Any type of lawsuit, whether it be personal injury, breach of contract, or otherwise, is initiated by the filing of a complaint. The complaint lays out the basic facts of who the parties to the suit are, what the case is about, and what the plaintiff (in a personal injury case that is the victim who suffered the injury) is claiming the other party did wrong that caused an injury. The complaint gets filed by the plaintiff with the court clerk, and the case is then assigned to a judge so the lawsuit can proceed. In general, complaints need to conform with one of two standards, “notice pleading” or “fact pleading.” Which applies depends on where the case is filed. A complaint in a personal injury lawsuit in Illinois courts is subject to fact pleading, meaning the complaint must layout facts, not mere generalizations about the basis of the claim, including details. For example, in a personal injury case for a car accident, things like the name of the responsible driver, where the accident occurred, and specifically what the plaintiff feels the defendant did wrong that was negligent, must be alleged. These are just a few basic facts about the complaint that initiates a personal injury case in Illinois. There are many more intricate details that need to be addressed before a complaint will be found to be proper and an injury case allowed to proceed. That is why a qualified personal injury attorney is an injured victim’s best advocate when a matter needs to proceed into litigation in order for the injured party to have the best chance to be compensated fully for his or her injuries.
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