How long does a personal injury case take?
This is a common answer for questions regarding personal injury cases: it depends. It can take around 12-18 months, or sometimes longer. That is where your patience comes in. In general, personal injury cases should never be settled until you are fully recovered from your injuries, or your future medical treatment is well documented and affirmed to by your doctors. Because you have been injured by the fault of someone else, you should be paid for all of those injuries now, including any potential future surgery and treatments.
Sometimes, we are able to settle a case much faster than the average 12-18 months, but this strictly depends on the amount of insurance coverage that is available. For example, the at-fault party may only have $25,000 of coverage and does not have any assets to recover from. If your injuries far exceed that coverage within a few months following the incident, we may be able to resolve the case more quickly.
However, the legal system is slow. There are a number of hoops to jump through and time limits are set by statutes and judges. We will keep you informed of the status of your case, and whether we advise moving quickly or slowing the case down while you recover, all depending on your circumstances.
