When you have been injured, solutions start here. At Hall and Copetas, we do our best to give our clients a voice in court. It’s your voice, so be heard.
Transcript:
You’ve been hurt, it isn’t your fault. What do you do? The steps that we take at Hall and Copetas are going to be similar to the steps any law firm takes.
The first thing we do is investigate your accident.
The investigation is both concerning the facts and circumstances of your accident: How did the cars crash? What does the sidewalk that you fell on look like? We take those pictures, we make those measurements.
The more important part—or really the more involved part—is the medical investigation.
Once you’ve been injured, you can only attain one verdict in your case, so you have to lay all of your cards on the table. For that to happen, certain dominoes have to fall. What we look for is for you to get to a point medically where you are either 100% better or where you’ve reached a level of maximum improvement where we know what your injuries are—they’re not going to get much better, they’re not going to get much worse—and also when we know what your wage loss is: how long you’re going to miss from work, whether you need to make a new career—those sorts of things.
So, once we’ve completed the investigation of your case, we then put together a demand letter for you.
The demand letter is a statement of everything that happened in your case that we present to the insurance company together with an offer of resolution. Then, either the insurance company is going to accept your demand or negotiate with you. And after a few days of negotiation, you’ll know whether or not you have to take your case to court.
If you have to take your case to court, the lawsuit basically has four steps.
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- The first step is called the pleading stage. Pleadings are a statement to the court of what your case is about.
- Once the pleadings close, the case moves into what is called “discovery.”
- Discovery is a process where the injured party gives all their file and all their information to the insurance company and the insurance company, likewise, gives all the information they have to the plaintiff’s attorney. There are supposed to be no surprises at trial. Included in that discovery process is written discovery, where there are written questions that are sent to each party.
- Then there are what are called “depositions.” Depositions are testimony that is taken under oath.
- The insurance carrier is entitled to have your statement of what happened to you, stated under oath, and during the deposition, it will assess you for your credibility. They will also assess you in terms of likability: Is this the type of person that a jury will like? Is this the type of person that a jury will want to give a lot of money to?
- So, at the close of the deposition is usually an opportunity to again resolve the case. After the discovery phase is completed, more and more often in Pennsylvania courts, mediation will take place. Mediation is a mechanism that the courts have adopted to cause cases to resolve rather than be tried in front of a jury. And what happens in mediation is the parties agree on a neutral attorney, they come together, they present their cases again to each other in an informal setting, and a discussion takes place about what the value of the case is and what can be agreed to and what can’t be agreed to. Often, cases resolve at mediation; but if they do not, often agreements are made as to how the case will be presented to a jury or whether the case can be arbitrated with some other type of litigation that is less expensive.
- And then finally, the last stage of litigation is obviously litigation in front of the judge. We have years of experience trying cases both in front of arbitration panels, juries, and judges by themselves
When you have been injured, solutions start here. At Hall and Copetas, we do our best to give our clients a voice in court. It’s your voice, so be heard.
When someone suffers a serious injury due to another person’s negligent or reckless actions, the entire family can suffer. Everyone gets hit hard. The financial burdens you face due to medical bills lost wages and other issues are often major.
The stress can be tremendous — both for you and your loved ones. Other family members must often take on the burdens you carried before your injuries. Everyone is affected in negative ways.
At the Law Offices of Hall & Copetas, we focus on getting our clients access to the financial and medical resources they need.
We believe that having the right assistance can be the key to being able to rebuild your life after an injury. Getting fair compensation for your injuries is one step forward in that process.
We provide compassionate representation for many kinds of accident claims, including:
- Auto accidents — Being seriously injured in a car crash can be just the beginning of a long and difficult period. We have the skill to help guide you through it.
- Trucking accidents — Accidents involving 18-wheelers, delivery trucks and tankers can be among the most devastating. We have the experience necessary for these complex cases.
- Premises liability claims — When a property owner fails to keep the property maintained and injuries result, we know how to build an effective case for compensation.
- Hunting accidents — When injuries occur on a shooting range or while out in the fields, we keep insurance companies from bullying our clients into early settlements.
