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If you’re thinking about filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, you’re likely also wondering how soon you’ll get the money you’re owed for your damages. Medical bills can begin to pile up quickly, and your expected return to work date may be pushed back by weeks, months, or even indefinitely.
All medical malpractice lawsuits are different, and that includes how long it takes for victims to get the checks they deserve. That makes it difficult to assign a timeline to any medical malpractice claim, but there are a few factors that can influence how long they take.
Most medical malpractice lawsuits don’t go to trial. Instead, they settle out of court. Out-of-court settlements are usually preferred by all parties, including the at-fault healthcare providers and their insurers. That’s because going to trial isn’t just expensive, but also time-consuming.
However, insurance companies often use quick settlements as a tactic for getting out of paying the full amount of money that victims are truly owed. They know that victims need money right away, so they offer settlements knowing that once they’re accepted, victims legally can’t ask for more money later.
It can be difficult to determine if the insurance company’s settlement offer is fair on your own. Having an experienced Ohio medical malpractice lawyer on your side can help you through this common scenario, as he or she will be able to advise you on both your estimated injury-related costs and whether the settlement offer is enough to cover them.
There are many different types of medical malpractice lawsuits. Some are straightforward and don’t require as much evidence to prove fault—think a surgeon leaving a tool inside a patient’s body. However, others are far more complex and require more evidence, like a surgeon making a mistake during surgery and then claiming the ensuing complications were a known risk.
When medical malpractice isn’t obvious and is denied by doctors or surgeons, the lawsuit may take longer because more medical records need to be collected and reviewed and because expert witnesses need to be called in to describe exactly how the malpractice occurred.
Another factor that can influence how long a malpractice lawsuit takes is how much money is at stake. For catastrophic injuries such as amputation, paralysis, blindness, and more, victims and their families may be owed significant settlements. Insurance companies don’t want to pay big settlements, and that can result in weeks or months of back-and-forth negotiations and proving how much victims’ malpractice injuries will cost them over their lifetimes.
Many claimants find this process frustrating, but it’s well worth it in the end. Getting a full and fair settlement can mean having enough money to cover a lifetime’s worth of medical expenses and lost wages versus having just enough money to pay for those costs for the next few years or even months.
Whether your medical malpractice lawsuit settles or goes to court, the law firm representing you matters. Experienced medical malpractice attorneys know how to not only get satisfactory results for their clients, but they can also achieve those results more quickly.
In addition to offering lowball settlements, insurance companies also like to drag things out as long as possible. That means stalling during the negotiation process and trying to make trials go on for weeks. They hope that they can force victims into accepting whatever money they offer out of desperation and fatigue.
But aggressive law firms don’t fall for these tactics. At Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, we stand firm in our demands for our clients to be paid fairly and in full, and we don’t blink when insurance companies try to strongarm us or the injured victims we represent.
Our legal team knows medical malpractice lawsuits. We have decades of experience building and winning them. When you contact us to tell us what happened at the hands of your doctor, surgeon, or another healthcare provider, you can count on us to give you honest feedback both on the strength of your potential case and how long it may take for you to get the money you’re owed.
Reach out to us anytime for a free consultation. There’s no obligation to hire, and our No Fee Guarantee® means you’ll never see a bill from us unless we get money for you.
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