How long is the average personal injury lawsuit?
One of the questions injured clients always ask a personal injury attorney is “How long will my case take?” The truth is that it is a difficult question to answer because there are many variables. These are some of the considerations.
Is it clear who caused the accident?
If there is no dispute over who is to blame for the accident, and the only issue is how much your care is worth, that can speed up the process. If we have to prove that the other driver was at fault, we will likely have to go through the fact-gathering and discovery stages of the case.
Are your injuries stabilized?
Most Ontario attorneys will be reluctant to settle your case while you are still recovering from your injuries. The uncertainty of how well you will recover creates a risk for you. If we come to an agreement based on the assumption that it will continue to improve, but it doesn’t improve as much as you expected, your agreement may be too low.
Have you returned to work?
Similarly, if you have not yet returned to your previous employment, or if you are still working reduced hours, we will want to wait before reaching an agreement until we know whether or not you will be able to work, and if you can work, at what level. ?
Are there multiple parties to your case?
When there are more than two sets of attorneys in a case, there may be delays while we schedule discovery and mediation exams. Finding dates that work for groups of attorneys can sometimes add months to the length of your case.
How much is your case worth?
Although these rules are not hard and fast, generally in an Ontario personal injury case, the higher the value of the case, the longer it will take to process. Sometimes this is because it takes longer for the insurance company to approve the value of the case. Sometimes it’s because the insurance company wants to see if you’re serious, a good witness, and/or expect you to get better over time.
short delays
Right now in Ontario, there are delays in getting personal injury car accident cases to pretrial and trial. There were delays before the global pandemic. Those delays are longer now. Therefore, if you have a case that needs a judge’s help to resolve before trial or if your case needs a trial to receive fair compensation, it may take longer to resolve.
patience pays off
In most situations, we tell clients that they can get a quick or a fair settlement, but most of the time they can’t have both. If you have significant injuries and losses, it will be worth waiting until the time is right.