Lawsuit & Litigation

A lot of Miami car accident cases can be resolved quickly without having to file a car accident lawsuit and litigate in Court. At Wolfson & Leon, our Miami Car Accident Lawyers will try to move your case to an end as fast as we can. But there are some Miami car accidents cases that cannot be settled. Because there are some insurance companies that will never make a reasonable offer until they are on the Courthouse steps. And there are other insurance companies that just don’t pay certain claims unless a jury tells them to do. And that is where Wolfson & Leon comes in. Your car accident case should not end when the insurance company denies it. Your Miami car accident attorney should be able to file and handle car accident litigation. The insurance companies know what firms can and cannot litigate and, eventually go to trial on a Miami car accident lawsuit.

What kind of Miami car accidents end up in car accident litigation? Simply put, when there is a disagreement as to who is at fault, causation, damages, and/or the amount of the damages themselves, your Miami car accident case will end up in litigation. However, sometimes, the defendant admits that he, she, or it is at fault but they disagree that they are responsible for any damages. But that does not mean that you will have an easy road. They will still defend your Miami car accident lawsuit and say that the injuries are not permanent, serious, or even caused by the accident. And, much of the time, their Miami car accident insurance lawyer is just trying to get the jury to give them a discount for admitting fault.

In Miami, we are in the 11th Judicial Circuit and the civil trial courthouse is located at 73 W. Flagler Street, Miami, Florida. That is where the Clerk of Court, Harvey Ruvin, Esq. works and accepts filings. Mr. Ruvin happens to be a lawyer also and a former county commissioner and mayor of North Bay Village. These days, he accepts filings at the Miami Dade Courthouse. In fact, he has brought things into the information age and filings and complaints are filed online. If you have to file a Miami car accident lawsuit, this is where the case will be situated.

If we have to file a Miami car accident lawsuit for you, we will need your help. The easiest way to lose your case is to ignore our calls for assistance and help. Car accident lawsuits and litigation have these basic steps:

1. The first thing that Wolfson & Leon will do is file a car accident complaint. The complaint is the beginning of car accident. This can now be done online. A complaint needs to set forth the basic facts that would entitle you to relief. Florida is an ultimate fact pleading State. This means that your car accident lawyer will need to prepare a complaint that, if all of the facts are true, would entitle you to relief.
2. At this point, your Miami car accident lawyer at Wolfson & Leon needs to get a summons issued. Down at the courthouse the clerk issues a document called a summons that tells the Defendant what to do with the Complaint.
3. Then, your car accident lawyer has to put the complaint into the hands of a process server. A process server serving a complaint has to be an independent party which can be a private entity. However, the sheriff of Miami Dade County also serves process. This can be effective if folks are avoiding being served. The process server needs to take the summons and complaint and hand it personally to the person or registered agent who is being sued. If that cannot be done, there are other ways that the car accident lawsuit can be served. Florida Statute allows for service to be effectuated in other ways, depending on the situation.
4. When we serve the car accident lawsuit upon the Defendant(s), we almost always include written discovery with the car accident litigation. Written discovery consists of a series of questions and a list of things to provide.
5. Next, the defendant who is served with the car accident lawsuit and discovery has 20 days to answer the complaint and 45 to answer the discovery. The questions need to be answered under oath and signed in front a notary. If the defendant is a government, they get 30 days to answer.
6. If the Defendant does not answer the car accident lawsuit, then we can go get a default, effectively winning liability. However, the law almost always allows those defaults to be removed and the car accident litigation to start over again and be decided on the merits.
7. The Defendant sends discovery to you consisting of the same questions and list of items to produce. We will sit with you to work on your answers with you because much of what they ask is legal or has legal consequences.
8. At some point after the written discovery is done, we will start asking the Court for a trial date to move things along faster.
9. Then, both sides take deposition testimony. Depositions are meetings when a lawyer asks questions and whoever is being deposed has to answer and the court reporter types up everything that is said. Sometimes, these depositions are done via videotape so that the video can be played back at trial. We will be there for you every step of the way to make sure you are prepared for your deposition. Your deposition can take half an hour or it can take days. We will go with you and protect you the best we can.
10. After depositions are done, that is when the Defendant will usually exercise their right to send you to an expert doctor of their choice for an opinion they can use at trial. This is called a Compulsory Medical Examination. They may try to call it an independent medical examination. But it is not independent because the defendant in the car accident lawsuit pays the doctor expert.
11. After this, the parties usually mediate the case. A mediation is almost always court ordered in car accident lawsuits. A mediation is just a meeting between the parties that is a settlement conference. A mediation that happens during car accident litigation is 100% confidential under the law. The mediator is impartial and tries to settle the case by listening to brief presentations by both sides and then going from room to room carrying messages that amount to negotiation. If the case settles, then everyone signs a mediation settlement agreement and things are on their way to being done.
12. If your car accident lawsuit does not settle at mediation or shortly thereafter, then we will make sure the case is ready for trial and we push hard to get it to an end.

If your car accident lawsuit cannot be settled, then your case must go to trial. At Wolfson & Leon, we are car accident lawyers and take trial very seriously and spend considerable time on preparing for trial and making sure that our team is always working on their trial skills. And, we will try your case. Through our many years, we have obtained successful settlements for our clients as well as significant jury verdicts in Miami car accident litigation. See our results page.

Jonah Wolfson is a bilingual personal injury lawyer in Miami. Formerly a Miami Beach City Commissioner, he has represented personal injury victims in all forms of personal injury accidents. He can help you, all you have to do is call (305) 285-1115 for your free consultation today.

The Miami Car Accident Injury Lawyers at Wolfson & Leon have counselled people who suffered personal injuries at the Miami International Airport, and on Miami Beach, Fontainebleau, Wynwood, Allapattah, Biscayne Gardens, The Roads, Edgewater, Tamiami, Miami Shores, Flagami and many other communities throughout South Florida. Call us today for a free consultation at (305) 285-1115.