How to File an Injury Lawsuit

If you have been injured, you should file an injury lawsuit. The best way to file is to find an attorney to file for you, as injury lawsuits can become cumbersome with the amount of discovery requests and production required. Most attorneys will take an injury lawsuit without requiring payment of a retainer. The attorney will get paid when he wins the lawsuit for you. If you must absolutely file a lawsuit yourself, you can do it.

Instructions

1. Draft a complaint. A complaint is the initial pleading in a lawsuit. It outlines the reasons you are suing the defendant. Set up the style of the pleading. This includes the court name (usually civil court), the plaintiff's name, defendant's name, a place for the case number (you will not receive a case number until the case is filed) and the title of the document ("Complaint").

2. Create the foreword. A pleading's forward generally starts out "COME NOW, the [YOUR NAME] ("Plaintiff") and files this his Complaint and further states..." Each paragraph below this is numbered. If you have more than one cause of action, each cause of action should have its own section.

3. Identify and outline jurisdiction. You must state what county and state the plaintiff (you) live in and where you suffered the injury. You must also, for each defendant listed, identify the county and state where the defendant lives or does business. If you are suing an individual, it is where the defendant lives. If the defendant is a business, you must state the county where the defendant does business.

4. Outline the reasons you are suing the defendant. Each paragraph should be numbered and should contain one action. Paragraphs can expound on the action but should not be more than four to five sentences in length. In this section of the complaint, you are telling the story of what happened. Make sure it is accurate. If you are also requesting punitive damages, you must allege that the defendant was committing a heinous act when he injured you. In other words, it wasn't a normal, everyday accident---the doctor cut off the wrong foot, even after reading the chart; a criminal was running from the police and t-boned your car.

5. Notarize the pleading. Create the other forms needed to file in the court. You will need a civil cover sheet. This tells the clerk what type of lawsuit you are filing. You will also need a summons. Your complaint cannot be served on the defendant without a summons.

6. Make two copies of all of the documents except the cover sheet. Clip the cover sheet to the original complaint---this is for the clerk of court. Clip the original summons to a copy of the petition. Clip the second copy of the summons to the top of the first summons. The last copy of the complaint is your copy.

7. Bring all of the documents to the clerk of court along with the filing fee. The clerk will sign the summons and file the original complaint. The copy of the complaint with the summons must be served on the defendant. Depending on your state, you may have a process server serve the complaint, or the sheriff may be required to serve the complaint. The clerk of court will be able to tell you who can serve the complaint. Give the stamped summons and complaint to the proper service authority. The process server or sheriff will notify you when the defendant has been served.

Tips & Warnings

• This article was not written by an attorney. Do not rely on this article for legal advice. Seek the help of an attorney for filing a personal injury lawsuit.