Most personal injury victims need access to compensation as soon as possible and have understandable questions and concerns about how long it typically takes to reach a settlement in a personal injury case, which our lawyers can address head-on.
It can take anywhere from several weeks to over a year to settle a personal injury case, depending on the unique circumstances and parties involved. Disputes about liability, shared fault among multiple parties, long medical recoveries, and non-communicative defendants might delay settlements. If it takes too long for you to get a good enough personal injury settlement in New York, the solution may be to go to court to get an even better award at trial.
Get the free, confidential case assessment you need from our Poughkeepsie, NY personal injury lawyers by calling Basch, Keegan & Spada at (845) 303-2748 today.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Good Personal Injury Settlement in New York?
Every personal injury case has a unique set of factors that ultimately affect how long it takes to get a settlement in a particular case. Each lawsuit is different, so there is no set average amount of time victims have to wait to get good settlements.
It could take weeks, months, or potentially even over a year to get a good personal injury settlement in New York. You might get subpar settlement offers sooner, but should avoid signing any settlement agreement until we have confirmed it is fair and good enough to resolve your case.
Regardless of how long it takes to get a good personal injury settlement, our lawyers will keep you informed throughout the process so that you know where your case stands at all times.
What Factors Affect How Long Personal Injury Settlements Take in New York?
Many factors affect how long personal injury settlements take, from disputes about liability to stubborn defendants who refuse to increase settlement offers. Based on the specifics of your case, we can gauge its potential length and prepare you for hurdles that could lengthen it further.
Liability Disputes
Liability disputes can make personal injury settlements take longer. A defendant might contest liability for all of a plaintiff’s damages and claim that the plaintiff contributed to the accident and shares liability for their own injuries.
Liability disputes can take several weeks or months to resolve through settlements. However, our Hyde Park, NY personal injury lawyers may resolve liability disputes faster by preparing for comparative fault arguments from the get-go and gathering evidence that refutes your shared liability, potentially leading to a faster and better settlement.
Multiple Negligent Parties
Settlements often take longer when multiple negligent parties are involved. The more defendants involved in a case, the more challenging it can be to get all of them to agree to settlement and pay for their contribution to your injuries. You don’t have to resolve a case with all defendants and can accept a partial settlement from a single defendant to get some compensation sooner.
Longer Medical Recovery
In general, you shouldn’t settle your case until after you have reached maximum medical improvement. If you settle prematurely, you may not have a full appreciation for the severity of your injuries, their financial impact, and the negative effects on your quality of life.
If your medical recovery is ongoing and your physicians expect you to need additional treatment in the future, we can seek compensation for future medical damages, which might also delay a settlement.
Stubborn Defendants
Some defendants are simply stubborn and hope that delaying negotiations or being non-communicative will convince a plaintiff to accept a lowball settlement offer that doesn’t cover enough of their damages.
We can step in if the opposing side is using delay tactics during settlement negotiations and explain that we can go to court if they refuse to communicate or engage in the case outside of court.
How Can You Get a Personal Injury Settlement Faster in New York?
Many personal injury victims want settlements as soon as possible, and might even accept a poor settlement to get some money in their pockets. When we handle your case, our lawyers may speed up negotiations without compromising your recovery.
You may be able to get a personal injury settlement faster with our help. Not only can we build a strong case that clearly points to the defendant’s negligence, but we can ensure consistent, clear communication with the opposing side so there are fewer delays and faster responses.
You shouldn’t accept a lowball settlement just because you want access to compensation sooner, and our lawyers can stop you from signing a settlement release that underserves you, even if it seems fair at face value.
What if it Takes Too Long to Get a Personal Injury Settlement in New York?
Many personal injury plaintiffs want to settle as soon as possible so that they can get the compensation they need to cover growing medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses. Sometimes settlements take too long, forcing victims to consider other paths forward toward compensation.
If it is taking too long for your personal injury case to settle, our attorneys can move forward with litigating the case in court. Indicating that we are prepared to go to trial may be enough for the defendant to increase their offer to something more appropriate, as defendants often want to avoid trials when possible.
Personal injury trials are often over within a matter of days of starting, so you may receive compensation soon after going to court. You may have to wait a while for your case to get to court and before a judge, so keep that in mind if you need fast compensation.
We Can Help You Get a Good Personal Injury Settlement in New York
Call the Wappinger Falls, NY personal injury lawyers of Basch, Keegan & Spada at (845) 303-2748 today for a free case review.