Personal Injury Cases in Montgomery County, Maryland

      Montgomery County is usually viewed by most Maryland personal injury lawyers as a relatively conservative jurisdiction to try motor vehicle accident cases. Juries in Montgomery County are generally more skeptical of a personal jury victim's damages and will often find in favor of the auto accident defendant if liability (fault) is at issue so that damages will not have to be considered. In cases where the injuries are more objective, i.e. can be seen on a radiograph or other standard diagnostic test that is verifiable, Montgomery County juries are typically less conservative and generally give awards that are approach, if not reach, other jurisdictions in Maryland. Still, most experienced Maryland injury lawyers try to avoid filing a case in this jurisdiction because the verdicts are considered to be lower and will look for other jurisdictions that might be more inclined to give a fair verdict, most notably neighboring Prince George's County which is considered perhaps the best jurisdiction in Maryland for personal injury lawyers seeking fair compensation for their Maryland injury clients.

      One of the best things about representing injury victims in personal injury accident cases in Montgomery County is that it has a "fast track" for Maryland personal injury cases. Most auto accident cases with average damages go to jury trial within six months of the date the lawsuit was filed. When a personal injury case is filed in Montgomery County, the court, in a smaller case, issues a scheduling order with a discovery cutoff in approximately 90 days and a pretrial conference following shortly thereafter. In a medium to large damages case, the court in Montgomery County orders a scheduling conference where the scheduling order is given, which typically ends the discovery within six months and sets a pretrial conference date. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is generally ordered in these cases at the pretrial conference of a personal injury case. The ADR is usually in the form of a mediation before a randomly selected attorney in the community who is on the court's list of approved attorney mediators. The attorneys who serve as mediators of Montgomery County personal injury cases are typically experienced attorneys in Maryland and typically work very hard to settle the cases. The attorney mediator must report back to the court the results of the mediation and can order the parties to attend more than one session of mediation if the case does not reach a settlement. Unlike many other jurisdictions in Maryland, Montgomery County, if a personal injury case does not settle at mediation, the trial almost always goes forward on the assigned trial date, making it easy to schedule expert and fact witnesses for trial.

      For attorneys handling smaller cases in Montgomery County in District Court, judges typically give accident victims compensation that is in line with the compensation given by judges in other jurisdictions in Maryland.

      Our lawyers handle a substantial number of our personal injury cases in Montgomery County, including Silver Spring, Bethesda, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Olney, Wheaton and Burtonsville. If you have been injured in an accident in around Montgomery County, call us at 800-553-8082 or select here for a free consultation.

Other Jurisdictions

See Baltimore City
See Baltimore County
See Prince George's County
See Anne Arundel County

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