Most personal injury cases settle out of court, but some cannot be settled because the at-fault driver’s insurance company simply will not make a reasonable offer. In that scenario the only recourse is to file a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver.
It is important not to procrastinate in speaking to a personal injury attorney. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes important evidence is time sensitive. Witnesses forget details, or move to unknown whereabouts.
There is also the matter of serving the other driver with formal legal process. This is more than merely delivering papers. Generally, the documents must be placed in the hands of the other driver, or a co-resident at their home. Sometimes people move, avoid the process server with subterfuge, or just refuse to answer the door.
There are ways to handle this situation, but it is usually preferable to deal with the situation early, and well before the applicable statute of limitations runs.
In a recent case (not one of ours) the at-fault driver avoided the server by apparently lying to the server when identifying herself, and claiming she did not live in the residence.
Eventually, the injured party’s attorney served the Washington Secretary of State under a statute authorizing such service when a driver who causes an injury accident avoids service. The trial court did not interpret the law to allow this type of service of process in this scenario, and dismissed the case because the statute of limitations had run in the meantime.
Eventually the dismissal was reversed on appeal.
While there are sometimes legitimate reasons to wait to file a personal injury lawsuit, sometimes it is best to initiate litigation earlier.
Bring your personal injury case to an attorney early for a free initial case evaluation, and let the attorney advise you.