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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
Return to Maryland
Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
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