How Long Does the Personal Injury Trial Process Usually Take?

How long does the ‘personal injury’ trial process usually take, starting from the date of the accident?   The answer to the question “how long personal injury trial processes take” is not so easy to determine. The entire process can be a lengthy one. Some cases can take two years to finish while some cases can take up to four years or longer.  

Different Factors That Make Litigation Lengthy

  The length of the trial process depends on different factors such as the location of the court, the seriousness of the sustained injuries, the number of defendants, paper processing, and more. In the State of New York, for example, the extensive treatment for severe injuries should be completed before all the medical records have been collected and studied by any personal injury law firm. The actual time frame of getting well is usually extensive as well.  

Average Wait Out Period

  Litigation for personal injury cases takes a long time, requires a lot of patience, and can require a lot of financing. However, this should all be taken care of by your personal injury attorney. The average wait out period from filing the personal injury case up to the trial is about two years.  

The Process of Litigation

  1st STEP. You need to get a competent lawyer who will prepare your case for a trial. Don’t choose a lawyer that will settle prematurely if you’re really firm on your decision to sue the at-fault party for the damages you suffered. Insurance companies can smell a lawyer who will settle and may not even make an offer if your attorney has not successfully litigated cases similar to yours in the past. Make sure you go to a personal injury law firm with a proven track record with your type of claim. Don’t hold anything back when the lawyer asks you for facts because it will not help you win the case to hold back even insignificant information.   2nd STEP. Medical treatment is one of the most vital pieces of evidence that make a case successful. Your lawyer may or may not gather this evidence while you’re still in treatment. Most often they wait out until the treatment is complete. Let your lawyer work while you get well and stay rested.   3rd STEP.  Write a demand letter to the concerned parties. Your lawyer will send the concerned parties a demand package either before you finish treatment or right after. This signifies that the settlement ball has already started rolling.   4th STEP. Negotiation commences right after the demand. The other party will send an offer right away at this point in the hopes of settling the case to avoid the grand lawsuit that follows right after. You can make a counter demand and the other party can make a counter offer and this can go on and on.   5th STEP. If you find the offer unacceptable , unreasonable, or nonexistent, you will file a suit to the court. The court will issue a “summons” or “citations” to tell the defendant he or she is being sued by your party.   6th STEP. The “discovery” phase shall begin once the defendant acknowledges the intent of your party to sue. This is the phase when both parties will seek to learn what each party intends to prove during the trial phase.   7th STEP. You and your lawyer will prepare your testimonies for trial. Your lawyer will make a list of witnesses that he will call and will also make a list of the evidence that he will show. This is also the stage where the assigned judge will meet with the two lawyers to talk about how the trial should proceed.   8th STEP. The trial.