Using Motions in Limine to Boost Your Defense in a Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit
Defending against a personal injury lawsuit can be difficult and time consuming, which is probably why most cases are settled out of court. If you decide to go to trial, however, there are things you can do to bolster your case, and one of those things is to file a motion in limine to limit what evidence the plaintiff can submit to the court. Here's more information about this legal maneuver and using it effectively.
What is a Motion in Limine?
A motion in limine is a petition that is submitted to the court before the trial starts that seeks to stop litigants and their attorneys from mentioning certain things during the trial. Typically, this motion is used to suppress evidence that may prejudice the jury against one of the parties. For instance, you may not want the court to know your insurance company will pay the damages the plaintiff is asking for because that information may cause the jury to side with the plaintiff or award the person a bigger monetary judgment.
However, this motion can be used in other ways, such as to prevent the other party from talking about confidential information or to help keep the trial on track by stopping the other party from bringing up issues that are not important to the case (e.g., previous convictions for drunk driving) but that may still have a negative impact nonetheless.
Crafting an Effective Motion in Limine
Although a motion in limine is a powerful legal tool that can give your case a boost by preventing the plaintiff from introducing evidence that may hurt your defense, it can easily backfire on you if used incorrectly.
The immediate issue is getting the motion approved by the judge. One mistake defendants make in this area is being too general in their requests. The person may ask the court to stop the plaintiff from bringing up previous slip-and-fall cases involving the defendant, for instance. Depending on the case, the judge may feel this request is too broad, especially if the previous cases might have some valid legal bearing on the current lawsuit (e.g., the plaintiff slipped and fell on the property previously).
It's important to be as specific as possible with requests (like asking that information about a specific case be excluded) and as clear as possible about why it would be unfair to you to allow the information to be presented in court. While your attorney will be the one actually talking to the judge, it's critical that you be upfront and honest about the evidence you want excluded and your reasons why so he or she can craft the best argument possible.
Another thing that can make it difficult to get a motion of limine approved is if the motion unintentionally produces the same outcome as a motion for summary judgment or dismissal (i.e., if it causes the judge to end part of or the entire case). A motion of limine may have this unforeseen consequence if approving it does away with critical elements that form some or the whole basis of the plaintiff's case.
For example, in the case of Rice v. Kelly, a motion for limine was granted that prevented the plaintiff from telling the court about a second accident that was substantially related to the first accident he had. The court later admitted this was a mistake, and one that resulted in the motion for limine having the same effect as a motion to dismiss in that a critical part of the plaintiff's claim was barred from being heard at trial.
This is mostly a technical issue involving court procedures that regulate how motions for summary judgments and motions for dismissals are handled (e.g., different types of evidentiary requirements). If the motion for limine has effects of one of the two previously mentioned motions, the judge may reject the petition. It's important that you and your attorney think about how the motion will impact the plaintiff's case, because the plaintiff could later use a court mistake like this to successfully appeal the jury's decision if the trial is decided in your favor.
For more information about motions of limine and how it can help your slip-and-fall case, contact a personal injury attorney from a firm like Putnam Lieb.