When you lodge a personal injury suit against another person or body, it may not progress as smoothly as you may wish. There may be several reasons for this; for example, the defendant may lodge a preliminary motion that must be heard before the case progresses. Here are four examples of such motions:

Change of Venue

The defendant may wish to change the venue of the hearing if he or she believes that there is a better venue elsewhere.  There are many reasons why defendants, in most cases insurance companies and other organizations, may seek for such a change. For example, they may be seeking for a jurisdiction:

• With lower caps on settlements
• With a history of favorable trial outcomes to insurers
• Where juries are deemed to be favorable to their type of client

Change of Judge

If your defendant has a problem with the judge, then he or she may file a change of judge motion. A defendant may consider a judge not suitable to handle a case if he or she believes that the judge:

• is likely to be partial
• is inconsistent with his or her rulings
• faces reasonable complaints from past defendants

Removal

A motion for removal of a case seeks to transfer it from a state court to a federal court. Just like with the above cases, a defendant will only file such a motion if he or she believes that his or her interests will be better served in the federal court. It may also happen in a case where the defendant faces several plaintiffs, some of which may not fall under the jurisdiction of the state court. If such a defendant wishes to consolidate the cases, then he or she may seek to have them all heard in a court that has the power to try them all, such as a federal court.

Dismiss

The fourth form of motion that may derail your case's progress is that which seeks to get rid of the case in its entirety. When a defendant lodges a motion to dismiss, he or she isn't denying the facts of the accusations facing him or her. Rather, he or she is seeking to convince the court that the case has not followed legal procedures. For example, he or she may argue that the statute of limitations has expired.

Whether or not the defendant succeeds with any of these motions, he or she will delay your case for some time. This is because the court will have to hear the motion, and pass a judgment on it, before continuing with your case (if it decides to continue). Having a lawyer, like Dennis Kucera, Attorney At Law, is useful because he or she will know the best way to handle a motion not only to hasten your case, but also to ensure that the outcome is in line with your best interests.