When someone or their family member has been catastrophically injured because of another person’s negligence, finding solutions to the new changes they face can be challenging. In addition to many unexpected differences in your way of life, bills and other expenses continue to add up. You may be wondering what options you have when figuring out how to pay these new expenses and get the help you need to adjust to life with an injury.
Often, people seek justice by filing a personal injury claim against the negligent party. If you’ve recently signed up for a case with The Button Law Firm, you may wonder how long your case will take to settle.
The answer to this question is – it depends. Not all cases are the same, and many different factors determine how long a case takes to settle. We will break down the stages of a personal injury case to help you better understand your timeline.
The First Stage: Investigations
When filing a personal injury claim, your attorney must investigate the incident that caused your injury before filing. That way, your legal team can gather all the necessary details to fight for a fair recovery for your injury. Knowing the details can also help your team determine what went wrong and who caused it.
Investigations can take weeks to months, depending on the case. If the incident involves criminal activity, your legal team must get the report from the police department to further investigate.
The Second Stage: Filing a Claim
After investigations are complete and your lawyers are ready to move forward, their next step is to file a claim against the party that has caused harm. This typically starts with a claim against the person or entity. For example, if you’ve been injured because of a reckless driver, you will file a claim against their auto insurance company.
If your child was injured at daycare due to the daycare’s negligence, a claim will be filed against the daycare’s insurance.
The process of filing the claim requires the following steps:
Your legal team sends a letter of representation to the insurance company of the party who wronged you. This notifies the other party that you plan to pursue recovery for damages caused.
The Third Stage – Demand
After the insurance company has been put on notice of a claim, the demand preparation process begins. During this time, we obtain all records and bills from medical providers, records from agencies that performed the investigations, and work with our clients to develop all aspects of our case. All this information is then put into a demand letter to provide to the insurance company to start their evaluations and work to enter negotiations. This can take months to about a year to finish.
The Fourth Stage - Negotiations
After the discovery process, you will usually have negotiations. This is when your legal team works to secure fair compensation for you or your loved one’s injuries.
The Fifth Stage - Lawsuit
If a claim does not settle before a lawsuit is filed, the claim will then be brought to court by your attorney in a legal filing. This is officially started when a complaint has been filed with the proper court.
After filing the complaint with the court, the case may go to trial if both parties cannot reach a resolution. Trial in all stages can take between a few days to several years to finish.
Getting Help After You or a Family Member Has Suffered from an Injury in Texas
Overall, there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer to how long personal injury cases take to finish. All cases are different and cannot always be treated the same way. That’s why The Button Law Firm’s experienced legal team makes sure that each of our clients gets specialized and focused attention to ensure cases continue to move along and you and your family can begin to move forward.
We understand how difficult life becomes after you or a loved one suffers from a catastrophic injury. If you are looking for answers to handling life after your injury, you can reach out to our Texas Catastrophic Injury Lawyers at The Button Law Firm. Contact us by calling (214) 699-4409 or by filling out the contact form at the bottom of this page.
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