You have suffered significant injuries because of an accident, and you believe you have a strong personal injury case. You start the proceedings for filing a lawsuit to claim compensation, but, before your case has a chance to move off the ground, you find out that the defense has made a motion to dismiss your case, instead of answering your allegations.
Motion to Dismiss Your Case, even before it Starts
You believe you have suffered significant injuries after a car accident because of someone else’s carelessness. You hire an attorney to submit a lawsuit on your behalf. Your attorney goes ahead, files the required papers, and starts the lawsuit. You now expect everything to go smoothly, and you are confident of being successful, because you believe that your case is formidable and resolute. However, you get a call from your attorney and he tells you that things are not going well. He informs you that the defense rather than answering your allegations have turned around and made a request to dismiss your case, before anything got off the ground. You are shocked and want to know how they can possibly do that, since they do not yet know the facts or details of the case? How can they possible ask the court to dismiss a case where they do not know any of its details? Well, it is possible, and it is called a preemptive strategy, where the defense will try to get your case dismissed, before you even have the chance to reach the discovery phase of your lawsuit. For doing this, the defense will have to toss in legal arguments and reasoning, as to why your case does not have merit. They will oftentimes have to get experts to support their claim that your case does not have merit and does not belong in the court system.
The Judge can Dismiss Your Case
If the judge agrees with the defense’s arguments, then your case is out, and your case will be over even before any traction was gained. On the other hand, there is also the possibility of the judge turning around and saying that the arguments put forward by the defense are a bit premature. The judge may determine that this is a factual dispute that ultimately needs to be resolved by a jury, rather than an issue of law for the court to decide. In such instance, the court will allow the case to proceed forward.
Stranger Things have Occurred
However, do not be surprised, if your attorney calls you and says that the defense has made a motion to dismiss your case, even before serving any answers to your complaint. Hence, even if you believe that you have suffered injuries because of somebody’s negligence of carelessness, and you feel your case is terrific, there is a possibility of your case being dismissed, even before it starts, provided the defense is able to put forward valid arguments for the dismissal.
