cannot find a Defendant, then we ask permission from the Court to "serve by publication." This is another legally acceptable way of serving; however, you must first show that your process server attempted service on the Defendant, and that you tried to locate the Defendant. "Service by publication" is basically publishing for a certain amount of time the legal documents in a legal publication. We usually request for the Judge to approve this as well which can take time for the Judge to sign the appropriate documentation. Once the documents are served on the Defendant, as Phoenix personal injury lawyers, we will then send the documents to the insurance company, and the insurance company will appoint a lawyer to defend the negligent party. All of this is just the beginning of the lawsuit.
Of note, please understand that although we are personal injury and wrongful death law attorneys, this cannot be considered legal advice. If you have questions on an automobile accident, construction accident, slip and fall, motorcycle accident, trucking accident or a wrongful death claim in Arizona, you should consult with an attorney. Every case is different so it is important that each injury victim or families wanting to pursue a wrongful death claim understand that the legal path for each case is a different one. As personal injury and wrongful death law attorneys, we represent injured victims through out Arizona, including Tempe, Chandler, Apache Junction, Gilbert, Ahwatukee, Avondale, Glendale, Scottsdale, and Tucson.
