How Long Do Personal Injury Cases Typically Take—and Why?

The infamous, ‘it depends.’ 

Well let me try and let you know what it depends on. At the beginning of a personal injury case and the incident just happened it is hard to know just how long it takes for someone to recover fully. Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes it takes 3 months, sometimes it takes a year, and sometimes it never happens.

That being said, it is difficult for me to recommend a settlement if my client is still hurting. Assuming there is enough insurance the defendant has available, I always recommend that if my client is still hurting from the crash to keep listening to the doctor’s recommendations to get better. The goal is for my clients to get better and then we can start the process of gathering all the medical records and billing records and send a demand to the defendant and their insurance company.

The insurance company’s initial offer will always signal whether or not they are serious about my client’s injuries caused by their insured. I advise my client of the first offer and advise them that we can negotiate or we can file suit. If I see an opportunity to settle the case at the pre-litigation stage,

I’ll always let my client know. But if the first offer is a non-starter I’ll advise to go ahead and file. Both options have very different timelines. If we settle at pre-litigation then we can get the case wrapped up then but if we have to file for litigation the timeline gets extended quite a bit.

The courts always give priority to older cases when going to trial. So you can imagine when I file for litigation it may take a year or two before we actually get in front of a Jury to present the case. There are always opportunities to settle beforehand and I’ll always press those buttons when I can. 

But like I said at the beginning, ‘it depends,’ as every case is different.