How Long Does A Personal Injury Lawsuit Take?

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First and foremost, you’re probably focused on your healing and recovery, and on ensuring that you can continue to provide for your family while you do so. That’s understandable. After all, even after an injury, life keeps moving forward, and you need to be able to continue to care for yourself and those you love during your treatment. You may be wondering, then, whether or not you can file a lawsuit for your injury, and if so, how long such a lawsuit might take.

These are important questions to ask – and truthfully, there isn’t always a straightforward answer. Every person is different. Every accident involves different circumstances. Each individual has their own unique journey toward healing and recovery. As a result, there is no definitive timeline for a personal injury claim. Some claimants receive a settlement offer within a few weeks, while others can take a year or more. It simply depends on the facts and complexity of each case.

Although this is true, there are a few factors that will generally influence the timeline of a personal injury lawsuit, including:

1). The extent of your injuries:

The severity of your injuries will often be an important factor in determining the ultimate timeline of your claim. If your injuries are relatively minor and do not require extensive, ongoing treatment, your lawsuit will likely take less time than one in which a long-term, severe injury has occurred.

In cases with severe, long-term injuries, there will be far more medical expenses involved, as well as issues with gathering medical records, treatment plans, and opinions and evidence from various providers. All of that takes time. Discussing the severity of your injuries and potential treatment options with your medical provider and attorney will give you a more realistic idea of the timeline for your particular case.

2). The number of parties involved:

Some personal injury claims can be fairly straightforward, and involve only two or three parties, while others may involve multiple parties and multiple claims. Some truck accident claims, for example, may involve not only the drivers and passengers in the accident, but also the trucking company itself, its insurance company, and its subcontractors, to name only a few potential parties of many. Typically, the more parties and claims involved, the longer a lawsuit will take.

3). Availability of evidence:

In any personal injury claim, and in most other types of legal claims for that matter, gathering evidence to prove your claim will be critical. The ease with which your attorneys can gather and organize that evidence to present the strongest possible claim will have an important impact on the overall timeline of your case.

4). Willingness to settle:

This factor is often the critical difference between claims that are resolved quickly and those that tend to last longer. In some cases, parties will be more flexible and open to compromise, while in others, opponents are more combative and resistant to finding workable solutions and settlement options. While certain parties have uncompromising mindsets that simply can’t be changed, a large part of working effectively toward settlement will be choosing a legal team that knows how to negotiate effectively and work toward a resolution with the opposing parties.

Several factors might affect the length of your personal injury lawsuit. One critical thing to keep in mind, however, is that regardless of how long your claim ultimately takes, every personal injury claim has a statute of limitations that you must abide by to bring your claim in the first place. While laws and statutes can vary from state to state, as a general rule of thumb, it is wise to wait no more than one year from the date of your injury to file your claim– and ideally, much sooner. Filing a claim as early as possible will help to ensure that important evidence is still available, that your medical bills and expenses don’t continue to pile up without compensation, and that you begin moving forward, and onto your next chapter as soon as possible.

Law Firm Here for You

At The Law Firm, we know that being injured unexpectedly can be an overwhelming experience. We are passionate about providing every client with exactly that kind of representation. We’ll fight for you, so you can focus on what’s most important – your family, your health, and move forward toward a better chapter ahead. We would be honored to have the opportunity to help you – and we’re ready to get started.

Francis Babet loves pursuing excellence through writing and has a passion for Legal. He currently writes for The law Firm, a USA Based Law Firm that provides SSD, SSI, SSDI, Personal Injury, and Drugs and Devices. His work has been published on various sites related to Social Security Disability, Supplemental Security Income and more.

 

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