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A Bench Warrant is a written order by a Judge directing law enforcement to arrest someone and bring them before the Court. Bench Warrants usually arise when someone is charged with a crime and then fails to appear at Court when directed. If you had a Bench Warrant issued against you, it’s not the end of the world but you will want to take care of the warrant as soon as possible. The process of getting rid of the warrant is called “Quashing the Warrant.”

There are several ways to get rid of a bench warrant: contacting the Court, having your attorney file a Motion to Quash, or sit back and do nothing. No matter which decision you make, you will eventually have to go before a Judge and ask them to remove the warrant.

Contacting the Court

Every Court will have a procedure in place for dealing with Bench Warrants. You can contact the Court, either by phone or in person, and ask them what you will need to do. Most courts will allow you to call their Clerk’s Office and ask about the procedure in your case. Before the Clerk’s Office will set a hearing for you, you will need to come down and make a personal appearance. Depending on the circumstances, they may require you to pay a fee or post a bond before they will set the hearing.

Remember that having a Court set a hearing to determine if a Bench Warrant will get quashed is NOT the same thing as actually having it quashed. The warrant will remain active until a Judge signs another order quashing it.

Motion to Quash

The easiest way to get rid of a Bench Warrant is to have your attorney do it for you. He or she can contact the Court and ask for a hearing before a Judge. This is generally accomplished by filing a Motion to Quash Bench Warrant. Although some courts will require a personal appearance by the Defendant before allowing any hearing to be set, most won’t.

Sit back and do nothing

Believe it or not, this is the most common way of dealing with a bench warrant. The downside of this method, of course, is that you have no control over when you get picked up. The only thing you can be sure of is that it will happen at the most inconvenient time. For example, if you are stopped for a minor driving offense and have kids in the car; who will take custody of the kids while you are on your way to jail?

What happens if the warrant is not quashed?

If the warrant is not quashed, then you will be taken into custody and you will remain there until either the case is finished or a Judge grants another Release Order.

If you have suffered any type of personal injury due to the fault of someone else, you are entitled to a personal injury insurance settlement. Personal injury laws frequently necessitate the person responsible for the accident to cover the injured person’s medical expenses. If you are a fan of baseball, you expect to see some baseball pins in “Get Well Soon” baskets.

Personal injury settlements can provide someone who has been hurt from using a defective product or through the negligent or criminal behavior of someone else a means to lead a fairly normal life.

If you are involved in an accident, the insurance company of the person who injured you will try to quickly pay you a limited offer of restitution and get a non-obligatory document signed. In this case, it is best that you seek the advice of an attorney experienced in personal injury law.

If you are given such a proposition, you should talk about it with a personal injury lawyer. These lawyers are experienced in personal injury law and can advise you how to get the settlement that you deserve. The more incapacitating your injury, the more you require a good personal injury lawyer to argue your case.

You can claim your settlement in two ways, either in structured settlement or a lump sum. Both methods have their pros and cons. In a structured settlement, you would receive your benefits over a period of time. This method is good if you desire to have access to funds at different stages of life and think you may not be able to wisely invest a lump sum amount. On the other hand, a lump sum settlement is when you are given all your claim money as a one-time payment. This method is good if you require your entire settlement immediately or if you have a better investment plan than a structured settlement can provide.

Q: Do I even need an attorney to represent me in my claim with the insurance company?

A: No you don’t. Some claims, and some injuries don’t even warrant an attorney’s involvment. But…many do. How will you know the true value of your injuries? How will you know whether the insurance adjuster who makes you a first offer is doing the right thing? How do you know whether the insurance adjuster is simply trying to save his company money by low-balling you and giving you a take-it-or-leave-it offer? How will you know what your options are if you choose not to accept the insurance company’s offer? What can you do to maximize the amount the insurance company offers you for your injuries? Do you need further medical care for your injuries in the future? Have you considered who will pay for future medical expenses for injuries caused in this particular accident?

What happens if you have a recurrence of your injury weeks, months or years from now? Will the insurance company re-open this case and agree to pay me more later? Why is the insurance adjuster so willing to settle my case now? Why did they just send me a check for my injuries? Should I cash it? What will happen if I cash this check? Can I go back to them for more if needed, or is this it?

The bottom line is that you may not need an attorney at all. If you have experience with insurance adjusters, and you know the true value and extent of your injuries, then you just might be better off negotiating directly with the adjuster. BUT, if you don’t…then I’d strongly recommend speaking with an injury attorney who has many years of experience dealing with these exact types of cases.

For example, if you needed eye surgery, you wouldn’t go see your family doctor for treatment. If you need brain surgery, you don’t rely on a skin doctor to treat your condition. Many attorneys have focused and limited their practice to just a few areas of the law. Lawyers in New York are not permitted to say they are “specialists” in any particular field of law. However, we are permitted to tell you how extensive our experience is in the areas of law that we do practice. We can also tell you how we have helped other similar clients, even though their experiences may not reflect what we can do for you. Again, beware of attorneys who claim they practice many different areas of law. It’s very difficult to be good at everything.

When it’s not recorded in ‘open court’, or when the injured victim dies before he receives the settlement check, and the terms of the settlement were never clearly laid out by either side.

Usually a settlement is reached among the attorneys or in Court with the assistance of the Judge. Where there is a verbal agreement between the attorneys as to the terms of the settlement, the victim’s lawyer will usually confirm those details in a written letter to the defense attorney. If a settlement is reached during trial, or at a pre-trial conference, the preferred method of settling the case is to ‘put the settlement on the record’. This means that a court reporter is called to the courtroom or Judge’s chambers, and the terms of the settlement are recorded and agreed to by all parties and later transcribed by the court reporter.

Why is this important you ask?

Because a settlement is not a settlement until and unless these rules are followed. Many attorneys are guided by principles of fairness and doing what’s right for their clients. However, let’s look at the following case where all sense of fairness was discarded.

A lawsuit was brought for a child who was injured at birth. At some point during the lawsuit an offer was made by the defense, and the offer was accepted by the child’s parents. In a child’s case, a Judge must always approve any settlement involving a child. Let’s also assume that the attorneys confirmed their intention to settle in writing subject to the approval of the Court.

This would be just fine if the Court had processed the paperwork quickly and a settlement check had been forwarded without delay. Unfortunately in this case, the Court delayed (unintentionally) processing the paperwork. Also, because the child was so severely injured his life expectancy was very limited. Between the time that the attorneys reached an agreement to settle the case and the time that the Court actually approved the settlement, the child died.

You would think that this story has a happy ending, but it doesn’t. The child’s lawyer notified the defense that the child died, and also sent the Courts’ approval of the settlement. Now here’s the worst part: the insurance company recognized a way out of having to pay this large settlement by claiming that there was never any proper settlement in the first place!

The insurance company refused to pay, claiming that since the child had died, the agreement that was reached at the time was no longer valid, and absent a Court order, they were not paying a dime!