"How long is this going to take?" is the second question I get from new clients. The first is whether they have a case. The honest answer is that it depends, but I can give you a real range.
The short version: a straightforward personal injury claim with clear liability and completed medical treatment can resolve in four to nine months. A complex or contested case routinely takes eighteen to twenty four months. Cases involving catastrophic injury, multiple defendants, or trial can stretch to three years or longer. Here is what drives the difference.
How long medical treatment takes
The single biggest factor in case timing is how long it takes you to heal, or to reach what doctors call maximum medical improvement. We do not put a number on your case until we know what your final medical picture looks like. Settling too early almost always means leaving money on the table, because injuries that seem minor at month three sometimes turn into surgical issues at month nine.
A whiplash case with no imaging findings and three months of physical therapy reaches MMI quickly. A herniated disc that may need surgery does not. A traumatic brain injury can take a year or longer to stabilize. The medical timeline drives the case timeline, which is one reason consistent treatment matters, a point we develop in the importance of medical documentation.
How long pre suit negotiations take
Once you reach MMI, your lawyer assembles a demand package and sends it to the insurer. The insurer takes thirty to sixty days to respond. If the response is reasonable, negotiations can wrap up in another month or two. If the response is unreasonable, the case moves into litigation.
A surprising number of cases settle in this phase, particularly when the lawyer has a reputation for trying cases. The carrier does the math: a quick settlement at a fair number is cheaper than two years of litigation. The patterns of how insurers approach these conversations are covered in insurance company tactics.
How long litigation takes
If the case is filed in court, you are looking at a different timeline. California requires cases to be brought to trial within five years of filing under Code of Civil Procedure section 583.310, but most resolve well before that. A typical litigated case in Los Angeles Superior Court runs eighteen to twenty four months from filing to either settlement or trial.
Discovery takes the bulk of that time: written discovery, depositions of the parties, depositions of witnesses, depositions of experts. Mediation often happens around month twelve to fifteen. Many cases settle there. Cases that do not settle proceed to a final settlement conference and then to trial.
How long trial takes
A personal injury trial in California typically runs three to ten court days. Catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases can run two to four weeks. After verdict, the defendant has the right to file post trial motions and then to appeal. Appeals can add a year or more to the timeline, though most defendants do not appeal a verdict unless there is a real legal issue.
What you can do to speed things up
Some things you control, some things you do not. The things you control: attending every medical appointment, following doctor recommendations, keeping records, responding to your lawyer promptly, and being patient with discovery requests. The things you do not control: the carrier's settlement authority, the court's calendar, and the defense's litigation strategy.
The one thing that often speeds resolution is choosing a firm that the defense knows will try the case. We talk more about that in how to maximize your injury settlement. The full mechanics of how a case moves from intake to resolution are in how personal injury claims work.
What slower can look like
Some clients ask whether they should push their lawyer to settle faster. My answer is usually no. The cases that move slowest are often the ones that recover the most, because patience lets the medical picture clarify and lets the insurer's evaluation catch up to reality. Speed is rarely the friend of value in injury cases.
If you want a realistic timeline for your specific situation, reach out to Jennie Levin through our contact page, or browse our practice areas for more on the kinds of cases we handle.