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personal injury deposition/what happens next?

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My daugther was in an accident 4 years ago she was 16 and a passenger in a friends car. After all this time of neurological test and brain scan etc a demand package was finally sent a couple months ago and now they want to depose her next month. Is this normal and what happens next? is this where they decide if we will take it to trial? the evidence is pretty hevily in our favor I would be suprised if they wanted to go to court but who knows.
What are the steps to settlelment once the deposition is complete? would an offer come soon afterwards? Once and offer is made and acepted how long to see an actual check?
 


stephenk

Senior Member
a deposition is where your daughter is questioned under oath by the opposing attorney. she will be asked about her background, the accident facts, her injuries, treatment and current condition. This is the opportunity for the other attorney to determine if your daughter makes a credible witness and to also nail her down on her story regarding the above subjects.

Since you didnt post the facts of the accident, who knows if any offer will be made or when one will be made. Do you have a trial date on the case?
 
deposition/settlement

She was 16 and the seatbelt was non working which sent her into the windshield leaving a 8 inch bubble out the front of the windshield. She still has no memory of the accident. She was treated in teh emergency room and we have had many test with
a neurologist over the past few years so they could compare the tests. All tests were showing that she had left frontal lobe injury and her changes in personality and actions seem to go along with that. She also had a brain scan that shows how the sugars burn or some thing in your brain? That also showed a problem right in the left frontal lobe area. She tryed to attend college but school has become very hard as she is easily distracted and had alot of dificulty. She stopped school and is working now and doing fine. It is also 4 years later....... I know at one point we also saw a voc rehab guy who is supposed to help determine what her earning potential is now vs what it might have been without the accident. I know there was a 300,000 umbrella policy
and the othe rcar they hit only got about 15,000. I believe our demand was for 500,000 . They have had the demand package for some time and defense ordered ther eown copys of school records medical etc and now want a deposition. How are we supposed to remember all the details 4 years later? Our lawyer
has not asked for a court date and he says he likes the settlement tone at this point. Im not sure if they had asked for a deposition when he said that. If it goes well would the next step be for them to offer a settlement amount?
 

stephenk

Senior Member
remember it's your daughter's deposition. she will have to testify to what she knows and remembers. if she doesnt recall something, fine. all she has to say is she does not recall.

typically, a settlement offer would follow a deposition. big question is going to be about the seatbelt. Was she wearing the seatbelt and it didnt work or was she not wearing the belt because she knew it was not working?
 
it didnt work

When she got in the car the girl told her it didnt owrk so she was not wearing one. Other friends have stated that it never worked and if they used it they had to loop it through the drivers side belt and buckle the drivers side to hold it in. She even told the policman that at the scene. I think she tryed to say later she wasnt sure. The police told us that the way she went through the windshield way over to the left she could not have been in a seat belt. She has no memory of the accident at all untill about 2 hours later in the hospital when they were stiching up her face
that is the first memorys she has of it. She doesnt remeber the ambulance or the lady that found her bleeding walking around in the road or anything.
 
a

I should mention this was the first tiem she had riden with this girl and did not know before she got in the car that it did not work
the girl told her when she saw her trying to buckle it up.
 

stephenk

Senior Member
i'm sure your attorney has told you, but there could be some if not a lot of negligence on your daughter for knowingly not wearing a seatbelt. She had the option to not go in the car or to sit in the car where the seatbelts did work. Plus, her injuries seem to be directly related to her not wearing the belt. If she had the belt on and it worked, she would not have had a head injury.

what state is your lawsuit filed?
 
Wasnt she neglegant in continuing to take passengers when she knew it did not work?
Her mother works at the court house for a judge and she went immediatly to the accident and took her daughte rhome so she could nt talk to anyone the Mom never even called to tell us our daughte rhad been taken to the hospital a friend called. She tryed to get an uncle who owned the junk yard to get rif of the car quicky but we got pictures over the fence of the windshield etc.
 
No he really has not since long ago.
IM trying to remember exactly how that went.
I know there was statements in writting that the other girl tryed to get my daughter to lie and say that she was wearing a seatbelt but she said no
 
The girls were cheerleaders together and I know they made a video for my daughter and the driver was on it crying and saying how sorry she was and they made up a cheer about her broken seatbelt and how everyone needs to buckle up for safety as a joke but I think at the time she admitted it didnt work.
So you think this may all fall apart in teh end? gosh 4 years and
20,000 in medical bills later I sure hope not.
They were begging to give us 10,000 the week it happened
 

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