Don’t Be Afraid If You Have To File Your Injury Lawsuit In Another State

If you are injured and the accident that injured you is someone else’s fault, you can, if you choose, file a lawsuit right here in Rhode Island, to recover compensation for your injuries. That’s true, except for one detail: you might not always be able to sue in Rhode Island.

In or Out of State?

To be able to sue someone to recover compensation for injuries in the state, the Defendant that you are suing must also live in, or do business, in Rhode Island.

But it does often happen that your injury is caused by a person or business that isn’t here in the state. Perhaps you were injured when you were travelling, or in some cases, you may have signed an agreement or contract, promising that you would sue the Defendant in their home state, not yours, if you were ever injured.

Many people might be frightened by the thought of suing in another state. They have visions of getting on planes and spending thousands of dollars in travel costs to pursue their personal injury claim. But that’s not exactly how it works.

Your Local Lawyer

Your first concern might be your lawyer–you would prefer a lawyer here in Rhode Island, who you can visit, or who is local to you, or who may have come to you through a trusted referral. The good news is that yes, your local Rhode Island personal injury lawyer can legally represent you, even if your case has to be filed in another state.

There are procedures where lawyers can get temporarily licensed in another state, and litigate a case in that state, often with the help of attorneys who are licensed in whatever state your case must be filed in.

Your Travel and Involvement

You may be worried about having to travel to whatever state your case is in.

Today, many hearings and court processes, including depositions, can be handled remotely through Zoom and other methods. In fact, in the course of a typical personal injury case, at least before trial, there are not a lot of “in person” court events that you, as the client, have to actually attend.

Low Settlement Offers

All of this said, your concerns about filing a personal injury lawsuit are rational and understandable–so much so that the insurance company or Defendant you are suing, knows this. Because they know you might have to sue them in “their state,” they may purposely offer you very minimal settlement offers, anticipating that you will be dissuaded from suing in another state, and will just take their unfair offer.

Don’t let them take advantage of you like that. Ultimately, most of the headache, time and expense associated with filing an out-of-state lawsuit, will be handled by your attorney. For you, it is largely the same process, whether your case is filed here in Rhode Island, or in any other state.

Contact our Rhode Island injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates for help no matter where your injury case needs to be filed.