Personal Injury Claims Process
Author: Robert Kliene

Personal injury lawsuits are filed following a standard claims
process, much as other lawsuits are pursued. The following is a
brief overview of the steps of the process.

Step 1: Complaint (Petition)

In most cases, the first document filed with a court to
initiate a personal injury lawsuit is the Complaint or
Petition. This document outlines the Plaintiff's (injured
party's) case, as well as providing the names of all parties
involved and the court's jurisdiction.

Step 2: Summons

The summons is the court's official notice to the Defendant(s)
in a personal injury lawsuit that they are being sued. This
document also alerts the Defendant(s) to time limits and dates
for filing responses and other materials relevant to the case.

Step 3: Answer

Defendants may answer the Summons with detailed responses to
each allegation in the Complaint. They may choose to admit or
deny each of the Plaintiff's assertions, or they may answer
that they have insufficient knowledge to either admit or deny a
claim. This is also a Defendant's opportunity to attempt to get
a lawsuit dismissed before it gets too far along.

Step 4: Cross-Claims (optional)

A Cross-Claim in a personal injury lawsuit occurs when there
are more than two parties on either side of the case
(plaintiffs or defendants). For example, if a Plaintiff sues
both Defendant A and Defendant B for a personal injury,
Defendant B may sue Defendant A as having been the cause of or
impetus to Defendant B's own actions. This Cross-Claim will be
subsumed under the same lawsuit and adjudicated simultaneously.


Step 5: Third-Party Claimant (optional)

In some personal injury cases, the Defendant may have reason to
try to pass off the legal responsibility to a third party. The
Defendant then will file a Third-Party Complaint with the court
as part of the original lawsuit filed by the Plaintiff. This
will bring in the third party as another Defendant, as well as
keeping the original Defendant involved as long as the court
deems it necessary.


About The Author: Robert Kliene is a personal injury expert.
Visit http://www.personal-injury-webline.com for more
information and articles.