(914) 220-1086
Accidents are an unfortunate part of life. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, a slip and fall, or another type of accident, you might not know what your legal rights are. In New York, if someone else caused your accident, then you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover financial compensation for your losses.
A personal injury claim could be resolved within a matter of weeks or months – potentially without ever having to file a lawsuit. If a lawsuit is filed and your case isn’t resolved quickly, it could take a year or longer to resolve the case – particularly if it goes to trial. An experienced New York personal injury attorney can help you understand your options and provide you with a rough timeline of how long it may take to resolve your personal injury lawsuit.
At the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, we represent accident victims throughout New York. We work hard to help our clients get maximum compensation for their injuries – and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. Contact our law firm today to schedule a free initial consultation with a member of our legal team.
Filing a Lawsuit in New York
If you have been hurt in an accident, the first and most important thing that you can do is to get to safety and seek medical treatment. When you can do so, you should reach out to a personal injury law firm to get a better understanding of your legal rights and options for pursuing a claim. An initial consultation won’t cost you anything and will give you an idea of what filing a claim might look like for you.
If you decide to hire a lawyer, they will get started on your case right away. This will typically include talking to witnesses, obtaining videos and photos of the accident scene, requesting accident reports, reviewing medical records, and consulting with expert witnesses. This process not only determines what happened to cause your injuries, but who may be liable for your losses.
Next, your attorney will put together a claim for damages. This includes examining every possible loss that you suffered – such as lost wages, property damage, medical bills, and pain and suffering. Some of these losses can be proven through documentation, while others (like emotional distress) will be based on the severity of your injuries and damages in similar cases.
Your lawyer will then conduct legal research to develop a legal theory for your case. Most personal injury cases arise from negligence or carelessness. To win a personal injury lawsuit, an accident victim (plaintiff) has to prove that the at-fault party (defendant) was negligent in some way. This involves proving four elements:
- Duty: the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to use reasonable care;
- Breach: the defendant breached (violated) this duty in some way;
- Causation: the defendant’s violation caused the plaintiff’s injuries; and
- Damages: the plaintiff suffered damages as a result.
While negligence is the most common basis for a personal injury lawsuit, there are other options. If someone hurt you intentionally – such as in a nursing home abuse case – or recklessly – such as in a drunk driving accident – you can file a personal injury lawsuit against them. In some cases, these claims are easier to prove because the at-fault party may have also been charged with a criminal offense.
Importantly, New York is a pure comparative negligence state. Comparative negligence is a legal principle whereby an accident victim can still recover for their losses even if they were partially at fault. In New York, you can still pursue a personal injury lawsuit even if you were as much as 99% to blame. Your total recovery will be reduced by the percentage that you were at fault.
Once the research and investigation are complete, your New York personal injury attorney will write a demand letter to the at-fault party’s insurance company. This letter will include three parts: the facts of the case, the legal reason why their insured is responsible, and a demand for damages. Insurance companies typically respond to demand letters with a counteroffer after performing their own investigation.
These initial steps in the lawsuit process can take a few weeks or more than a month. The length of time that it takes to draft a demand letter depends on several factors, such as the complexity of the case and how hard it is to gather evidence. Your attorney will keep you updated about the status of your case and will reach out to you if they need more information.
When Is It Necessary to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Once the demand letter has been sent, the negotiation process will begin. Each side will go back and forth with offers and counteroffers in an attempt to reach a fair settlement. These negotiations can take a few weeks or months.
The majority of personal injury cases are resolved outside of court – often through settlement. It may still be necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit to preserve your rights. New York has a 3-year statute of limitations for most personal injury cases, which effectively puts a clock on your ability to file a lawsuit. If you don’t file a lawsuit within this time frame, your case will likely be dismissed.
Because of the statute of limitations, it may be necessary to file a lawsuit to protect your rights – even if you don’t intend to take your case to trial. Filing a lawsuit keeps your options open, allowing you to continue negotiations while ensuring that you don’t lose your right to sue in the future.
