What to Expect if You Bring a Claim for Child Sexual Abuse

The first step will be for us to meet with you to make sure that you are comfortable working with us as Fairfield Child Sexual Abuse lawyers. The meeting can be done in person at our offices in Fairfield, CT or it can be done remotely by Zoom. During that meeting you can come alone, or you can bring a support person with you. We can have both of our attorneys meet with you or just one. During the first meeting we will learn about you. Where did you go to school? What did your family consist of? What types of things did you enjoy doing as a child? To the extent you are comfortable, we will ask you about the abuse and its impact on you.

After that first meeting, we will then begin to develop your case. We will collect your school records to see if there was any change in your academic performance after you were abused. We will collect any therapy records for mental health treatment to begin to piece together the picture of how this abuse impacted you. Only if you give your permission, we may speak with your friends and family. We do this as Fairfield Child Sexual Abuse lawyers to piece together the information that we will then use to prove your case.

Once we have put that picture together, we will have a discussion with you about whether we think you should put your case into suit or do we think that there may be an opportunity to settle your case without a suit. Due to our reputation of being successful representing survivors, we find that we are sometimes able to resolve the case without even filing suit. However, if a suit is necessary, we will bring it quickly at that time. Before filing a lawsuit, we will have a discussion with you as to whether you wish to file in your own name or to file anonymously as a Jane Doe or John Doe. If you wish to be anonymous, we will explain how we request permission from the court to do that.

Once the lawsuit is filed, we can use the best tool in our toolbox to prove your case, which is by taking depositions. During a deposition, a witness is put under oath, and we can cross examen them. We have taken thousands of depositions. We may take the deposition of your perpetrator. We may take depositions of people that we believe knew or should have known that you were being abused but took no action to protect you. If they had a duty to protect you and did not, a jury can hold them as responsible as the person who abused you.

The last step in the lawsuit process is the trial. As Fairfield Child Sexual Abuse lawyers, we have been highly successful in the court room achieving millions of dollars in verdicts for the survivors we represent.

If you are a survivor and believe that the time is right for you to come forward, please do not hesitate to call us so that we can begin to walk you through the process.