Justice Takes Time: Why Some Personal Injury Cases Stretch for Years

If you’ve been injured or — even worse — a loved one is taken from you due to the irresponsible actions of a distracted driver, a careless employer, or some other negligent individual, the last thing you probably want to do is wait months or even years for your personal injury or wrongful death case to conclude. But sometimes, unfortunately, that can happen.

It’s a sad truth that the wheels of our justice system often turn slowly – especially in complicated situations where there are multiple vehicles involved in an accident, resulting in several defendants and their insurance companies actively attempting to slow down (or even thwart) the legal process.

The same holds true in cases where circumstances surrounding the injury or death are so egregious that we, as legal professionals dedicated to achieving genuine justice for our clients, consider it essential to present them to a jury. Only by doing so can our client’s pain and suffering be fully witnessed by a group of sympathetic human beings able to see for themselves what the guilty defendants have done to cause such a tragedy, and to determine how much they should pay for their heinous actions. 

For example, in one recent case, where we ultimately won a $37 million award on behalf of a Michigan family who sought a wrongful-death judgement against a highly culpable defendant, we turned down numerous settlement offers before finally taking the case before a jury and winning. During the time the case was being adjudicated, the defendant and insurance company approached us several times, initially offering settlement amounts of $20 million… then $30 million… and every time we firmly declined their offers. However, each of those proposed settlements required significant time to consider, to discuss with our clients, and to ultimately reject. We believe, though, that it was undoubtedly time well spent, especially given the positive outcome for our deserving clients.

Then there was the 2019 case of college student Denis Preka whose “friend” gave him an illegal drug, passing it off as prescription Adderall that he needed to help him concentrate on his studies. That so-called “friend” then filmed the innocent victim as he suffered a tragic end, going so far as to post video of his death throes on the internet. Fast forward to last August, when a local jury awarded the plaintiffs $75 million for their loss. If you take a moment to do the math, you’ll see it took an agonizing five long years for justice to come to that grieving family, but the result was the largest award ever granted for a single wrongful death lawsuit in the history of Michigan.

There’s a vast number of other reasons legal action may be delayed

Those kinds of deeply tragic cases are, thankfully, few and far between in Michigan. But there are numerous other circumstances that can cause personal injury cases to take many months to be resolved. Such essential actions as discovery (the legally required sharing of evidence between opposing sides), pretrial hearings, negotiations, and arbitration can all consume precious days, weeks, and months. There’s also the potential for temporary injunctions to be issued, the need for eyewitnesses to be located and their testimony to be subpoenaed, the time demands of expert witnesses who often require lengthy periods to fully analyze essential evidence, and many other factors outside the control of the court or the attorneys working on the case. Any or all of these factors can come into play but are essential to arriving at a fair settlement for our aggrieved clients.

But those aren’t the only time-consuming issues we might face. Sometimes it also becomes necessary to wait for an injured victim to recover sufficiently before they are able to testify in a courtroom setting or even to give a sworn deposition. Obtaining medical records to demonstrate the severity of an injury can also take considerable time, especially since federal HIPAA privacy protection laws have come into effect. Even the seemingly simple task of selecting a jury might take weeks, given the need to be sure that all jurors are impartial and do not have any connection to the case for which they’re being considered.

Yet another big wrench in the system is that the Statute of Limitations – a firm deadline by which personal injury lawsuits must be filed – is just three years in Michigan, which encourages insurers to drag their feet and perhaps to use some despicable delay tactics to discourage injured Michiganders from taking justifiable legal action.

As you can probably guess, though, we have a number of legal strategies and solutions to these problems that our clients truly appreciate. Just take a look at our reviews on Google to get an idea of what our thousands of satisfied clients are saying. Despite all that, we still need to let clients know that any or all of the issues we’ve mentioned – or even an unexpected backlog of cases in each court’s docket – can lead to delays that might feel eternal to even the most patient of plaintiffs.

How do we handle delays to protect our valued clients?

Fortunately, as we’ve already noted, we are intimately familiar with all of the possible reasons for the legal process to be delayed, even in situations where it’s crystal clear that our client has an ironclad case, we’re virtually certain will result in a courtroom victory. Thanks to our many years of experience, we know how to take appropriate steps to help grease the wheels of justice to be sure any postponements are kept to a minimum. