Which Court Will My Injury Case Be Filed In?

Which Court Will My Injury Case Be Filed In?

Depending on what type of personal injury case you have, in order for your case to be successful, it needs to be filed in the proper courthouse, should litigation become necessary.
If your case is not filed in the proper court, then it may be dismissed by either the court itself, or the lawyer(s) assigned to defend the case.  The Massachusetts court system is comprised of many different courts around the Commonwealth, each tasked with hearing particular types of disputes.  These courts are all very different courts.  Here is some information on some of these courts, and the cases they hear:
Small Claims Court
This court is dedicated to cases with values less than $ 7,000.  For cases involving property damage caused by a motor vehicle accident, the jurisdictional limit of $ 7,000 does not apply.  Generally, this court is for people without a lawyer.  Judges sometimes don’t even want to see lawyers handling cases in this court.
District Court
This court hears both criminal and civil cases.  For civil cases it has a jurisdictional limit of $ 25,000 and hears many different types of cases.  Some of the personal injury cases this court hears are car accidents, slips and falls, dog bites, and other personal injury claims.  This case is proper for injury cases that are not large enough to be filed in Superior Court.  Getting a case to trial happens faster in this court than it does in the Superior Court.
Superior Court
Like the District Court, this court also hears both civil and criminal cases.  It too hears a variety of personal injury cases as well.  The personal injury cases this court hears are usually more serious injury and higher value cases than those filed in the District Court.  The jurisdictional amount of this court is at least $ 25,000.  Cases in this court oftentimes take years before a trial is reached.
Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents
This court is solely dedicated to workers compensation cases.  This is an administrative law court comprised of administrative law judges.  There are no juries in this court, as only judges hear and decide these cases.  This court has four levels of dispute resolution: conciliation; conference; hearing; and reviewing board.
Contact us today if you have further questions about the Massachusetts court system.