Filing a Lawsuit Against Washington’s Juvenile Justice System: Key Steps Explained

When you contact us, there are a few different steps that we have to go through in order to file your lawsuit against a government entity if you’ve been abused as a juvenile in a detention facility. The first thing we need to do is to conduct what’s called an intake. And during that time, we’ll get your full story. We’ll find out all the information that you personally have about your case and then we’ll be able to conduct a full investigation finding out if there are any witnesses, locating any sort of documents that show that the government entity is responsible for what happened to you. And then we’ll file a claim with the government entity. At that point, sometimes the government entity wants to resolve your case. If they do not, then we’re able to proceed to filing your case in court. Now, a lot of people want to know, does this mean that I have to go to court if I file a lawsuit? And the answer to that is usually not. Usually, you do not need to go to court. In the civil system, when there are hearings, only the attorneys appear. So it’s not like the criminal system where the parties actually have to appear. Now there is a possibility that you’ll have to give testimony in a deposition or something like that, but that is not in court. Also, the vast majority of civil cases settle. So it is very unlikely that you will need to appear at trial and give testimony in a courtroom. So if you’ve been considering whether to come forward about sexual abuse that you experienced as a juvenile in Washington’s detention centers, please call Oslund Udo Little and we will make sure that you get the compensation that you deserve and treat you with the compassion that you need.