How Long Will My Personal Injury Case Take?

Those who have been injured in an accident and reach out to an attorney would usually like to obtain compensation for their losses quickly to ensure that their expenses are taken care of and the blow their loved ones experience is softened as much as possible.

Consequently, one of the first questions we receive from many clients is “How long will my case take?” Unfortunately, there really isn’t a simple answer. Each claim is unique, meaning the process for getting to a successful outcome could be dramatically different from any other previous case. To get an idea how long your claim may take, let’s look at the process.

Stages of a Personal Injury Claim

Injury Recovery
Your recovery from your injuries will greatly influence your injury claim. When you are expected to reach a full recovery, then it’s often most beneficial to start negotiations on your claim after you have been discharged from medical care with a full recover, or when you have reached the point of “maximum medical improvement.” This way, any future issues that arise from your condition can also be included in your claim.

Preparing a Submittal Package
Once you are discharged from care, we then start to prepare to submit your claim to the insurance company. This involves obtaining all of the final bills and invoices from your medical providers, confirming missed work from your employer, and more. Our team then analyzes these documents and determines a value of your case. This will usually take around 30-60 days, depending on how much time it takes to obtain all of the necessary documents.

Negotiations
Our team then submits your claim to the insurance company, who take anywhere between one to two months to do their own investigations and medical reviews of their own in order to obtain authority to negotiate. They usually open this process by submitting a counter-offer, and the back-and-forth process proceeds from there. If an agreement cannot be reached through negotiation, the process continues to the next step.

Litigation
Proceeding to litigation does not necessarily mean your case will go to trial (around 90% of cases are settled before ever seeing a courtroom). However, if your case cannot be settled without filing suit, then we are not afraid to pursue this option on your behalf. This will extend the time it takes to settle your claim considerably.

Conclusion
As you can see, the timeline for a personal injury case can vary quite a bit. A short case can be settled in as little as three or four months, while it’s not uncommon for a long, highly-contested case to take a year, two years, or maybe even longer. A personal injury claim is largely a test of patience, but those who are willing to keep up the fight for the long term are usually rewarded with a desirable outcome.

At Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP, we have substantial experience helping those who have been injured in Texas and around the country. Our Corpus Christi personal injury attorneys have demonstrated consistent excellence both in and out of the courtroom, including a number of awards for dedication to legal ethics and high-quality client service. And we back it up with our record of substantial success, including several of the largest awards in Texas state history.