Anywhere from three months to three years. Here's what actually drives the timeline. And what you can (and can't) do to speed it up.
Clients want a number. Six weeks. Six months. The honest answer is that personal injury timelines depend on factors that aren't visible from the outside. A simple soft-tissue case might resolve in three months. A surgery case can take two years. A contested-liability case heading toward trial can run three.
Here's what actually drives the clock.
Phase 1: medical treatment
The case can't settle for its real value until you've reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). That's the point where treatment has either fixed you or it hasn't, and what's left is your permanent baseline. Settling before MMI risks underselling. You don't yet know whether the injury will heal fully or leave residual effects.
MMI for a typical soft-tissue injury: 2–4 months. For a fracture or surgery case: 6–18 months. For traumatic brain injury or spinal injury: sometimes years.
Phase 2: demand package
Once treatment is done, the lawyer assembles a demand package: medical records, bills, lost-wage documentation, photos, police report, expert opinions if needed, and a written demand letter laying out liability and damages. Putting this together right takes 2–6 weeks. Carriers tend to respond more seriously to thorough packages than to early phone-call demands.
Phase 3: negotiation
The carrier responds, usually with an opening offer that's a fraction of the demand. Counter, response, counter, response. Most pre-suit cases either settle within 4–8 weeks of the demand or they don't. And if they don't, the file is heading to suit.
Phase 4 (if needed): suit
When pre-suit negotiations fail, the lawyer files a lawsuit. From filing, the case follows the court's schedule:
- Service on the defendant: 1–2 months.
- Discovery (interrogatories, document requests, depositions): 6–12 months.
- Expert disclosures and depositions: 2–4 months.
- Mediation: usually before trial, sometimes successful.
- Trial setting: 12–24 months from filing in most metro courts.
Most cases that go to suit settle before trial. Somewhere between filing and the courthouse steps. But the threat of trial is what moves the carrier off their pre-suit number.
What slows cases down
- Treatment that drags on (don't finish until you're done. But understand the timeline cost).
- Contested liability requiring witness statements, accident reconstruction, or expert testimony.
- Multiple insurance carriers (your UM, their liability, an umbrella, etc.).
- Health insurance subrogation negotiations at the end of the case.
- Court backlog in the relevant county.
What speeds them up
- Clear liability (police report, witnesses, dashcam, video).
- Clean treatment records with no gaps.
- Reasonable demand backed by documentation.
- Carrier with internal authority on the file (some carriers require referral up the chain at certain dollar thresholds).
- A lawyer prepared to file suit. Carriers know who's bluffing.
Can you ask for an interim payment?
Sometimes. If finances are tight during treatment, options include using med-pay or health insurance, looking at hardship programs, or in some cases pre-settlement funding (handled with caution. Interest rates are high). The case settling faster doesn't usually solve the cash-flow problem; settling for less than it's worth solves it temporarily and costs more long-term.
Treatment timeline + liability complexity = case timeline. Most simple cases settle in 4–9 months. Complex or contested cases can run 18–36.
If you want a realistic estimate for your specific situation, a free consultation is the fastest way. We'll lay out the likely path based on what we know about the injury, the liability picture, and the carrier on the other side.
Timelines are general estimates from typical cases and not predictions about any specific matter. Each case turns on its own facts.