The Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) indicates1 that there were nearly 240,000 people injured in motor vehicle accidents throughout the state in 2014. In many car accident cases, Texas law2 entitles people who sustain economic or noneconomic losses in an accident to recover for these losses, provided that they can establish that their accident was the result of negligence.
Establishing negligence can be a difficult issue, especially in situations where a party is denying responsibility. Fortunately, an experienced attorney can use a legal process known as “discovery” to obtain evidence in support of your claim. The discovery process actually involves a number of procedural devices that can compel the production of evidence. Some of these are detailed below.
- Depositions – Depositions are in person out-of-court interviews that are conducted under oath and in the presence of a court reporter. Generally, they are conducted by an attorney and the party being deposed has his or her counsel present.
- Interrogatories – Interrogatories are written questions submitted to another party that are answered under oath and in writing.
- Requests for production and inspection – Parties to a lawsuit are entitled to compel the production of documents so that they may be inspected.
- Physical examination – A court may order a party to a lawsuit to submit to a physical examination if the physical condition of that party is at issue.
These and other discovery devices can be utilized to obtain evidence in support of the assertion that a particular person or party was negligent, and that that negligence caused a motor vehicle accident. There are complicated procedural and substantive rules that apply to the discovery process, so it highly advisable for anyone who believes that he or she has a legal claim to retain an experienced Houston personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Contact a Houston personal injury lawyer today to retain legal representation
Establishing negligence after a car accident can be a complicated and time-consuming process. Houston auto accident lawyer Stewart J. Guss has been representing the rights of injured victims for 20 years and is dedicated to obtaining the best outcome possible in each case he handles. Call our office today at 713-766-5883 to schedule a free consultation.
1 http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot/trf/crash-statistics/2014/01.pdf
