I believe the best practice requires keeping you informed and your questions answered. If you chose me as your attorney, you should expect to be involved, at minimum, in the following processes: creating the petition, giving a deposition, negotiating settlements, and trial. Appeal is always a possibility in any case. I will address it separately in another Asbestos Short.
The petition is the documents on which we would work to begin your lawsuit in the appropriate courthouse in Louisiana. I would meet with you and have several telephone conversations to ensure your petition is accurate and contains the appropriate defendants. In short, the petition describes you, your defendants, your allegations against those defendants, and your damages or injuries. Without a petition, you have no lawsuit.
The deposition is the question and answer session that follows the petition. Every question and answer made in the deposition is transcribed by a stenographer and potentially filmed. This process allows for two basis goals to be met. First, it allows you to document with detail the facts underlying your lawsuit in ways that preserve it for use at trial. Second, it allows the defendants to better understand why you sued them and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your allegations against them.
Settlement negotiations, hopefully, happen well in advance of trial. They can be quick or drawn out. When I receive a settlement offer from your defendant, I relay the offer to you along with my assessment of the offer. With that information, you make the best decision you can. This is your case.
Trial occurs when the parties to the lawsuit cannot reach a settlement agreement. For many reasons, not every case can be settled before trial. You would be with me in court for the entire trial, health permitting. We would begin by selecting a jury of your peers, twelve jurors in a Louisiana state court and at least six in a federal court in Louisiana. Once the jury members are selected, the other attorney(s) and I would give "opening statements" to the jury that tells them how we force the trial playing out. Next, we present our witnesses to the jury. Immediately after that, the defendant(s) present their witnesses. Finally, the attorneys close the trial with "closing argument," which is their last attempt to persuade the jury. Then, we wait . . . and wait (possibly) for a jury verdict. Usually, the jury takes several hours to decide.
No doubt, you have more questions for me about the process. Feel free to contact me.
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