Zachar Law Blog

How long does a personal injury lawsuit in Arizona take?

How long a case will take to resolve in litigation (if no settlement is ever reached) is dependent on the (1) complexity of the case, (2) the amount of money at issue (i.e. the value of the case), and (3) the particular schedule of the attorney’s and the judge assigned to the case. 

Despite these variables, there is a general answer to this question which includes one additional variable.   Litigation occurs when one files a lawsuit.  In Arizona, once a lawsuit is filed, you have ninety (90) days to serve the at-fault driver or person responsible for your injuries. 

The time for service is entirely dependent upon how quickly the at-fault party can be served.  It can take one week or more than 90 days.  Once served, a defendant has 20 days to file an answer.  The time for a case to resolve from the day the answer is due can take anywhere from 4 months to more than a year, depending on whether litigation means arbitration or trial (this is the one additional variable I referenced earlier).   

In Arizona, a plaintiff must file a certificate of compulsory arbitration with the Complaint (again the Complaint commences litigation).  This certificate determines whether the case is subject to arbitration or not subject to arbitration (arbitration v. trial).  The difference is purely monetary.  If the case is valued at $50,000 or less, the case is subject to arbitration and litigation will presumably last between 4-6 months from the time a defendant files an answer. 

If the case is valued at more than $50,000, the case will ultimately be scheduled for a jury trial which would not typically occur for at least one year (often more) from the time the defendant files an Answer to the Complaint.

Should I Accept the Insurance Company’s Settlement Offer?

Most times, the insurance company’s settlement offer is their first offer.  It is important to understand that insurance companies will do their own independent evaluations of your claim, and decide what they think they should pay—not necessarily what is fair.

This means that they might not consider some of your medical treatment to be related to the accident, they might not consider all your lost wages and will certainly discount the effect on your life.   

Insurance companies will generally use whatever tricks and calculations they can to pay you as little as possible.  Then, they will try to convince you to accept a settlement for less than what you are entitled.

This is why it is so important that you hire an experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer to help you through your case. 

After an accident, your main focus should be getting the medical treatment you need to recover from the accident and dealing with your property damage, lost wages and other expenses.  Do you know how to address these?  Do you know what to say and what not to say to the insurance companies?  What if you say too much, or the wrong thing?  How might that impact your case?

An experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer will allow you to focus on the most important person…yourself, while the lawyer deals with making sure the case is set up the right way to best maximize your recovery at the end of the case.   An experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer will make sure that your medical treatment is the right treatment for you, and gets included in the insurance company’s assessment.  An experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer will make sure that your pain and suffering and other damages are accounted for.

Understand, for an insurance company, you are merely just another claim number. But to Zachar Law Firm, you are our client.  That is a responsibility that we take very seriously, and it is the job of Zachar Law Firm to turn you into a real person whose life has been affected by the injuries—and not just a number.   

The insurance company just wants your case settled and off their books, for as little as possible.  But Zachar Law Firm, your experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyers, and staff will prepare your case and fight for you to make sure you get every penny that you reasonably deserve.

When your case settles, it is over—forever.  You cannot come back later for anything more, so it imperative that before you agree to a settlement, that you know you have the best deal possible.  Hiring the right experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer, early in the process, will help you get everything you understand everything and get what you deserve before you settle.

What questions will be asked in a personal injury deposition? Follow these tips.

When you are a victim of a personal injury, ZLF will make reasonable every effort to settle your case. But understand, we cannot force the insurance company for the at-fault party to pay.  Indeed, sometimes they just don’t. Sometimes for a good reason, sometimes for a bad reason.  Sometimes, for no reason. Sometimes a lawsuit is necessary.  At ZLF, we are ready. Willing and able to take this step for you. After the lawsuit gets filed, the other side may request your “deposition”. What does this mean?

 It means that the other attorney gets to sit down with us,  and ask questions. What kind of questions?

In a personal injury case, there are three main areas:

1. Your life and your health before the incident that caused your injuries;
2. The circumstances of the incident that caused your injuries; and
3. Your life and your health after the incident that caused your injuries.

Before this occurs, we will sit down with you to prepare you for your deposition and then, be assured that we will be sitting right beside you when the deposition takes place.

If a question is not fair, we will protect you.  If a question is related to the case, we will protect you.  If the defense attorney is not nice, we will protect you.

We cannot avoid the defense attorney’s right to take your deposition, but we can make sure you are ready, and we will be right there beside you the whole way through.