Brain injuries often have serious consequences, affecting every part of your life. The effects can manifest physically, emotionally, socially, and financially. One of the most common questions from victims and their families is, “How long will it take to settle my case?”
Unfortunately, this is not an easy question to answer. The timeline for settling a brain injury case varies widely and depends significantly on many factors. Some people settle their case in a few months, while it takes several years for others to receive their payout.
Your Long Island brain injury lawyer will provide a better estimate based on the specific details of your case.
- Factors that Could Affect the Brain Injury Settlement Timeline
- Important Steps in a Brain Injury Case
- Are there Steps I Can Take to Expedite the Settlement Process?
- Be Careful not to Rush the Settlement Process After a Brain Injury
- Talk to Our Brain Injury Team for Free Today
Factors that Could Affect the Brain Injury Settlement Timeline
Several factors affect how long it takes to settle a brain injury case. Knowing these factors and the facts of your case sets a realistic timeline. They include:
The Severity of the Brain Injury
The severity of your traumatic brain injury could make a significant difference in how long it takes to settle your case. Severe injuries often require extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation, making it difficult to know the full extent of damages for a long time after the accident occurs.
If There Are Liability Disputes
If there are disagreements about liability, the case will likely be more difficult—and time-consuming—to settle. Determining liability requires an in-depth investigation, careful analysis, compelling arguments, and may call for expert testimony to strengthen the positions asserted during negotiation or litigation.
Insurance Company Delay Tactics
Insurance companies often delay the process by disputing claims, demanding recorded statements, or making lowball settlement offers. These tactics are meant to allow them to reduce or deny the claim, but your attorney will handle all these concerns.
The Need for Expert Witnesses
Brain injury cases often rely on testimony from various subject matter experts, including Medical experts, vocational rehabilitation specialists, life care planners, and economists, to establish the severity of the injury and the ongoing care and support needs. This process often takes additional time to identify and work with the top experts.
Court Backlogs
If you need to litigate your case, the court’s schedule could cause additional delays. In some busy jurisdictions, there could be months or even years of backlog before the court will set a trial date for your case.
For a free legal consultation, call 516-932-0400
Important Steps in a Brain Injury Case
Brain injury insurance claims or lawsuits take time to settle. Understanding the steps necessary to file a claim and reach a settlement makes it easier to know what the timeline might look like in your case.
Hiring an Attorney and Building the Case
After the initial treatment of your injuries, the next step is contacting a personal injury attorney. Your attorney will gather information about your accident and any evidence that supports your claim. This includes preserving evidence that might not be available later, such as video of the incident and eyewitness statements.
Continued Medical Treatment and Recovery
Before an attorney can settle your case, they may advise that it is best for you to first reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). This occurs when your condition is no longer improving significantly, and doctors accurately assess your long-term prognosis. How long it takes to reach MMI depends greatly on your injuries.
Filing the Claim and Negotiating with Insurers
Once you reach MMI, your attorney will document your damages, including future costs. They then file a claim and begin negotiations with the liable party’s insurance company. This often leads to settlements, although it could take weeks or months of back-and-forth negotiations.
Litigation and Trial
Sometimes, your attorney will recommend filing a lawsuit. Several reasons exist why a lawsuit might be necessary. The litigation process is time-consuming.
Your attorney will navigate discovery, depositions, and possibly a jury trial. Most cases settle before reaching the courtroom, but your lawyer will prepare for either outcome.
Are there Steps I Can Take to Expedite the Settlement Process?
Some delays are unavoidable. Injury cases must follow state requirements, and these processes take time. To help prevent possible delays, we recommend that you:
- Follow Your Treatment Plan: Following your doctor’s recommendations and attending all appointments will document your injuries and demonstrate their severity. It will also help you recover more fully and possibly reach MMI faster.
- Provide Timely Responses: Respond promptly to your attorney’s requests for documents and information.
Accidents that cause brain injuries, like car accidents, construction accidents, and slip and fall injuries, come with many challenges that could affect your settlement timeline.
Working with a lawyer who is familiar with brain injury cases will let you navigate the claims process and ensure you seek maximum compensation. Your attorney can manage delays and navigate complex cases efficiently and effectively.
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Be Careful not to Rush the Settlement Process After a Brain Injury
While it is natural to want to close your case as soon as possible, you must be careful not to allow yourself to settle too quickly. This is especially true if you do not yet have an attorney.
Insurers will frequently make an offer very early on. In almost all cases it is a very bad idea to accept this early offer. Essentially, this is the insurance carrier trying to “throw a few dollars at you to make you go away.”
Accepting an early settlement offer, (i.e., before you can know the full extent of your injuries and the degree to which you will recover,) could leave you without the money you need for your future medical care and other expenses and inadequately compensate you for your pain, suffering and other damages.
Your lawyer will determine the full scope of your current and future damages and fight for a settlement or verdict that encompasses them.
Settling a brain injury case takes time. While some cases settle in months, others take years to close. Working with a personal injury lawyer will ensure you meet the applicable deadlines set by New York Civil Practice Laws & Rules § 214 or any other, potentially shorter, applicable statute of limitations and negotiate or litigate an appropriate payout based on your injuries, care, and future care and support needs.
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Talk to Our Brain Injury Team for Free Today
If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury in New York, contact Friedman & Simon Injury Lawyers L.L.P. today for a free consultation. We are here to guide you through the process and fight for the justice and compensation you need.
Our brain injury lawyers meet with clients on Long Island or elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area and handle a wide range of accident cases. Call us now to learn more.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form