In the United States, there are 39.5 million personal injury cases that require medical treatment every year. The most common are car accidents, medical malpractice, and product liability.
If you are the victim of a personal injury case, you may be wondering what your options are. How long should a personal injury case take to settle? Is it worth hiring a lawyer and going to court?
Before you do anything, it’s essential to do some research so you know what is right for you.
Read on to learn all you need to know about filing a personal injury claim and receiving a settlement.
The Process of a Personal Injury Claim
To understand how long your personal injury case will take to settle, you must first explore the personal injury claim process. This can differ depending on the type of injury, though the process is generally uniform in how it works.
Seek Medical Attention
First, you’ll need to get medical attention for your injuries. Not only is this necessary for your health and well-being, but it is also necessary for your case.
You must have medical records, scans, and diagnostic tests to prove that you deserve compensation for your injuries.
Hire a Lawyer
Next, you’ll meet with your lawyer. This is the best way to know you’ll get a fair amount awarded to you. They will review your medical records and any police records or records of the event.
Your lawyer will be able to tell you if you have a strong case or not, which can allow you to know when you should accept a settlement offer.
In this phase, you may want to look into pre-settlement lawsuit loans. These can help cover any initial costs before you receive your settlement money.
Seek a Settlement
Soon after the incident, the defendant’s insurance company will reach out to you with a seemingly fair settlement offer. Unfortunately, these offers are hardly ever fair, as insurance companies employ lawyers who work to whittle down the amounts.
Your lawyer will determine if this is a fair offer. If it is, your case will be settled within a matter of weeks.
If it isn’t, you can send a demand letter. This is a letter to the defendant and the defendant’s insurance company explaining the situation, who was at fault and requesting a certain settlement amount.
File a Lawsuit
If the insurance company refuses once more, you can then file a personal injury lawsuit with the civil court.
This is when the discovery process begins, in which your lawyer will reach out to the defendant’s lawyer to determine what evidence and legal arguments they have.
Their lawyer will do the same. Both lawyers will also take dispositions from any witnesses. This process can take up to six months.
Mediation
If negotiations between the two parties begin to fall apart, the judge in the case may require a mediation session. With this, a neutral third party would handle the session, explaining both sides and attempting to come to some sort of agreement.
Because mediation is non-binding, neither party needs to agree to the terms that are presented. If this occurs, the case will be taken to trial.
Trial
When wondering the answer to “why do personal injury cases take so long”? you’ll find a lot of the timing has to do with trial length. Luckily, trials in civil court tend to take the least amount of time, but it all comes down to starting the trial on time.
Many personal injury cases get delayed because of a large court docket or a judge’s schedule, which can end up pushing them back for months. If you can start on the scheduled date, the case may only take a day, or it could end up taking a week or month depending on the complexity of the case.
Factors that Contribute
Now that you know the general process and timeline of a personal injury case, there are some other factors to consider. Some cases can take more time than others, often due to these three main elements below.
Significant Claim
If your personal injury resulted in a large monetary loss, your case may take longer to settle. This is due to insurance companies working to not pay out the largest amount and the defendant in the case not having the means to pay out the full monetary amount.
Your lawyer will work with the parties to get the full personal injury settlement amount paid out, but it will most likely cause significant delays.
Legal Problems
Liability and damages are the most important factors in a personal injury case. Your lawyer needs to be able to prove, without any doubt, that you are not liable in this case.
If there is not enough evidence to prove this, the case can get delayed or thrown out altogether.
If there are any issues with damages, such as your doctor not linking your injury to the incident, the insurance company will not settle your claim. If there is a thought that you contributed to the accident in any way, it will be much more difficult to prove, delaying your case further.
Maximum Medical Improvement
You must reach maximum medical improvement (MMI) before reaching a settlement. So, if you are still receiving treatment for your injuries, you’ll want to wait so that you can account for every medical bill.
Your doctor will submit a document to your insurance company and the civil court explaining your prognosis and an estimation of how much your medical bills will cost. Still, it’s essential to wait, as it will increase your chances of winning a personal injury lawsuit.
How Long Should a Personal Injury Case Take To Settle?
The answer to this truly depends on your particular case and the many details involved in it. If you decide to go to trial, you can expect to reach this phase one to two years after you file the lawsuit.
Once you’re in trial, the settlement should be done within a month.
Understand the Lawsuit Settlement Process
So, how long should a personal injury case take to settle? Now that you know the process and all the various factors involved, you are much more well-informed to know what to expect.
While it will take years for you to see any type of settlement, as long as you follow your lawyer’s instructions, you should be well compensated.
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