There are many steps to the litigation
process. The following serves as an introduction to process.
| Hiring an Attorney
| Reviewing the Facts | Hiring an Expert Witness | File Suit in Court |
Hiring an Attorney
Hiring a competent attorney is the first step for the
person who has been the victim of tap water burns. The client and attorney will
discuss the merits of the case and it is up to the client to decide whether the particular
attorney is the proper person to represent them in court. Once that determination
has been made, the client and attorney will discuss the method of paying the
attorney. There are several methods of payment which can be utilized. First,
the attorney can work on a contingency basis, receiving a percentage of the total
recovery. The attorney could also be hired on a contractual or hourly payment basis.
Reviewing the Facts
Once the attorney has been hired, the client will review
the record of the incident and facts pertinent to the cause of the accident. All
facts are important for the process of review by the attorney. No facts should be
considered irrelevant.
Hiring an Expert Witness
Expert witesses provide testimony concerning the injury at
issue, as well as any other factors which may have caused the injury. An expert, who
should be should be qualified in the area to which he is testifying, is important because
an expert can contest the allegations of the defense, which will argue that the injury was
not a result of the settings of the hot water heater but the carelessness of the
plaintiff. Failure to obtain an expert can result in the failure of the case.
The expert's statement as to the cause of the injury will
be a large factor in deciding whether or not to file suit.
Filing a Suit and
Litigation
Filing a suit is a techincal process. Once the suit
is filed, the litigation process begins. Litigation is expensive and time
consuming. It is also emotionally exasperating on all parties involved. During
litigation, the parties file documents with the court and present their theory of the
case. The next step of the litigation process is to research the facts surrounding
the case. Once the facts to support the competing legal theories have been
discovered, the trial begins. Once the trial begins, settlement could still occur,
but the fate of the parties is then in the hand of the fact finder (jury, or judge in a
non-jury trial).
Burns
