The Initial Court Papers when Beginning Your Personal Injury Lawsuit

Once you commence with your personal injury lawsuit, there will be initial legal papers that must be filed in court. These are known as “pleadings”. Your personal injury attorney will explain these documents to you in the specific context of your particular case. However, it is good to have an understanding of the papers that will be part of your lawsuit before going into court. Also, keep in mind that the different states sometimes have different names for these papers.

The Various Documents in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

The purpose of this crucial paper is to relate to the defendant the factual and legal bases of the plaintiff’s claims. If the plaintiff uses the phrase, “upon information and belief” before setting down the facts, this means that the plaintiff heard the following facts from other parties, or is claiming their belief that the described events happened as they described. Generally, many states require that the plaintiff’s claims are laid out in a short and plain statement, which can sometimes sound sketchy or make it seem like the facts are not telling the whole story.

Summons and Service of Process

The “Summons” document is the order from the court stating where the lawsuit will be litigated, or “heard”. It also notifies the defendant that he/ she is being sued with reference to the complaint document, and relays the time limit in which the defendant is required to file either an answer, or if state that they will seek to have the claim dismissed. It will also explain the consequences of failing to respond to the claim in a timely manner, which causes a defendant to be “in default”. This can include that the defendant will be bound by the result regardless of whether or not they participated in the case.

The summons is most often a form document, with a pre-printed caption containing the name of the court, the court’s individual identification number for the case (the “docket number”), and the names of the parties. The language in the document is referred to as a “notice,” as it informs the defendant that they are being sued.

The summons will be “served,” meaning delivered, on the defendant along with the complaint, so they may understand the claims against them. Someone must either confirm his or her identity and hand them the documents, or they must be mailed to the defendant. This is known as the “service of process”.

Answer

This is the defendant’s response to the complaint, and it addresses each individual paragraph in the complaint. Answers usually take one of three forms: “denied,” “admitted,” or “insufficient knowledge to admit or deny” in regards to the claims.

Counterclaim

If the defendant also has his own claim against the plaintiff that arose from the same circumstances which led to the formal complaint, it will be raised in the answer in the section called the “counterclaims”. This is written in a similar fashion as the original complaint.

Reply to Counterclaim

In the case that the defendant asserts their counterclaim in the answer, the plaintiff is allowed to respond by filing a “reply” of their own. The reply either “admits,” “denies,” or states that the plaintiff lacks suitable information, just as the original answer was formatted. This document may also state defenses.

Cross-claim

Cross-claims occur in a case where there are numerous parties involved in the lawsuit, and two or more of the parties - that are “aligned” as plaintiffs or as defendants - have their own dispute arising out of the transaction or occurrence which originated the case.

Answer to Cross-claim

The party being sued in a cross-claim is required to file an answer in the same format as the answer filed in response to the original complaint.

Third-Party Complaint

In certain cases, the defendant being sued has their own legal reason for passing the liability off to another person or party. This can occur when the defendant has a contract with which a third party promises to pay if the defendant is found liable in a conflict. The third party may be brought into the lawsuit in the circumstance that the defendant files a “Third-party Complaint”. Similar to a regular complaint, this documents states the relevant facts which give rise to the defendant’s claim against the third party. This paper also relays a request for relief.

Answer to Third-Party Complaint

The party being sued by the the third-party complaint must file their formal answer, in the same format as the one filed after the original complaint.