What does it mean to be a plaintiff in a personal injury or med mal case?
Family members and close friends can be injured due to the negligence of a person or a corporation. Plaintiffs may find themselves in a personal injury case, a med mal case, a products liability case, a transvaginal mesh case, or even a pharmaceutical drug case.
Who should I retain as an attorney? What should I think about?
The attorney’s experience and track record with jury verdicts are paramount elements to consider when thinking about your valid claim. Willingness to go to trial surprisingly is a quality that may very well be lacking in choosing a lawyer who prefers instead to nudge clients to settle.
Once the lawyer is hired what should I expect?
Plaintiffs who have valid claims, and believe in their merit should expect that if they want to gain a lot to make their life right again they will have to go through a lot for one relatively short period of time until the law suit is complete. A plaintiff’s personal life and history relevant to the matter at hand will be inspected by the defendant’s agents and the plaintiff will have to provide statements under oath so that the court can try to capture the truth of what has taken place for the sake of the plaintiff’s cause of action. Surveillance teams may inspect what is going on with the plaintiffs to gather any kind of evidence against them. A plaintiff should expect the defendant’s doctors will have the chance to examine the plaintiff in an effort to thwart her case and deny liability.
In the time leading up to your day in court, the plaintiff, along with the defendants, will go through what is called “discovery.” Discovery is a time for the lawyers to question the parties involved in the lawsuit about what exactly the role each party played in causing the harm. A plaintiff should fully expect the defense will try to pin the blame on them, perhaps by arguing the plaintiff is the cause of the problem itself or substantially contributed to the problem, as if it is their fault for becoming sick or travelling down one street instead of another. The defense will do and say what they can to underscore any inconsistency in order to paint the picture in favor for them – their goal is always to absolve them of liability and walk away without having to pay anything or having to pay the least amount.
It is for these purposes that if you as a plaintiff have a legitimate case, the right attorney who is competent and passionate in handling your case should be retained. With both a valid claim and the right lawyer, the jury should understand your story and you should prevail over the defense’s well financed teams of lawyers who will spend any amount of money to win. You need an aggressive lawyer with a proven and powerful law firm who will stand up and fight against the defense machine.
Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, LLC and their New Jersey law firm routinely represent individuals who have been seriously injured by dangerous and defective products, as well as represent individuals in personal injury suits, and med mal claims. One of our partners is a co-author of the leading New Jersey product liability law book. Our successes include a $33.9 million settlement for a defective product that injured our client while he was working; this is the largest products liability recovery in New Jersey history. The firm has also, through its aggressive representation of clients, achieved a $135 million verdict in an alcohol liability lawsuit involving a multibillion-dollar international food and beverage company that sells beer at Giants Stadium as well as won an $11.1 million jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a vaginal mesh case.