When people file a personal injury lawsuit, they want to know 2 things: (1) how much money will I get and (2) how long will it take to get my settlement? These are the right questions to ask. This video is about the latter question of how long your personal injury case will take to settle.
Let's talk about some general usually true rules that guide how long an injury settlement in an accident case will take:
1. Small cases settle faster than short cases
2. Good lawyers push cases along fast (but there is only so much we can do)
3. The biggest holdup is waiting for the victim to finish treating. If you settle before you have finished treating, you are asking for pennies on the dollar.
4. Collecting medical records should be easy but you have to wait for every single provider before sending out a demand package. If one provider will not cooperate, you have to press them. Maryland has laws that can (sort of) force the provider to comply with the requests.
5. Patients can get medical records faster than lawyers.
6. You can't bug the adjuster to rush an offer to you. If you do, you are begging for the adjuster to pay you less than they would have (they smell blood in the water).
Our firm puts up videos on a number of legal topics. Our primary purpose? Attract clients and referring lawyers. But videos like this are more of a PSA because if you are asking how long your settlement will take, you probably already have a lawyer.
So the big question you have is whether your lawyer is the one slowing down your settlement. The answer is I don't know. If you call your law firm and you can't get a return phone call, that is a bad sign. But while lawyers are often the culprit, sometimes one medical provider holds up a demand package.
So what do you do if you fear your settlement is being delayed by your lawyer? Call the office and ask to sit down to discuss the status of your medical records collection. If our lawyers have a problem getting records, we can easily show you the problem and all the efforts we have made. This will answer your question and if your lawyer is the problem, it will probably expedite the process.
