How long will my personal injury case take?
Sometimes when people call in to one of my radio interviews, one of the questions that consistently comes up is “how long will my personal injury lawsuit take?”
This is a very good question. Clients who come in to one of our offices to meet with us ask the same thing. A lot of times people don’t understand that it depends on a lot of facts. The most important fact being, your case can’t end until you and your lawyers agree that your injuries are well determined, and that the insurance company is making a reasonable offer to resolve the case.
A lot of times it takes years before we know the full extent of injuries. And so people might be anxious to resolve cases, but many times you have to tell them, “Listen unless you know how hurt you’re gonna be, how long you’re gonna be out of work, what your medical bills are gonna be”, it’s not in your interest to try and resolve the case. That’s tough to hear of course because bills pile up, things get tight money-wise, it’s anxiety-ridden to say the least. And what’s most frustrating is that usually these serious injuries are the result of someone else’s negligence.
Insurance Companies
The other factor is the insurance company. This is a big one. If the insurance company doesn’t want to resolve your case, it has to go into litigation, and you may even end up with a trial. That of course, means the process is going to be longer. In some instances underwriters simply won’t even call us back. You have to understand this is the insurance company’s system. Deny and delay and so many people just give up in the end. You have to be willing to go the distance even if that means waiting to get what you deserve.
Don’t settle too soon
So the last thing that anybody really wants to do is a rush to judgment here. Patience is sometimes, it’s difficult to come by.
And well, everybody’s hurt, and when you’re hurt you’re always living on the edge when you’re out of money, and you have extra bills, or you’re not working. But resolving the case for very little or before you know the full extent of your problem can end up with much bigger problems down the road. You have to get enough money to last.
If you’d like further information, I encourage it. We believe here at Stanley Law that information is critically important to making better decisions. You can go to stanleylawoffices.com. You can email me at joe@stanleylawoffices.com. Or you can call 1-800-608-3333.
