What to Know About Dispositive Motions in Your Personal Injury Trial
If you are the victim of a person or business's negligence, you may find yourself in court. Cases can be resolved outside of court, but when when all pretrial settlement negotiations have failed to provide you with a fair compensation package, court may inevitable. Court cases usually do not proceed in a smooth manner. There are a number of continuances, postponements, hearings, and motions to contend with on a weekly or even daily basis. Some motions are to be expected, but can still be upsetting if you are not prepared. Read on to learn more about some of these motions common in a personal injury trial.
Nondispositive and Dispositive Motions
A motion is a written request by either your side (plaintiff) or the other side (defendant) that may change the course of the trial, and in the case of the motions explained here, it can actually bring your trial to an abrupt end. There are two basic type of motions. Nondispositive motions are usually over small technicalities and minor issues; they almost never have a great impact on the course of the case. Dispositive motions, on the other hand, can greatly influence a case. You can almost guarantee that the other side will file a motion to dismiss at the beginning stages of your trial, since it is almost routine.
Motion to Dismiss
This dispositive motion is asking the judge to go ahead and hand down a ruling on the case, even though the case is not over yet. This motion can actually come before the trial begins, during or before the discovery process, and asks the judge to look at the information available so far and render a ruling. The case lacks merit, or so the motion will state. Why does it lack merit? There are several reasons, but this motion is essentially insisting that you don't have a case against the defendant.
Jurisdiction: If the other side can show proof that the case was either brought in the wrong court or the wrong jurisdiction, you may find yourself with no case. For example, if your case should have been filed in civil court (which personal injury cases should be), but was instead filed in probate court, the case will be "thrown out" when the motion is ruled valid. If the case was brought in an Alabama court, even though the accident occurred in Florida, the case is over. You can, of course, refile in the correct court and jurisdiction.
Improper summons: These pieces of paper ordering you or anyone else to appear in court must be letter-perfect, or risk having the case dismissed for improper summons.
Lack of claim: This commonly used defense tactic attempts to show that the defendant was not to blame for your damage. While you may say that this is better left up to the merits of the case on display at the trial, if the brief is convincing enough, your case may be dismissed. For example, the motion may claim that a third party was actually responsible for your injuries, not the defendant.
To learn more about your upcoming trial, speak to a personal injury attorney like Hornthal Riley Ellis & Maland LLP.
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