Personal Injury Lawsuits: Subpoenaing a Witness

When you have a personal injury lawsuit, it's up to you to provide evidence that'll help your case. You can use photographs, videos, or an expert's assessment of the scene as evidence. But sometimes, there may be no video evidence or victims may forget to take pictures amid the chaos.

One good way to prove that the other party is liable is to use a witness' testimony. The chance of someone witnessing the accident is high, and only in a few cases does accidents happen without a witness present.

However, what happens when your witness refuses to testify in court? It's understandable. No one wants to show up in a court for a stranger they'll gain nothing from in the end. Your best option to get a witness to respond is to subpoena him or her.

What is a Subpoena? A subpoena is a tool for compelling information from a witness. A third party to a lawsuit typically receives it as a court-ordered document, requesting him to appear and testify in court.

Besides eyewitness, expert witnesses like doctors can receive subpoenas to present documents or testimonies relevant to the case. Subpoenas are powerful tools, and attorneys in Lancaster PA, use them to gather evidence regarding their cases.

How to Subpoena a Witness To send a subpoena in Pennsylvania, you must first send a written notice to the other party of your desire to subpoena them. The other party has 20 days to object, and if no objection occurs, you can send your subpoena. You can get the form for a subpoena from the court, and it must carry the following information:

● The name of the issuing court

● The case title and case number

● Name, phone number and address of the person getting the subpoena

● Date, time, and location the person must appear

● The documents or items the person must bring to the deposition or hearing

Depending on the type of court you pick the form from, there may be other information you'll need to complete. When you complete the form, your Lancaster personal injury lawyer will sign it, and a court clerk will review and also sign.

You can't deliver a subpoena yourself. Only a professional process server or another person above 18 who isn't a party to your lawsuit can serve the subpoena. Finally, inform the court when the person receives the subpoena.

When you subpoena a witness to a hearing, deposition, or trial, they must live or work within a certain distance the court specifies. Also, you may pay mileage for the witness's journey to court.

Conclusion When you subpoena a witness, they'll have to respond or be subject to fines. They may not be happy with your actions in compelling them to court. You only have to hope that they give a true testimony of the accident.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Common Mistakes Personal Injury Clients Make

Image
No one anticipates getting involved in an accident or suffering a personal injury. It's therefore understandable that in the aftermath of a personal injury, some people feel confused. As a result, it's easy to make mistakes.  While some mistakes are harmless, others might jeopardize a victim's ability to get compensation. It's essential to know the common mistakes personal injury clients make so that you can avoid them. Failing to Keep Record of Evidence After a personal injury accident, it's vital to document every evidence, beginning from the scene of the accident. It would be best if you took numerous photographs of the scene and your injuries. If you can locate witnesses, speak to them, write down everything, and collect their contact information. When claiming compensation, you need to prove that someone else's negligence and not yours was the cause of the accident. Besides a police investigation, keeping a personal record of evid...
Read more

How to Get Workers’ Compensation Without Legal Assistance

Image
Many of the people that seek out one of the top workers comp attorneys in Lancaster, PA will go through all potential options that they see before seeking out legal help. It is important to know that you can get good workers’ compensation without legal assistance. Below, we will cover how this is possible.  First Accept That This Might Not Be Possible Although many employers are very fair in their workers’ compensation claims, others will nickel and dime you down to the point where you don’t feel you are getting the compensation that you deserve. This is when you should consider getting legal help. However, there are some things you can do along the way to help avoid this. Talk to Your Boss Quickly After the Accident One of the common mistakes we find among people seeking out one of the top workers compensation attorneys in Lancaster PA is that they failed to report the injury to their boss in a timely manner. Or, they weren’t aware of the severity of it until mon...
Read more

Can Delivery Drivers Be Eligible for Workers Compensation?

Image
  Before you hire one of the top workers comp attorneys in Lancaster PA as a delivery driver, you might be wondering whether or not you are eligible for worker’s compensation. Below, we will break down what you need to know on this topic.  Consider Your Employer IF you want to secure one of the top workers compensation lawyers in lancaster pa , you should first consider who you are employed by. Those working with third party companies such as Uber will likely not have worker’s compensation benefits. Freelance Drivers Won’t Typically Be Eligible Those who work with third-party delivery services usually qualify as independent contractors. Therefore, they cannot file claims directly with the third-party service for worker’s compensation. It’s very important for many people who would otherwise work with companies like these to understand this. Traditional Delivery Drivers Usually Are Eligible If you work with a company such as Pizza Hut, Dominos, and so on, you will...
Read more