In a personal injury case, the wait for a settlement can feel endless, leaving you frustrated and questioning why the process takes so long. Acting in your best interest, attorneys often navigate complex obstacles that cause unavoidable delays. Whether it involves medical assessments, negotiations, or court proceedings, each step is critical to building a strong case.

Understanding why it takes time to receive compensation can help you appreciate the effort made on your behalf. Are you prepared to find out the truth behind the wait? Let us dive into why personal injury cases typically take so long to settle and what happens behind the scenes.

Waiting for Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)

Regarding personal injury litigation, one of the most basic and crucial phases is determining the Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). MMI is a critical clinical threshold. It is where a physician decides that a patient's medical condition has reached a stable state and that no more recovery or improvement is expected to result from further medical intervention.

This does not always indicate that a patient is fully recovered, but it means that the patient is as stable as possible. In personal injury claims, this stage is critical since it gives a conclusive evaluation of the extent and permanency of the injuries. Estimating the claim without this final medical assessment would rely on incomplete and speculative data, likely undervaluing the case.

The economic imperative of attaining MMI is directly related to the correct valuation of a claim. As long as a physician has not determined MMI, the total cost and the extent of injuries suffered by the client and their past and future costs are unknown.

An example is a claimant who has undergone a few months of physical therapy and believes their treatment is complete. Only to have their doctor decide that they will need future surgery or long-term chronic pain management. A client risks losing their right to compensation due to these unknown future costs by pre-settling a case. Any settlement demand should consider all the medical expenses, such as:

  • Possible future surgery

  • Long-term physical therapy

  • Permanent physical impairments

  • Compensation for the pain and suffering

This high degree of specific evaluation can only be achieved after a comprehensive medical assessment at MMI.

An attorney who recommends to a client that they should settle quickly before MMI is achieved does not do so in the best monetary interest of the client. This action ignores the possibility of significant, unpaid damages connected to future medical care and permanent injuries.

Waiting until MMI is established protects clients financially, ensuring all medical costs and long-term impacts are considered before settlement. An experienced lawyer will know that a case is worth as much as the documentation of the total, long-term effect of the injuries. They use the MMI determination and the medical reports accompanying them to create a strong and evidence-based settlement demand to see the client receive fair compensation reflecting the overall medical and financial losses.

This approach safeguards the client against the out-of-pocket financial burden of future medical expenses, which can be financially catastrophic. In the end, MMI is the key to an effective and successful legal approach, where all components of the financial impact of the injury are thoroughly estimated.

Building the Case File is a Time-Consuming Process

Securing a reasonable personal injury settlement does not just involve writing a demand letter, but is a direct consequence of a systematic investigation and evidence-gathering process. This laborious process forms the basis of any case, since the worth of any claim is proportional to the amount and quality of evidence that backs it up.

An attorney should be able to file a complete case file before they can begin negotiations. This starts with a coordinated effort to gather all the related documents, that is, all medical records and bills of all healthcare providers the client has visited, starting with:

  • The first ambulance report and emergency room visits

  • Continuing with current physical therapy notes

  • Visits with specialists

At the same time, the attorney can obtain official police reports, collect contact details of witnesses, and obtain all available photos or videos of the accident scene. They also take employment records and pay stubs to prove any amount of lost income. This background investigation provides the basis to ensure that all the details of the client's injuries and economic losses are carefully recorded and used to build the first demand outline.

The investigation, however, often goes beyond the collection of existing documents. The lawyer might hire different professionals to beef up the claim in more serious cases. For example, an accident reconstructionist is usually necessary in the case of a serious car accident.

This professional carefully examines the scene, vehicle damage, and other information to help him give an opinion on how the crash happened and who was to blame. With its careful detail, their report offers an objective, scientific foundation to proving liability that may be invaluable during negotiations or at trial.

On the same note, medical professionals can provide an official report on the prognosis of the client's injuries in the long term. These experts provide an objective, technical point of view, which has a lot of weight behind the legal argument to counter the biased position of the opposing side. These professionals spend time conducting their analysis and composing formal reports, another essential process that adds to the total duration of the case and helps strengthen it.

This stage is time-consuming for a good reason. Rushed inquiries leave gaps in evidence, which insurance companies can exploit to reject a claim. A lawyer's time on this stage is an investment in the case's success. Collecting records, waiting for expert reports, and assembling all information into a coherent story can take months. This patience and attention to detail enable the attorney to bring a fully supported and irrefutable case to the insurance company.

Ultimately, this holistic practice reassures the defendant that the attorney is ready to go to litigation and has a strong case, which most of the time will result in a more favorable and quicker settlement. The sheer volume and quality of the evidence are the most powerful negotiation tools. The attorney can demand a settlement that provides the client full and fair compensation for their injuries and losses.

Negotiating With the Insurance Company to Secure a Fair Settlement

Negotiation is a sophisticated step in the framework of a personal injury lawsuit, and it is not a handshake deal. This is where the advocacy of an attorney is most crucial, and it directly determines the settlement amount.

The process begins with the attorney sending the insurance company a complete demand package. This is not just a letter but a carefully constructed legal brief that would integrate all the evidence found during the investigation, like medical records, bills, expert reports, and employment records.

The demand package contains a defendant's liability and the complete picture of damages and losses incurred by the client. It ends with a reasonable demand for a particular sum of money. This report preconditions negotiations, justifying each dollar demanded and showing that the attorney has a case ready and grounded on the evidence.

The negotiation process begins in earnest when the demand package is received. The claim is assigned to an insurance adjuster, a trained professional whose first directive is to minimize the financial liability to the company. The adjuster will meticulously review the demand package, with a skeptical perspective, looking to find any gaps or flaws in the evidence.

