The legal system provides both the plaintiff and the defendant with various means for settling their dispute. Still, there are times when the plaintiff elects to pursue a lawsuit. Once the plaintiff has made that decision, the process could keep moving, and cause the lawsuit to advance to the trial stage.
What takes place during a trial in a personal injury case?
Normally, each of the opposing parties has retained a lawyer. Each of the Injury Lawyer in Cambridge has a chance to present an opening statement. Following the presentation of those statements, the same pair of attorneys gets a chance to share the collected evidence.
The attorney for the plaintiff calls chosen witnesses, while sharing the evidence with the jury. That attorney’s witnesses offer support for the plaintiff’s argument. The lawyer for the defendant follows the one representing the plaintiff. He or she displays evidence, and questions witnesses that offer support for the defendant’s argument.
After the jury has listened to all of the witnesses and has seen all of the evidence, both of the lawyers give a closing statement. Then the judge gives the jury its instructions, and prepares that body of 12 for the period of deliberation.
The jury’s verdict indicates whether or not the defendant will owe any money to the plaintiff. In some cases, the judge adds to the size of that payment by hitting the defendant with the need to pay punitive damages. Only defendants that have been guilty of egregious behavior need to worry about that possibility.
What factors might influence the jury’s decision?
The extent to which the witnesses appear credible. The ability of the witnesses and the experts to offer a clear explanation, so that the 12 jurors do not struggle to interpret the meaning of the testimony
The degree to which the jurors’ emotions might sway their decision one-way or the other. The extent to which the notes taken by the 12-person jury manages to help those same 12 minds with the recollection of information.
What factors should not play a part in the jury’s decision?
The judge usually asks the jury to leave the courtroom anytime that either of the lawyers must discuss something with the judge. Judges take that action in order to keep the subject of any such discussion from influencing the nature of the verdict. Still, the jurors remain in the dark, as to the reason for their forced departure from the courtroom.
No one is supposed to speak with a member of the jury, in an effort to sway that member’s thinking. By the same token, no one is supposed to tell any witness what he or she should say, when offering testimony, while on the witness stand.
