Because of our policy at Katherman, Briggs & Greenberg to thoroughly investigate your accident, organize crucial information, and prepare a powerful argument suitable for litigation, an amazing 95.7% of our clients’ cases are settled out of court.

However, in some instances, the insurer for the responsible party refuses to reasonably evaluate a claim and make a fair settlement offer. In those cases, formal legal proceedings are required.

 

Let’s say the insurance carrier decides to play hard-ball; decides to deny your claim and refuses to continue negotiations. Our next step would be initiating formal legal proceedings against the insurance carrier; that is, we take the case to Court. The Court process begins and continues as follows:

• First, we file a Complaint in the Court House against the responsible party;

 

• After receiving our Com-plaint, the insurer assigns an attorney to our case who files an Answer to our Complaint. This is called the “pleading” phase of our case;

 

• After completing the pleading stage, we enter a phase called “discovery;”

 

Court procedures take time. Pleadings and discovery often take, with interrogatories and depositions, twelve months or more from beginning to end. Upon completion of this question and answer phase, a Pre-Trial Conference is scheduled with the Judge assigned to your case; the Judge and lawyers meet. Following this Pre-Trial Conference, the Judge, in most cases, will certify that the case is ready for trial, thereby allowing us to place the case on a trial scheduling list.

The entire journey, from the initial filing of the Complaint, the pleadings, discovery, and preparation for the jury trial, generally takes one year, or more. The good news is, many cases are resolved by our accident insurance claims lawyers before trial in the course of routine legal proceedings.

For example, if you make a particularly good impression during depositions, answer questions forthrightly, completely, and convincingly, the insurance company’s attorney may urge the insurance company to reevaluate their settlement position and make an acceptable offer. The same situation can occur as the case draws closer to trial. The insurance company faces the real risk that the jury’s verdict will be in your favor; a trial verdict which could result in a payment far exceeding the amount they have offered in settlement.

In short, taking your case to court, with the commitment to see it through, is often the deciding factor in a dramatic change of position by the insurance company. The same case which the insurer previously undervalued suddenly becomes worth more when the insurance company sees your determination to follow through to the end.

Because of prompt investigation and precise preparation, we settle an amazing 95.7% of our cases before trial - for fair compensation.