Their first offer is nearly always a lowball settlement whose first directive is to limit the financial liability to the company. The adjuster aims to determine whether the client will accept a fast, inadequate payout, sparing the insurance company the time and cost of additional negotiation or litigation.

The real negotiation is an orderly give-and-take process that consists of strategic counteroffers. An experienced lawyer will:

  • Defend the client

  • Reject the low initial offer

  • Make better legal arguments to justify a higher figure

Every counterproposal made by the lawyer is backed by specific pieces of evidence, like a doctor's report on the permanency of an injury or a report of an accident reconstructionist on the liability. This is a carefully calculated use of evidence and precedent. A fast settlement almost invariably means that the client has settled for less than the full worth of their case.

The time you spend on this step shows the insurance company that you have a serious attorney ready to fight for the maximum compensation. The negotiation process can take weeks or months as each party takes small steps towards a reasonable amount that the case facts could support. This strategic process makes it inadvisable to rush personal injury cases.

More Time is Needed When Disputes Over Liability and Shared Fault Arise

A personal injury case becomes much more complicated and laborious in cases where the liability is not apparent. A rear-end collision may appear simple, but the insurance companies will pounce on any uncertainty to shift the blame to the injured person. This blame game is a standard tactic the opposing insurance company uses to reduce its financial exposure.

Investigators will carefully comb police reports, witness statements, and social media to find evidence that suggests the client contributed to the accident. The purpose of an attorney in this situation is to refute these arguments in advance and show that the opposing party is negligent, even in some seemingly insignificant detail, like a claimant not wearing a seatbelt, which could be used to claim that they are at fault to some degree in causing their injuries.

Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine directly affecting the ultimate settlement in a shared fault case. This doctrine acknowledges that more than one party can be partially at fault in an accident. According to the law, the overall compensation of a claimant may be diminished by the proportion of fault attributed to the claimant.

For example, a court may conclude that an injured driver was 20 percent at fault in an accident and the other driver was 80 percent at fault, so the final settlement of the injured party would be 20 percent less. This is a powerful tool for insurance companies, and they will do their best to maximize the percentage of fault on the client, as each percentage they can move will decrease the amount they need to pay out. A lawyer's work is to develop a case that minimizes the client's role in the accident and maximizes the defendant’s liability.

Liability issues may be settled in a court of law, which is bound to increase the duration of the case. Where the insurance firms are unwilling to negotiate in good faith over a dispute in fault, a lawyer has to institute the formal discovery process. The phase involves using legal instruments to seek additional information and consolidate the case.

It begins with interrogatories, which are written questions that all the parties must answer under oath. This may be a long process because the questions must be written accurately, sent to the other counsel, and answered within a given time. Depositions are the time-consuming element of formal discovery after the interrogatories.

A deposition is a sworn, out-of-court statement by a party or witness in response to questioning by the opposing attorney. This is an essential measure in locking down testimony and gauging the credibility of a witness before the trial. Depositions of multiple parties and crucial witnesses, including police or medical professionals, are logistically challenging. Scheduling, conducting, and transcribing the process can take months.

All these steps are essential to creating an undeniable case on the issue of fault and contribute to the lengthy process of a personal injury case. This is crucial and methodical work without which a lawyer cannot fight against liability arguments of the insurance company.

A Complex Case Requires a Longer Schedule

Multi-party personal injury cases or those with catastrophic injuries are more complex; thus, the process is expected to take longer. The negotiation and discovery process is exponentially complex in cases with several defendants. Whereas an attorney previously had to negotiate with only one insurance company and one opposing attorney, he/she now has to go through numerous law firms and insurance adjusters representing various defendants.

Both sides are interested in blaming each other, and the resulting network of competing stories and legal tactics is tangled. All the processes, including setting depositions and sharing evidence, take longer because they require input from all parties.

This is a complex dynamic that a competent lawyer must be able to negotiate through, with all responsible parties being made to pay accordingly and blame-shifting strategies that may hurt the client regarding the compensation he/she deserve. This coordination and constant communication by itself can add months to a case.

In cases with catastrophic injuries (traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury), the time frame is further lengthened due to the necessity of properly determining lifetime damages. These high-stakes cases involve more than merely counting past medical bills, but an accurate estimate of all future expenses. A multi-million dollar demand requires a lawyer to use specialized experts to give detailed and defendable reports. One of these experts is a life care planner, who will develop a plan that estimates all medical and non-medical needs in the future. This involves the:

  • Future surgery cost

  • Long-term physical therapy, prescription drugs

  • Home accessibility modifications

  • Assisted living

This comprehensive report gives a financial roadmap for the rest of the client's life.

Besides a life care planner, an attorney may also require a vocational economist. The role of this expert is to determine the amount of loss to the future earning capacity of the client. They examine the:

  • Client’s education

  • The client’s work experience

  • Possible career path to estimate the income the client would have earned had they not been injured

The economist then considers inflation, interest rates, and other economic factors to determine an accurate amount of lost wages in a lifetime. It can be immensely time-consuming, sometimes taking months, to have a life care planner and vocational economist research, compile, and write their expert reports.

Nevertheless, these detailed reports are essential when convincing an insurance company (or a jury) of the full value of a catastrophic injury claim. To settle a case before these necessary calculations are done would be to leave much of the future damages of the client on the table.

Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

Settling a personal injury case may frustrate you. However, when you realize the reasons behind this, like complex evidence, insurance strategies, medical tests, negotiation, and court delays, you will learn why attorneys take time to achieve the optimal result. Every step is crucial for you to receive the compensation you deserve.

Do not allow the wait to take a toll on you. Have the right team in place and trust the process. Call our team at The Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm to hire an expert and seek unwavering representation. We are committed to defending your rights and securing the maximum settlement in California. Contact us at 800-492-6718.