(561) 375-9500
If there is no settlement agreement in a personal injury claim and the case moves to trial, the trial process begins long before the opening statements. Before an actual trial begins, Kogan & DiSalvo personal injury attorneys could walk clients through the process of strategizing, pre-trial motions, and jury selection. Below is more information about trial preparation for the case involving our client who was injured after falling.
Strategizing Before Trial
In preparation for trial, Kogan & DiSalvo lawyers will consider which strategies they could employ to present the client’s case in the best possible case. In negligence cases, lawyers may work to corroborate everything the plaintiff says with witnesses who have no financial interest in the case. In the case of the Boca Raton client who fractured her ankle on a company’s staircase, the client’s designated attorney contacted individuals who knew the plaintiff and would be able to tell the jury about the differences they saw in the plaintiff as a result of the injury the client sustained.
Pre-Trial Process
There are a number of pre-trial motions that a lawyer may file. An attorney might file pre-trial motions to preclude certain information or evidence or to ask the court for a ruling ahead of time to allow certain information evidence.
In Boca Raton, as in most places, the plaintiff is allowed to choose between a bench trial and a trial by a jury. The critical thing to know is that if a person prefers a trial by jury, they have to specifically request as such, or it is deemed waived.
Jury Selection
The process for selecting a jury in Boca Raton begins with what is known as the venire panel, which is typically 20 to 30 people from whom attorneys are hoping to choose six people to serve on the jury. The 20 to 30 people are brought into the courtroom and the court asks them somewhat generic questions about their background. Then, the attorneys for the parties have an opportunity to ask these 20 or 30 people questions to determine whether or not they would be appropriate jurors for this particular case.
The voir dire, which is a French phrase meaning to speak the truth, influences jury selection. During the voir dire process, attorneys ask potential jurors questions to see whether or not they have any biases or any personal beliefs that might make it difficult for them to be a fair and impartial juror.
To serve on a jury in Boca Raton, a person must not be a convicted felon who has not had their rights restored, and they must speak and understand the English language.
Who is Involved in the Trial?
Present at the trial are the attorneys for the parties and the parties themselves. In this case, the client also wanted her boyfriend to be in the courtroom, to watch, and to listen to the trial. After he had completed his testimony, he was allowed to remain in the courtroom for the remainder of the trial to observe.
There were also several pain and suffering witnesses, people who came into court and testified as to what they knew about the plaintiff before the fall, after the fall, and the different changes in her life as a result of the injury she suffered when she fell down the staircase.
Finally, expert witnesses were used at this trial. There were two types of expert witnesses in this case, liability experts, who are engineers, and medical experts, who are the doctors able to render opinions regarding the injuries related to the fall. Medical experts can that the medical bills were reasonable and related to the fall, and the future medical expenses and problems that the client might anticipate.
