Have you or a loved one been injured recently? Check out these 3 commonly asked personal injury questions, then call our office today.
1. What is the role of an expert witness in a personal injury case?
I’m often asked about what is one of the big expenses in a case: expert witnesses. My clients say, well, why do we have to have expert witnesses in a case? I don’t put a lot of dependence in my cases on an expert witness. For instance, I like to have other lay witnesses, people that know the client and know the change in the client’s life. Those are the important witnesses in my mind. Under Wyoming law, I also have to have an expert that’s going to testify as to the brain injury from a medical standpoint. Otherwise, you can’t get to trial. It would be thrown out of the court. You have to have that expert witness to go that extra mile.
The expert witness has to be somebody that’s willing to say that he takes these kinds of cases. He or she takes these kinds of cases because they want the system to be better. They want people like you to recover. That way, the system is made honest, and people that caused the injury are made to bear the burden of that injury, not walk away and leave it on the taxpayers to pay for later. That’s the kind of reason that we have experts. They are expensive. We bear the burden of those expert witnesses, and we take the chance that if we don’t recover on your behalf we have to absorb that cost. We pay all the expenses of the case, and we take all the risk in the case. If you have other questions like this, please feel free to call me or call my office here in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
2. How long is it going to take to resolve a personal injury claim?
I’m asked all the time by other lawyers in Wyoming and clients in Wyoming and people in general how long it takes to get a lawsuit resolved. Let me tell you, it depends on the case, and every case is different. It also depends on the court that you file the case in. Federal court is generally faster in Wyoming and has a much faster docket. It’s called oftentimes the “rocket docket.” You’re looking at about 9 to 12 months in the federal court case. With state courts, it depends on which part of the state you’re in and the judges that you have in that part of the state. I’m able to judge that depending on the location of the case because we file our lawsuits and personal injury cases where the injury took place. For instance, in the western part of the state, you have a different docket than you have in the eastern part of the state. I practice all over the state, so I know those things.
You’re looking at roughly a year to two years in one of the state courts to get the case resolved or settled. You always have to take the position that you’re prepared to try the case. If you’re not prepared to try the case, then you’re not going to get it resolved. Anybody can settle the case, but the real question is getting the right amount of money to settle the case justly. That’s what we do. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call my office here in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
3. Can I recover for emotional damages in a personal injury claim?
People ask me if it’s possible in Wyoming, when I go out and give talks and things like that, to recover for personal injury, for emotional distress, pain and suffering, those kinds of damages. I would say this— those are the main damages in almost every case I do. The medical bills are part of it, but they’re not the whole deal. The real emotional damage to the client, the real pain and suffering and the pain and suffering inflicted on the client’s family, those are the important damages, and they are possible to collect. I would argue, in most cases that I take, those are the substantial damages that we have to recover so that it is a complete recover and the client’s made whole. If you have other questions, feel free to call my office here in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Were you seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence and have questions about these 3 commonly asked personal injury questions?
Contact experienced Wyoming personal injury lawyer Frederick J. Harrison today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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