Accidents happen to everyone, so be prepared. If someone is hurt in your home or vehicles, on your property or another situation where you have ownership or authority, it is important to document everything that happened from the very beginning. For someone to bring a personal injury suit against you in South Carolina, they must prove you had a duty to them, that you failed to carry out that duty, resulting in damages and that your failure caused those damages.

Hiring a litigation attorney can help you avoid civil litigation. The first thing an attorney will do is conduct a thorough investigation to see what evidence exists to help you defend or avoid litigation altogether. During the investigation process, witnesses will be located and interviewed, documents will be gathered and the dispute will be examined for facts. Often, there will be pre-litigation settlement talks to attempt to resolve the dispute without a lawsuit.

If the settlement talks fail to bring resolution to the matter, a variety of pleadings and motions will be made before the court in an attempt to dismiss, change or amend motions brought by the plaintiff.

The pleadings are then followed by the discovery process, where both parties exchange relevant information and argue further motions before the pre-trial phase begins.

Pre-trial is a time of preparation for trial, including retaining expert witnesses and developing a trial strategy.

If it becomes impossible to avoid civil litigation, a trial will take place and both parties will present their arguments. Fortunately, in most civil cases, a settlement is reached and a trial is avoided. A settlement can be reached at any point during a civil litigation. Settlements generally come as the result of conferences, negotiations, mediation, settlement brochures, releases and other legal materials.

If a settlement is not reached and your attorney does not win your case, you can still apply for an appeal to your personal injury case.

During the appeal process, your attorney will draft post-trial motions and work to identify and document issues that provide grounds for appeal. An appeal strategy will be developed as ongoing investigations and evidence gathering continues.

Your best chances to avoid civil litigation are by working closely with a skilled and experienced attorney who understands the rules and procedures in the court process. Civil litigation can be expensive and very time consuming. A case can be drawn out for a very long time, resulting in loss of work time, ongoing stress and continuing costs. The good news is a qualified attorney will very often be able to help you reach a settlement or perhaps find reasons to dismiss the suit and help you avoid civil litigation in the first place.