What To Expect At Trial

Your FELA "claim" is a lawsuit brought under the provision of a law that dates back to the turn of the century. In many ways it is similar to any other lawsuit, such as a lawsuit for damages arising from a car accident. For more information on the law governing your lawsuit, see our other pamphlet "The FELA and Your Rights."

A trial is a battle to convince a panel of jurors, as few as 7 to as many as 13, depending upon the state, that the plaintiff (you) should recover damages for your injury because 1) the law permits recovery under the circumstances of your case, 2) you have in fact been injured, 3) you have damages of a certain amount to be fixed by the jury.

The battle is waged using the facts and the law. We will try and prove your case so that the jury will award you damages, and the Railroad will try to prove that you are not entitled to recover anything at all.
 

The Players

THE JURY

The jury is selected at random by the Court clerk from the lists of registered voters in the area or "jurisdiction" of the Courthouse. The procedure in selecting the actual jury that will sit in your case varies from Courthouse to Courthouse.

From the large pool of potential jurors, a panel is selected at random by the judge. This panel is then questioned by the Judge and the Attorneys in a process called "Voir Dire" (pronounced "Vwaw Dear") to determine if any of the jurors already have an opinion in the case, know any of the parties, or would be unfair. If any are found to be biased, they are struck "for cause" from the panel. After Voir dire, the lawyers take turns striking out several additional jurors that the attorneys think may be leaning toward the other side based on information gained during Voir dire.

THE JUDGE

The judge is an impartial party to the process. His only three duties are to rule on the law that is applicable to the case, decide whether the jury can see certain evidence, and keep order in the Courtroom.

His decisions are based upon the law and the evidence. Once a judge makes a decision to keep out evidence, that decision is final, and may only be challenged in an appeal to a higher Court after the case is concluded.

THE LAWYERS

The lawyers in the case are not impartial. They are advocates for their side of the case. Your lawyer will vigorously present the law and the evidence in the light most favorable to you and your case. The Railroad's lawyers will do the same for their client, the Railroad, by presenting evidence that hurts the Plaintiff's case.

Lawyers for both sides try to put the evidence most favorable to their case before the jury, and prevent the other side from doing the same thing. The Judge rules on what evidence the jury may hear and what must be excluded from the trial, according to the law of evidence and rules of procedure

Lawyers cannot testify, cannot create evidence, and cannot speak with the jury except in opening and closing argument. Evidence that is presented by the lawyers, must come from either the witnesses or the facts of the case.
 

Trial Schedule
 

The trial begins with motions. You may or may not be present during motions. Motions are arguments to the Court to rule on certain aspects of law before the trial begins.

Then, the jury is picked and the trial begins. The plaintiff's attorney begins with a speech to the jury called an "Opening Argument" or "Opening Statement." The opening statement is a brief description, without argument, of what the lawyers hope to prove to the jury during the case. The Railroad's attorney then makes his opening statement and tells the jury what he hopes to prove on the Railroad's behalf.

Then, the plaintiff begins to call witnesses to "prove" his case. A plaintiff's attorney must present to the jury evidence sufficient to show that the Railroad was "negligent," which means the railroad did something wrong, that the railroad's negligence caused the plaintiff's injury, and that the plaintiff suffered damages (in terms of money) as a result. To do this the plaintiff's attorney calls witnesses to the stand and asks them questions, and puts objects into evidence which are marked as "exhibits." During this process, the Railroad's attorney "cross examines" the witnesses and objects to the items of evidence. After the Plaintiff's attorney has put on all of the plaintiff's evidence, he "rests." Usually, the railroad will then make motions and it will be its turn to call witnesses and attempt to mark objects as exhibits. During this process, the plaintiff's attorney can cross examine the Railroad's witnesses, and object to their exhibits.

After the Railroad's Attorneys have put on all of their evidence, they "rest" and the Plaintiff may, rarely, call "rebuttal" witnesses.

After the conclusion of the evidence, the judge instructs the jury on the law which applies to the case. Then, the attorneys make "Closing Arguments" to the jury. Unlike Opening Statements, the Attorney can vigorously argue to the jury that the Railroad's case should be ignored and that the Plaintiff should win. After the Plaintiff's attorney argues, the railroad's attorney then tries to persuade the jury that the railroad should win. Finally, the plaintiff's attorney gets a chance to argue to the jury one last time that the Plaintiff should prevail.

After the jury hears the arguments and has been instructed on the law of the case by the Judge, they retire to render a decision. Unlike a criminal case, a plaintiff need only prove "by a preponderance" or the greater weight of the evidence that his allegations are true to prevail. However, the jury must reach a unanimous verdict on all issues to render a verdict on the case. In other words, the jurors must all agree how the case should come out. Failure of the jury to come to a unanimous verdict results in a "hung jury" and the case must be tried again some other time.
 

What You Need to Win

First, you need an experienced attorney. Just as someone would be foolish to have a family doctor perform brain surgery, it would be foolish to have an attorney unfamiliar with FELA law try a FELA case.

Second, you need a FELA attorney who has shown success in trying cases in the Courtroom as well as settling cases without a trial.

Finally, you need an experienced FELA attorney who puts your interests first. Some unethical lawyers will pay a percentage of your recovery to whoever convinces you to hire them. You want a firm to represent you and your interests totally and honestly.