So you’ve gotten into a car accident. Maybe you were at fault, maybe it was someone else’s fault. But there has been some damage to multiple vehicles, and maybe some personal injury. And now there is a lawsuit. How long do car accident lawsuits take?
Cases Often Settle Before Trial
In our hypothetical, let’s say that you were the person injured in the accident and you believe you are not at fault. Most of the time, you won’t have to go to court at all. This is one of the advantages of having a good car insurance policy. Your insurance company will handle the claim for you and oftentimes, the two insurance companies will work out a settlement so that you get a payout without ever having to see the inside of the courtroom.
But sometimes you do need to hire an attorney to fight the other person to get a payout. And even though you may never go to court, this lawsuit can still take time.
What are the steps in a car accident lawsuit?
Step One – File the lawsuit
This doesn’t take very long, but it can take some time to gather all the information to actually file the lawsuit.
Step Two – The defendant answers the filing
Sometimes cases even settle at this point – the person realizes that you’re serious about the lawsuit, but most of the time, they just file a response indicating that they are not at fault to the level you claim.
Step Three – Discovery
This is where the evidence is exchanged. And though it may be tempting, you can’t withhold any evidence during discovery. So if you find out that hey, your injury isn’t as bad as you were originally told, you can’t just keep that to yourself. You have to be truthful.
You will need to make sure that you gather all of your documentation. You will need to submit all of your medical information, including all receipts and evidence of the severity of your injuries, as well as evidence of any property damage to your vehicle. Pulling all of this information together can take a while, but it’s critically important. This is how damages are determined – the amount of money you will get in the settlement.
Step Four – Negotiation
Just about every lawsuit has a negotiation phase – many criminal trials do as well. It’s when both parties lay all their evidence on the table and try to work out a settlement where everyone is happy. This not only saves time but also saves both parties some money. After all, lawyers are expensive. If you can settle before trial, you not only avoid the stress of having to go to trial, but you save the expense of paying your lawyer for all the time and work needed to go to trial.
Step Five – Trial
Personal injury trials aren’t very long. Simple car accidents often last less than a day, and typically no more than a week. Each side presents its evidence and its experts. Sometimes this is done before a jury, other times a judge hears the case and makes the final decision.
Step Six – Appeals
Either side can appeal the outcome of a trial, which can drag the process out even longer.
So how long do car accident lawsuits take?
If you go all the way to trial, a car accident lawsuit can easily take a year and sometimes up to two years. This is why settling before trial is appealing to everyone. If you’ve had to pay your medical bills and repair your property, you certainly want to get reimbursed for that as soon as possible. Of course, if the other party isn’t willing to settle, sometimes you do have to go to trial to get the money you deserve.
Read More:
- Five Highest Celebrity Lawsuit Settlements
- Top Five Funniest Lawsuits Ever Filed In Court
- How to Protect Your Assets From Lawsuits
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
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