On your trial date in District Court your case will be scheduled along with five or ten other cases. Your case is a public trial, meaning anyone is entitled to view its proceedings.
At least several people will be in attendance to hear your case, as other individuals will be waiting for their cases to be called. Once your case is called for trial, the party who has brought the case, known as the Plaintiff, will present his/her side.
Your Baltimore auto accident attorney will then call witnesses on your behalf and will call you to testify on your particular case. When you are called to testify, you will be asked a series of questions. Below are typical questions an attorney will ask as part of your trial.
You should know the answers to these questions when preparing to testify in your case.
Please state your name, address, age, marital status, amount of children (if any), years of schooling, place of employment, duration of employment at said place and type of work.
After asking these general background questions, your Baltimore auto accident attorney may then follow this basic train of thought:
Directing your attention to: the date of the car accident, where were you going on that particular day, where were coming from, what time you left, what route you took, how fast were you going, what lane you were in, what the traffic, weather and road conditions were like, what the speed limit was, how many passengers you had, number of surrounding vehicles, the time, the time you had to be where you were going, whether lateness was a factor, if you were in a hurry, if your radio was on, if anything was blocking your vision, or if there were any obstructions in the road.
After relaying this general background, you will be asked how the auto accident happened, at which time you will give your version as to how the accident happened.
After you explain how the accident happened, your attorney will ask you the following questions:
Were there any traffic control devices involved? What color was the light? Who had the stop sign or other traffic control device? What did the traffic control devices or signs say? What did the other driver do? How fast was he going? What did the other driver look like? What did the other car look like? What lane were you in at the time of the accident? Where was the point of impact? What efforts did you make to avoid the accident? What efforts did the other driver make to avoid the accident? Were there any other witnesses to the accident? Did the other driver have any passengers? Were there any other cars involved?
After describing how the auto accident happened you and your Baltimore auto accident attorney will then get into the injuries part of the case.
Potential questions include:
What happened to you inside the vehicle when the accident happened? Did any part of your body strike the inside of the vehicle? When did you first notice that you were hurt in the accident? What part of your body was injured as a result of the accident?
Explain the exact problem you were having with each part of your body when you first noticed you were hurt.
1.Did you tell anyone you were injured at the scene?
2.Did you speak to the police officer? What did you tell the police officer?
3.Did you speak with the other party? What did you tell the other party?
4.Was anyone else injured in the accident? What did they tell you? Was the other party injured in the accident?
5.Describe the damage to your car.
6.What medical treatment-if any-did you receive? Did you go to the emergency room? How did you get to the emergency room? Did you go to the emergency room right away or did you wait until the next day?
7.If you went to the emergency room or doctor the next day, how did you feel that night?
8.If you went to the emergency room the same day, how did you feel while you were in the ambulance?
9.How did you feel while you were waiting in the emergency room at the hospital?
10.What did they do for you at the hospital?
11.What recommendations– if any– did they make at the hospital? Did they recommend that you follow up with any other treatment? Did they do any tests for you at the hospital? If so, describe those tests. Did they take any x-rays? Did they prescribe any medication?
12.After you left the hospital, where did you go, how did you feel and did you receive any follow up medical treatment?
13. How did you feel between the time you went to the emergency room and the time you went for your follow up medical treatment?
14.What do you typically do when you are not injured? How did this affect your ability to do those things after you were injured?
15.Where did you go for follow up treatment? What did they do for you at the doctor’s office?
16.Did they prescribe any treatment or give you any medication? Where did you get your prescriptions filled? Did they give you any medical devices?
17.Did you wear those medical devices?
18.What did the doctor’s examination consist of?
19.How long was the doctor’s examination?
20.Did you receive any physical therapy? Can you describe the types of physical therapy you had, how long each physical therapy treatment lasted and whether the physical therapy helped or not?
21.Did you receive any surgery? Can you describe the surgery? Did the surgery help? How long was your medical treatment? Did you make a full recovery?
22.Are you still having any present complaints? If so, what are those present complaints?
23.Did you miss any time from work? If so, how much? How much money do you make when you work a full week? How much money did you lose as a result of the accident?
24.Were you able to go back to your regular job after your medical treatment was completed?
25.Did you incur any medical expenses? How much were those medical expenses?
26.How did your auto accident affect your ability to work? Were you able to work? What is it about your job that you could not do as a result of your accident?
27.How did the accident affect your normal home life? What activities at home were you not able to do that you normally did? Did you get any help to with those activities? If so, who helped you?
28.Describe the pain that you were in. Describe the problem that you were having with each part of your body. Describe the limitations that you had with each part of your body and how it affected your ability to do your normal activities as well as your work activities.
29.If you are having any permanent complaints, please describe those and describe any permanent limitations.
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