How to Decide if It’s Time to Sue
When someone is hurt or suffers an injury, it’s natural to wonder if filing a lawsuit is appropriate. While this might seem like an easy question to answer, it’s often more complicated than many people realize. The decision to file a lawsuit is something you should only make after careful consideration of all the relevant issues. It’s also something that you should only do after speaking to a local attorney who has experience in handling cases such as yours. If you’ve been injured and are considering filing a lawsuit, here are some questions you should think about.
Were you hurt?
Many of the harms we suffer in our day-to-day lives do not rise to the level of a lawsuit. For example, you might not like the way your boss treats you or might be offended at something you hear someone say, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should file a lawsuit.
One way to determine whether filing a lawsuit is in your best interest is to look at the harms you have suffered. If you were hurt to the extent that you required medical attention, or you lost some abilities you once had, you almost certainly have a good basis for a lawsuit.
On the other hand, if you only suffered minor pain or were not significantly affected by the harm you suffered, pursuing a lawsuit might not be wise.
Do you have a case?
The next question you need to ask yourself when deciding to file a personal injury lawsuit is whether or not you have a case. This question will require some legal analysis, which is always best done by an experienced personal injury attorney. However, you can consider some important facts surrounding your case to help you answer this question.
How were you harmed? Did the injuries result because of someone else’s actions, or did you harm yourself? Were you injured at home or on someone else’s property? If someone else harmed you, was it intentional? How do you know? Even if the other person acted intentionally, did your injuries directly result because of that person’s actions?
Knowing the answers to these questions is important, but interpreting the answers is something best left done by an attorney. While it’s often easy to determine what the facts are, it isn’t always easy to determine how the law applies to those facts.
Do you want to sue?
Finally, it’s important to ask yourself if filing a lawsuit is worth the time, effort, expense, and stress you might have to experience. While no two personal injury lawsuits are the same, choosing to sue will affect your life. Depending on the nature of your case and your personal preferences, you might feel that filing a lawsuit is not worth it.
However, before you make any decision about a potential lawsuit, it’s important for you to speak to an attorney. A lawyer will be able to give you an objective valuation of your potential case and will be able to explain what you might be able to expect if you decide it’s time to sue.