A lawsuit starts with a document called a complaint that sets out the facts of the case, and the legal basis for the claim, and then makes a request for damages (much like a demand letter). The complaint will be filed at your local New York courthouse and then served (delivered) to the defendant. The defendant then has an opportunity to write a response, which is known as an answer.
The next phase of the lawsuit process is discovery. Discovery involves exchanging information through depositions, requests for admissions, production requests, and interrogatories. Getting more information from the opposing party can often help to move negotiations forward. Discovery can last for several months or longer.
If the parties still can’t reach a settlement, then the case will be set for trial – although negotiations often continue right up to the eve of trial. In court, your New York personal injury lawyer will introduce evidence, question witnesses, and make opening and closing arguments. At the conclusion, they will ask a jury to return a verdict in your favor.
While a trial typically lasts for a week or so, getting to trial can take more than a year. The steps leading up to trial can take a significant amount of time, and then the court will have to schedule a trial date. If your case goes to trial, then you can expect that it will take a year or more to resolve the claim.
What Factors Impact the Length of Time It Will Take to Resolve My Lawsuit?
After you are hurt in an accident, you probably want to resolve your case quickly so that you can move forward with your life. For better or for worse, the legal process often takes time. It can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to get a personal injury settlement.
Many factors influence how long it will take to resolve your personal injury lawsuit. They include:
- Any questions as to liability (for example, if the insurance company is arguing that their insured isn’t responsible for the accident or that you were partially at fault);
- The severity of your injuries and whether the insurance company contests how serious your injuries are;
- If you are still undergoing medical treatment, which can delay your settlement to make sure that it covers all of your losses;
- The court’s schedule;
- How much money you are requesting, as insurance companies tend to defend higher-value cases more aggressively than lower-value cases;
- The complexity of the claim;
- If a lawsuit has been filed;
- The number of parties to the lawsuit, as having more parties in a lawsuit will make it harder to resolve the claim; and
- The willingness of the parties to settle.
Almost all of these factors are outside of your control as the accident victim. However, it is still important to understand that they can affect how long it will take to resolve your case.
If your claim is pretty straightforward with no question as to liability, it could be resolved within a few weeks or months. If your claim is more complicated or the insurance company is denying some aspect of it, then it could take more than a year to settle it or go to trial. Throughout the process, your lawyer will keep you posted about the status of your case.
How Our Law Firm Can Help
Being injured in an accident can be traumatic. The months that follow can often be stressful, leaving you wanting nothing more than to move forward with your life. While filing a personal injury claim can take time, it could be resolved in a few months to a year – helping you get both the financial compensation that you deserve and a sense of justice.
Based in White Plains, the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan represent people throughout New York who have been hurt in all types of accidents. We offer free initial consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. Contact our law firm today to schedule an appointment with a New York personal injury lawyer by calling 914-220-1086 or filling out our online contact form.
How Can I Pay for a Personal Injury Lawyer?
In New York, personal injury law firms handle cases on a contingency fee basis. With a contingency fee, you won’t pay anything out of pocket – and will only pay a fee if you recover money through a settlement or trial verdict. The fee will be a percentage of your total recovery, capped by New York law.
Contingency fee agreements mean that anyone can afford to hire a lawyer – even when they are struggling financially in the aftermath of an accident. Contact the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan today to schedule a free initial consultation with a New York personal injury attorney.
Should I Take a Settlement from the Insurance Company?
You should not accept a settlement for a personal injury claim without first consulting with an attorney. While you may be tempted to take the settlement so that you can get your money more quickly, there is a substantial likelihood that this amount won’t be enough to cover all of your losses. A lawyer will give you a ballpark estimate of your claim during a free consultation and will help to ensure that the insurance company doesn’t take advantage of you with a lowball settlement offer.
Studies show that accident victims recover an average of 40% more in personal injury claims when they have a lawyer compared to when they represent themselves. If you have been hurt in an accident, reach out to the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan today to schedule a free consultation with a member of our legal team.
