What Is Personal Injury Mediation?
When many people hear the word “mediation”, they think of it in terms of an alternative method for resolving a divorce. However, mediation is also a commonly used Alternative Dispute Resolution Method in Passaic County personal injury cases as well.
Whether you are seeking financial compensation through a personal injury claim for a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, construction accident, a slip and fall, a dog bite or attack, a ladder or scaffolding accident, or any other kind of accident resulting from the reckless or negligent actions of another party, there is a possibility that personal injury mediation will take place during your claim process.
But what is personal injury mediation, how does it work, and when might it take place during your personal injury claim? Let’s take a look.
Passaic County Personal Injury and Mediation Attorneys
Due to the fact that personal injury mediation takes place outside of a courtroom, it can often be a much more informal and less stressful process used to resolve personal injury claims of all kinds.
During the personal injury mediation process, a “mediator” will be hired to act as a neutral, third party between the two sides of the personal injury dispute. This mediator is usually a former judge, or a lawyer familiar with personal injury law.
The mediator will work with both sides of the dispute, privately and as a group, to help both sides express their positions and expected outcome, and ultimately find a middle ground solution which works for both sides. Any agreement that is reached will be submitted to the courts as a settlement agreement, and once ratified by the courts, the personal injury mediation settlement will become the final, legal settlement for the personal injury dispute at hand.
When Will Mediation Take Place during My Wayne Personal Injury Claim?
Mediation can take place during any personal injury claim as a result of two possible scenarios.
The first is if and when the judge believes there is a possibility for the personal injury claim to be resolved through mediation. When this is the case, a judge may order mandatory mediation sessions to take place before the case is sent to trial.
The other scenario in which mediation may take place during a personal injury dispute is when both sides of the dispute feel that there is the potential for a resolution to be found through cooperation, open discussion, and compromise. When this is the case, the involved parties can request that mediation take place before the personal injury claim proceeds further in the court system.
What Should I Do During a Passaic County Personal Injury Mediation Process?
If personal injury mediation takes place during your Passaic County personal injury claim, it is important that you keep in mind several key ideas.
The first is that, even though mediation may be a more informal process than court litigation, the insurance company will still take any opening you give them to pay you as little as possible. So while retaining the counsel of an experienced personal injury attorney during any personal injury claim is extremely important, it is just as important to do so during personal injury mediation.
Your personal injury attorney can prepare you for the types of questions that will be asked of you, and how to respond to those questions while being truthful but still cognizant of the many traps unrepresented plaintiffs often fall into.
The other critical detail is that just because mediation is taking place during your personal injury claim, you are not required to actually resolve your claim through mediation. If it seems like the mediation process is not yielding the types of results that you need and deserve, you are free to instead take your claim to more formal negotiations, and potentially trial as well.
Contact Our Clifton Personal Injury Law Firm Today
At The Law Office of Fredson and Statmore, our attorneys have extensive experience resolving personal injury claims of all kinds through mediation, negotiation, and jury verdicts in towns across Passaic County, including Clifton, Wayne, Paterson, Woodland Park, and West Milford.
With millions of dollars in settlement and verdicts already secured for our clients, and a litany of positive reviews and referrals, the service we provide and our track record of success speak for themselves.
To discuss your accident, your potential options for recovering financial compensation, and how we can help you to do so in a free and confidential consultation with our personal injury team today, please contact us online.