One of the most pressing concerns my personal injury clients often have is how long their case will take. To give a very lawyerly response, it depends.
If personal injury cases are not able to settle, for whatever reason (the negligent party, or their insurance company, is not offering a fair settlement or flat out refuses to settle), then they will have to be decided a judge or jury at trial. The trial will usually be the end of the case and is usually scheduled a year after the case is filed. Many things can change the length of the case such as how complicated the case is and whether the judge requires a strict schedule. Even after a case is tried, however, the losing party has the right to appeal the verdict. This may add an additional year on to the length of the case. The point is that cases that go to trial can last a long time, sometimes as long as two to three years.
On the other hand, if the parties are willing to settle, some cases can finish in as short as two or three months. Again, this may change depending on many factors such as the willingness of the parties to compromise, the clarity of the liability of the negligent party, the obviousness of the injuries and damages of the plaintiff, and nature of the case's venue. For example, in a car accident case where the negligent party ran a red light at high speeds and fractured a number of my client's bones, the chances of that case settling early are pretty good. This means the case could last only three or four months.
If you have been injured in a car accident or any type of personal injury accident and are curious as to how long your case might take, please contact my office at anytime to talk about it. As a Kansas City personal injury lawyer who has handled countless accident cases, I can competently review your case and give you an idea of how long it might take to settle.