If you decide to pursue a personal injury lawsuit in Florida, you may wonder how long it will take. The short answer is a couple of months or more than a year. The long answer is it strictly depends on the severity of your injuries, the complexity of your case, having proper legal representation, the other party’s willingness to negotiate, and the court’s schedule.
In actuality, there isn’t an exact timeline for how long personal injury lawsuits take because of the various factors that influence them. However, a personal injury lawyer can give you a good estimate by analyzing your case.
A trusted injury lawyer may even help you achieve a resolution faster by taking on the more challenging aspects of your case, gathering evidence, and engaging in negotiations that can get a settlement without the need for a trial.
This way, you can reduce your claim by several weeks or months, especially if a settlement can be reached through negotiation. To get a general overview of how long a personal injury lawsuit takes, here are some average timeframes for each phase.
Initial Investigation and Pre-Litigation
The first stage in a personal injury claim is the initial investigation. Here, your attorney will gather evidence, assess liability, and negotiate with insurance companies. This stage can take a few weeks or months, depending on the cooperation of the parties involved and the case’s complexity. However, you can get a resolution to your case in this phase without filing a lawsuit.
Filing the Lawsuit
If a settlement cannot be reached, your lawyer will advise you on whether filing a personal injury lawsuit is a good decision. Filing the lawsuit can take a few days or a week.
Discovery Phase
In the discovery phase, the parties involved in the personal injury lawsuit share information and evidence related to the case, such as written interrogatories, documents, depositions, or expert opinions.
The willingness of the parties to cooperate and the complexity of the case can affect the time this phase lasts, which could be a couple of months to a year.
Negotiation and Settlement
You can settle in the discovery phase if the circumstances allow it and save time. The parties will negotiate until they reach a settlement agreement, which can take weeks or months.
Trial Preparation
If you cannot reach a settlement with the other party, your case will proceed to the trial phase. However, before reaching that stage, you must undergo some trial preparations, such as preparing evidence, finalizing witness lists, and preparing legal arguments. This can take several months.
The Trial Phase
Once you reach the trial phase, your personal injury lawsuit can be settled within a couple of days, weeks, or longer, depending on the complexity of your case and the court’s schedule. Although personal injury lawsuits can take a couple of months or years to settle, as a personal injury victim, you have a right to receive justice and compensation for your injuries and other losses no matter how long it takes.
