Just like a fork in the road, there are many ways your journey might take you. When you are wronged, you might believe that a suit is the only path. But, going through the legal system might not bring the end result you wish. This article will discuss how you decide to sue and the alternatives to filing a lawsuit.
Let’s say that one day you are driving and your neighbor backs out of his driveway running into you. At the time, you both exchange insurance information and your neighbor takes the blame since he was texting at the time. Then you hear from your insurance company that the neighbor is blaming you and says he owes nothing. Now what?
Should You Sue?
In the example above, there are many factors to think about if you want to sue. First, if you went to trial could you win? Going to court is a lengthy and costly process. You want to look at the incident and see if you could prove that it was the neighbor’s fault and not yours. For instance, maybe there is a traffic camera that caught the neighbor texting and not paying attention or you have a police report in which the neighbor expressed blame. Otherwise, if you don’t have any evidence then it will be your word against his. Each suit will have certain legal elements that must be met. If you can’t meet all these elements, then you can’t win in court. For example, the elements for negligence are: duty (your neighbor has a duty to drive properly), breach of duty (your neighbor breached his duty when he was texting and driving), cause in fact (but for his texting, he wouldn’t have ran into your car), proximate cause (nothing else contributed to the damage to your car), and damages (your car was totaled). Let’s say that you can prove all the elements, the next question is whether you could gain benefit from going to court. Even if you win, you might not be able to get any money. You can not get money from someone who doesn’t have any. So make sure to look at your opponent and see whether he could actually pay you or if it could cost you additional money which you may not recover by going to court. This topic is discussed further in Understanding Judgments: Part 3 (https://allenlawfirm.com/understanding-judgments-part-3/). If you have a good case and you know that you could collect from your opponent, then a suit might be a good option.
Should You Settle?
In this case, you might want to look at settling. Why? A settlement would be better because you and your opponent are neighbors. If you live close to this person, it might be better to keep the peace and settle outside of court. In a situation such as this, or to save money by staying out of court, you might try to come to a compromise without going to court. This could be done by talking to each other or going to see a mediator. A mediator would act as a neutral third party between both sides and help discuss and decide on a solution.
It is important to realize that in some circumstances, the other party will not be willing to discuss resolution of the matter and will take no action unless you bring a lawsuit. In these situations, attempting to settle the matter without bringing a lawsuit and having the Court and legal system involved may not be the best use of your resources. You should consider filing a lawsuit and allowing the judicial system to guide your case to final resolution.
When you are wronged, your first instinct might be to fight back and sue. But, sometimes the best choice is to try and work it out in different way. If something happens, step back and look at all your options and what will be the best one to get you the outcome you desire.
– The Litigation Team
Ethan | Mark