Things to Think About Before Filing a Lawsuit
Deciding to file a lawsuit is a meaningful step, and it’s one worth entering with clear eyes. Litigation can be the right choice when negotiation stalls, but it also opens the door to a process that is more involved and more personal than many people expect. Before you file, it helps to understand what you’re signing up for — not to scare you off, but so there are no surprises down the road. Here are some of the realities worth weighing in advance.
Disclaimer: This post is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance specific to your situation, please consult with a qualified personal injury attorney.
The Other Side Gets to Investigate
Once you file suit and claim injuries, the defense is entitled to conduct its own investigation and present its own case. You don’t get to wall off topics you’d rather not discuss. The defense can look into prior and later accidents, prior and later health conditions, and other possible explanations for your symptoms, and it can test your credibility. The scope of what’s discoverable is broad. One common example is your social media: photographs and posts are sometimes used to argue that you aren’t as affected as you say. It’s reasonable to review your own accounts and adjust your privacy settings before filing. But there’s an important limit — do not delete, alter, conceal, or destroy potentially relevant posts, photographs, messages, or account data. Preserve the existing material and speak with your attorney before making changes.
You Will Have to Participate
Litigation asks something of you. In most filed cases, you should expect to answer written interrogatories, sit for a deposition, possibly attend a medical examination, and appear at an arbitration or trial if the case gets that far. Your attorney prepares you for each of these, but your active participation is essential — including staying reachable so these events can be scheduled.
It also helps to think in advance about the people in your life. You may be required to identify everyone with knowledge of your injuries and how they’ve affected you — coworkers, family, friends. The question is who has knowledge, not who wants to be involved or who you’re still on good terms with. Some of these people may end up being valuable witnesses on your behalf.
Get Your History Right the First Time
The single most common way people undermine their own cases is by giving inaccurate answers about their prior health. If you’re asked, clearly and under oath, whether you had prior injuries or conditions, and you deny them, and the records later show otherwise, it can look like you were hiding something even if you simply forgot. Washington law treats a genuinely pre-existing condition differently depending on whether it was causing symptoms at the time of the collision, so an honest, complete history actually helps your case rather than hurting it.
The same goes for the harder parts of your background. Matters like criminal history, bankruptcies, divorces, and prior lawsuits or claims may well come up in discovery or a deposition. You don’t want them surfacing for the first time in front of the other side. If any of these apply to you, talk them through with your attorney early.
Expect to Be Second-Guessed
It’s the nature of how injury cases are defended that your choices get questioned no matter what you did. Get a lot of treatment, and the defense may ask why so much. Get a little, and it may ask why not more. The timing and type of your care, decisions to seek or skip treatment, and the losses you’re claiming can all be scrutinized. Understanding this in advance helps you take it in stride rather than personally.
Practical Realities: Time, Cost, and Collectability
A few nuts-and-bolts points round out the picture:
- You’re on the court’s schedule. Trial dates can shift, sometimes at the last minute, and rescheduling can be inconvenient and occasionally costly.
- Litigation has costs. Court fees, records, and expert declarations add up. A firm may advance these, but they remain the client’s responsibility. Arbitration is generally far less expensive than a full jury trial.
- A judgment still has to be collected. How much you can actually recover often depends on available insurance and the at-fault party’s assets.
- Trials are about the merits. A jury generally decides the case on what happened — liability, causation, and damages — not on the back-and-forth of negotiations or how much insurance exists.
Final Thoughts
Filing a lawsuit can be the right decision, but it’s one to make with a full understanding of what the process involves: an opposing investigation, your own active participation, complete honesty about your history, and patience with the court’s timeline. If answering these questions honestly feels manageable, you’re in a good position to move forward.
Wondering whether litigation makes sense in your situation? Reach out to our team for a consultation. We’ll help you weigh the realities candidly and decide on the path that fits your case, wherever you are in Washington.
