Most personal injury claims in Massachusetts settle at the claim stage without the necessity of a lawsuit. However, there is a good number of claims that do not settle with insurance companies. When that is the case, a personal injury lawsuit must be filed in court. The legal process is notoriously slow-moving, and therefore, these cases that are filed in court do take considerable time to settle. If you are wondering how long does a personal injury lawsuit take in Massachusetts, here is some information.

A lawsuit in Massachusetts begins with the filing of a complaint. Once the complaint is filed in court, the injured party or the injured party’s attorney must serve the complaint on the person that is being sued. The person filing the complaint is named as the plaintiff, and the person that is sued in the complaint is named the defendant. The defendant or the defendant’s attorney, upon being served with the complaint, will file what is referred to as an answer. Once the answer is served, at that point, the discovery process of the litigation begins. The discovery process is the heart of the litigation process. This involves the taking of depositions as well as the sharing of information between the two sides to the lawsuit by way of interrogatories and request for production of documents.

Peppered throughout the process may be court appearances such as a case-management conference or a pre-trial conference. As well, motions may be filed by one or both sides to the lawsuit. Generally, the more complicated the case, the longer the case will take to resolve through the litigation process. For example, if you are involved in a car accident with relatively minor injuries, those cases can usually be dispensed with rather quickly with litigation.

However, for more involved serious injury claims, the litigation process can take considerably more time.

For example, with a trucking accident case, there may be multiple parties that the plaintiff has sued. That will involve a considerable amount of litigation between the plaintiff and all the named defendants to the lawsuit. Similarly, a lawsuit for wrongful death damages can take considerable time, perhaps even years. Generally, the bigger the case, the longer the litigation will last. Keep in mind that even though a case is filed in court, they can still settle without the need for an actual trial. It is estimated that roughly 90% of personal injury claims do settle without the need for a full-blown trial by jury. However, there is a distinct number of cases each year that don’t settle, and therefore, a trial is necessary.

A trial, depending on the complexity of the case, can take anywhere from a few days to a few months. The legal process can be a very slow-moving animal. Litigation is a classic example of that. If you or someone you know has been negligently injured in an accident, and you have questions about the litigation process, I encourage you to call the Earley Law Group Injury Lawyers at 617-444-7777. We will be pleased to provide you a free complimentary consultation to go over the specifics of your case and give you an opinion as to whether or not we will be able to assist with your case.