If you are recovering from an accident in Greenville, your first question is usually how long it will take to receive a settlement. Financial pressure from medical bills and missed paychecks makes a quick resolution feel necessary. Our Greenville personal injury lawyers can help you fight for the compensation you need to get your life back on track.
The timeline for how long a personal injury lawsuit takes to settle depends heavily on your medical recovery. At David R. Price, Jr., P.A., we advise clients that settling too early can be a mistake. If you sign a release before your doctors fully understand your long-term needs, you cannot go back and ask for more money later.
A Greenville personal injury lawyer can help during this process by handling the insurance adjusters and court deadlines for you, so you can focus on your health.
How Long Does a Personal Injury Lawsuit Take in Greenville, SC?
How long does a personal injury lawsuit take to settle? It varies based on the facts. A straightforward fender bender with clear liability and minor injuries might settle in a couple of months after the injured person completes treatment. A case involving a traumatic brain injury, multiple surgeries, or a commercial trucking accident could take several months or years.
Several factors influence the timeline in South Carolina. The Court of Common Pleas for every county maintains a busy docket that can add months to the litigation process.
Insurance companies also play a role. Large insurers often have internal processes that slow down evaluations, particularly for high-value cases. Adjusters may delay offers until they have reviewed all medical records, which cannot happen until the injured person finishes treatment.
What’s the Difference Between a Settlement and a Lawsuit?
A settlement is an agreement between the injured person (or their attorney) and the insurance company to resolve the claim for a specific dollar amount. No judge or jury is involved. Sometimes cases result in a settlement before a lawsuit is necessary.
A lawsuit is a formal legal action filed in court. Filing a lawsuit does not mean your case will go to trial. Most lawsuit still result in a settlement before trial. Filing suit gives your attorney access to discovery tools like depositions and subpoenas that can pressure the insurance company toward a fairer offer.
If the case does not ultimately result in settlement, then the lawsuit will eventually result in a trial, wherein the jury determines the value of the case.
The Typical Stages of a Greenville Personal Injury Case
Personal injury cases in Greenville generally follow a predictable path, though the length of each stage varies.
1. Medical Treatment and Recovery
Your attorney cannot accurately value your claim until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI). This is the point when your doctors determine your condition has stabilized, so that you have reached the point where you are either all better or as good as you are going to get. For minor injuries, MMI might come in a few weeks. Serious injuries requiring surgery or rehabilitation can extend this stage to a year or more.
2. Investigation and Evidence Gathering
Your attorney collects police reports, medical records, witness statements, and photographs. In commercial motor vehicle cases, this may include obtaining electronic logging device (ELD) data and driver qualification files.
3. Demand and Negotiation
Once treatment is complete, your attorney sends a demand letter to the insurer outlining injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages. The insurer responds, and settlement negotiations follow.
4. Litigation (Possibly)
If the insurer refuses a fair offer of settlement, your attorney will have to file a lawsuit. Litigation includes discovery (document exchanges, depositions), mediation, and potentially a trial.
5. Trial
Jury trials in South Carolina can last one day for simple cases to several weeks for catastrophic injury claims.
Factors That Affect How Long a Personal Injury Lawsuit Takes to Settle
Several specific variables can speed up or slow down your recovery.
- Severity of injuries. Some injuries are more severe than others. Broken bones that heal cleanly resolve faster than spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injuries that require years of care. Insurers scrutinize high-value claims more carefully, adding time.
- Disputed liability. South Carolina follows a modified comparative negligence rule. If you are more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing. If you are 50% or less at fault, your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Disputed liability gives insurers an incentive to prolong negotiations.
- Insurance company tactics. Some insurers make low initial offers and drag out negotiations. The adjuster assigned to your case and the insurer’s internal policies both affect the timeline.
- Multiple parties. Accidents involving multiple vehicles, multiple insurance companies, or government entities take longer to resolve.
- Court scheduling. The court handles a large volume of cases. Trial dates are subject to continuances that can extend the litigation timeline.
How Long Does a Personal Injury Settlement Take for Different Types of Cases?
For cases with clear liability and moderate injuries, such as some car accidents, cases can settle within a couple of months of an injured person completing treatment.
Commercial trucking cases, on the other hand, involve federal regulations, multiple potentially liable parties, and higher policy limits. These cases can take 12 to 24 months or more.
For slip and fall accidents, property owners and insurers frequently dispute whether they had notice of the hazard. Most slip and fall claims require a lawsuit, which can take up to 2 years to reach trial.
In medical malpractice cases, South Carolina requires an expert affidavit. The statute of limitations is two or three years from injury or discovery, depending on whether the at-fault party is a governmental entity or employee, with a six-year statute of repose. These cases routinely take 18 months to three years.
If you were injured at work, you may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a third-party personal injury claim. Coordinating between the two can add time.
How a Greenville Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
The attorneys at David R. Price, Jr., P.A., work to move your case forward by managing the administrative burdens that contribute to stall claims. We handle:
- Gathering Evidence: Securing police reports, traffic camera footage, and witness statements from the scene.
- Calculating Damages: Totaling medical bills, future treatment costs, and lost wages to ensure no money is left on the table.
- Managing Insurance Adjusters: Handling all phone calls and negotiations so you do not accidentally say something that hurts your claim.
- Proving Liability: Using South Carolina’s comparative negligence laws to show the other party was at fault.
- Filing Court Documents: Managing the strict deadlines and requirements in the South Carolina’s court system.
- Navigating Mediation: Representing your interests during mandatory mediation in order to hopefully settle your case without a trial.
- Trial Representation: Presenting your case before a judge and jury if the insurance company refuses a fair payout.
Contact Our Greenville Personal Injury Lawyers
Waiting to take action can hurt your case. Evidence disappears, and witnesses forget details. If you are concerned about how long a personal injury lawsuit takes to settle, the best way to get the process started is to have your case reviewed by a professional.
David R. Price, Jr., P.A., provides honest assessments of your claim’s value and the expected timeline. Contact the lawyers at David R. Price, Jr., P.A. at 864-271-2636 today for a free consultation to discuss your personal injury claim.