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Legally Reviewed by:

Jonathan Rosenfeld
J.D

May 5, 2022

Over $400 Million worth of case results

Awarded The Best Lawyer in 2024 by U.S. News

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Many plaintiffs that file a case want to know about the personal injury lawsuit timeline, but that is different for every person.

A personal injury case can take anywhere from a few months to a few years and how long exactly depends on the facts of your case and case strategy.

Contact our law firm for a free consultation from a personal injury attorney about your personal injury claim, what you could obtain, and how long it will take.

What to Expect With a Personal Injury Lawsuit

All personal injury cases follow progression of events from the time after an incident through trial.

How Long Will My Personal Injury Claim Take?

While we can cite general facts about personal injury cases and what most personal injury cases will do, every personal injury case timeline is different. Most cases take about a year and a half on average.

Yet, the timeline of a personal injury lawsuit may differ from the norm. It depends on a number of factors, including the following:

  • How did the injury occur?
  • What did the at-fault party do wrong or illegal exactly?
  • What serious injury and medical bills for medical treatment did you sustain?
  • How did the events affect you generally?
  • Was the defendant working at the time of the collision?

A lot of these issues will shape the accident investigation and timeline of a personal injury trial for you.

Most personal injury attorneys, including ours at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, can help you better tally and estimate your personal injury lawsuit as against the typical personal injury case.

Call our law firm for a free evaluation from a good lawyer and see what the lawyer thinks about your accident claim length.

Our team can set up an attorney-client relationship to gather evidence, write a demand letter, and seek a settlement offer for bills relating to the events.

What You Can Do to Expedite Your Personal Injury Case.

Though your personal injury lawyer will be doing most of the heavy lifting against the at-fault party and their insurance company, you can help yourself too. The average personal injury case has many tasks most of which can be handled by anyone.

Here are some things you can do to assist your personal injury lawyer and reduce your case timeline:

  • Get the insurance company info of the other party at the time of the crash.
  • Seek medical attention and organize all medical records. Getting medical treatment to achieve a maximum medical improvement is the most important thing you can do.
  • Make document requests for income verification.
  • Write down what you remember (this will help the discovery phase of the trial).
  • Avoid contact with the other side or their agents (this will help your trial mediation approach).
  • Hire a team of personal injury attorneys
  • Help your legal counsel obtain all medical records, income verification, police reports, and other items related to your personal injury dispute.
  • Assemble all of your written questions for legal information from your attorney so you can empower yourself early on in the process.

Get a free case evaluation today about your legal or insurance claim. We can help the injured party obtain a fair settlement agreement even before filing suit sometimes.

Settlement negotiations especially for smaller personal injury claims depend upon how the accident occurred. We can help determine this quickly with accident reconstruction experts to see if you have a valid car accident claim.

Different Stages in a Personal Injury Case

While most cases settle at their own pace, they nearly always follow the same path for accident litigation. You will most likely take this legal journey with a competent accident attorney by your side.

The parties begin with the state’s pretrial procedures. Normally, in this phase, each party investigates the accident, what happened, and how they might in the legal right or wrong.

Then, per the judge’s schedule, you will enter the discovery phase. In the discovery period, you can request information and items from the defendant or insurance company. Documents served in this phase must be answered lest you suffer the wrath of the judge.

Finally, you will enter the trial period against the wrongful party, its agents, and even the insurance company. During this time, your attorney must show how the accident happened, why the defendant was at fault, and what you are entitled to receive.

Call to form a confidential relationship to necessarily secure compensation for your accident damages including medical bills total and in the future.

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How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Advance Your Case.

There is nothing stopping you from representing yourself in civil actions. However, most find that it is more useful to have an experienced attorney advocate for them.

Not only do they bring enormous skills and resources into the equation. They also free up your time so that you can focus on your health, your family, and getting back to work and fun.

Off the bat, here are some of the most frequent things that an attorney takes care of in a case:

  • Accident scene reconstruction
  • Witness interviewing
  • Medical records requests
  • Insurance company and defendant communications
  • Complaint drafting and filing
  • Trial and settlement advocacy

Speak with a skilled lawyer to get a better sense of their role and value in your case. You may find that they make a difference in your case.

What Could I Receive in a Personal Injury Claim?

We always stress to clients that their recovery will emanate from the facts and circumstances of your incident. While other cases may be instructive, they are not predictive of your award or settlement.

That being said, here are the main sources of relief for civil plaintiffs:

  • Out-of-pocket expenses
  • Pain and suffering
  • Disability and Disfigurement
  • Lost quality of life
  • Death and serious injury

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Case Summaries of Civil Lawsuits

To give you a better sense of timeline and recovery, we have assembled the following case summaries for your review:

$1,800,000 Settlement:

This motor vehicle crash took place in Northwest Illinois on Eola Road.  A pregnant woman in her late twenties was driving down an icy road on a late December night.

Suddenly, a semi-truck veered into her lane and smashed into her passenger car head-on.  The large truck driver had been driving all day as well as the night before the crash.

The woman’s unborn baby died.  The lady also suffered extraordinary injuries herself including brain damage, broken bones, paralysis, and lacerations across her body.  All told, the events cost her nearly $150,000 in medical expenses.

She sued the truck driver and the large truck company.  In an out-of-court settlement, the two sides settled the matter and she received $1.8 million in financial compensation for her tremendous losses.

$1,225,000 Award:

A pastor in his late sixties was out walking his dog at night when he slipped on some ice on a neighbor’s driveway and seriously injured his head.  He sustained a traumatic brain injury as well as a subdural hematoma that required cranioplasties and craniectomies.

The pastor sued the neighbor.  He alleged the water was an unnatural accumulation from a downspout that turned into black ice.  The defendant shot back that the pastor was drunk or, in the alternative, that the ice was a natural accumulation and open and obvious.

Their differences did not prevent them from settling the matter to end the litigation.  The pastor received $1,225,000 in financial compensation for his economic damages (medical expenses) and non-economic damages (pain and suffering).

$980,000 Settlement:

Here, a woman in her late nineties died in an Illinois nursing facility after experiencing a UTI, dehydration, renal failure, and other problems.  Her child filed a claim on her behalf stating that the facility and treating doctor were negligent in their care of her.

Both defendants filed answers but after a long series of negotiations, all parties settled.  The plaintiffs received a combined sum of $980,000 from the pair.

$460,000 Verdict:

In this Chicago lead poisoning case, the plaintiff sued his employer for lead exposure and injuries.  He suffered from muscle disfigurement, joint problems, and other serious and long-lasting harms.

The man worked in the contaminated area years after the EPA warned the company about possible lead problems.  The company denied all contentions but the jury still found for the man.

They awarded him $460,000: $400,000 for suffering and pain as well as $60,000 for disfigurement and disability.

Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have a full of experts and attorneys versed in nearly all aspects of civil trials. Talk to an attorney today to learn about the timeline of your case and what you may achieve.

All of our services are free if we do not win in court or settlement for you. Call us at (888) 424-5757 to find out more about what an attorney and you can pursue together in court.

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