One of the most common questions that a Merced Accident lawyer gets in an initial client consultation is about how long resolution of a case might take. Every client is different and every personal injury is different too. Much depends on the nature and extent of the injuries that a client suffers, so it’s impossible to answer that question with a high degree of certainty. Here are some of the other factors that we consider in answering the question.
Is It Going to Be a Claim or Lawsuit
In a claim, we deal directly with an insurance company rather than its attorneys in a lawsuit. Given our experience, and depending on a client’s medical progress, a claim can ordinarily be settled faster than a lawsuit. Some insurance companies are historically unreasonable though. We might simply file a lawsuit as soon as we see the name of a bad insurance company’s name on an accident report.
Insurance
The amount of insurance that an at fault party might have can affect whether we’ll pursue a claim or a lawsuit, especially if our client was severely injured. Lawsuits cost money, and we want to maximize the net proceeds that every one of our clients might receive. A claim might result in higher net proceeds for a client than a lawsuit. Lawsuits are more expensive to pursue, and often, settlements are the same amount in the claim stage as in a lawsuit. Costs might be less in the claim stage though.
Fault
In many accidents, the injured claimant or plaintiff might be partially at fault for the accident. We must take that into consideration. If more than one person or entity might be responsible for your accident and injuries, we must take that into consideration too. What we don’t want is a situation where different intractable defendants are pointing their respective fingers at each other. That’s when we might need to force a resolution with a lawsuit. Lawsuits generally take more time to resolve than claims.
The Settlement Demand
When you have a claim pending, upon being discharged from treatment, we’re able to evaluate all of your medical bills and records and place a settlement value on your case. That’s when we prepare a thorough settlement demand. If the opposing insurance company’s evaluation of the case isn’t anywhere near the value that we’ve placed on it, we can place the case in suit.
The Statute of Limitations
The general rule in California is that you have two years from the date of your accident to file your lawsuit. It’s highly likely that you’ll get dismissed out if you file after that. In most cases, you’re looking at about 16 months from the date of filing of the lawsuit to a trial date. There is no law saying that you must wait out those two years though. You could get hurt in an accident on one day and file a lawsuit the next day.
We don’t tolerate unnecessary delays by insurers in claims or lawsuits. We’re aggressive and effective personal injury lawyers, so files in our offices don’t lay around collecting dust. Our objective is to maximize the compensation that you deserve for your injuries as soon as possible.
