The trial will be scheduled once the Clerk of Court and judge agree to place your case on the trial calendar. Depending on the size of the county in which the lawsuit was filed, that particular court may only have trial calendar several times a year. Let’s assume that your lawsuit is scheduled for trial calendar two months away. During that two-month period, your attorney is working on a pretrial order (basically lists the contentions and sequence of evidence that your attorney plans to demonstrate at trial), jury charges (written instructions to the jury regarding relevant law applicable to your case), and preparation for your testimony and favorable witnesses along with plans for cross-examination of defendant and unfavorable witnesses.
There will be a number of different lawsuits on the trial calendar besides your lawsuit. In fact, there may be as many as 15 to 20 – perhaps more. Moreover, these lawsuits may have been filed before your lawsuit, so they will have priority to being actually called to try the case before you. On top of that, there may be lawsuits that have a special setting for trial, which occurs in complex litigation that may last for a week or more. I had a case last week in the State Court of DeKalb County in which there were 12 total cases on the trial docket. The parties on those 12 cases were required to appear on the first day of the calendar call to determine who would go to trial and in what position.
A medical malpractice case was giving a special setting on this day for the whole two-week calendar period. That meant that the medical malpractice case was the only case that would be heard during the March trial calendar period. Our case would be placed on the next jury trial calendar in April. However, if the medical malpractice case settled during its two-week trial, then we would be placed on a 24-hour notice to be called into trial during the remaining trial calendar period of March. Suffice it to say, there are many variables that come into play as to when your particular case may go to trial and you have and your attorney have to be prepared at a moment’s notice to be prepared and run down to court for trial. The simple answer is that it can take anywhere from seven months to longer than a year to get on the trial calendar in Georgia from the date that defendant is actually served with the complaint. This may seem like a long time, but it is a short price to pay when the insurer is not offering fair compensation for your injury case. At that point, your only leverage is to try the case.
The Law Offices of Kevin C. Ford represent clients throughout Georgia who were injured or lost a loved one in car wrecks caused by negligent. If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of the negligence or fault of a negligent driver, then please contact an experienced car accident attorney immediately for a free consultation. Mr. Ford can help clients obtain monetary compensation necessary to pay for past, present and future medical care and provide for a fresh start. Please contact us today for a free consultation.