After a lawsuit is filed the next stage of your case is called “discovery”. It is called discovery because each personal injury attorney will obtain information about the other case by sending written questions called Interrogatories. The personal injury lawyers will also take Depositions of the witnesses to find out what they will say at trial. These, and other civil discovery tools, are all allowed by the Kansas or Missouri Code of Civil Procedure. The purpose is to allow each personal injury lawyer to discover the facts. Years ago we did not have these discovery tools, and each party would show up on the day of trial with little or no information about the other parties’ case hoping to gain some advantage by keeping the evidence secret. It was called trial by ambush.  Now with pretrial discovery most cases will settle.  If all parties know what will be presented at trial, experienced personal injury lawyers can predict within a range the likely outcome of a personal injury claim. If we can help you evaluate your personal injury claim, give us a call. 273-4330. Here is our contact information http://joepatton.com/contact/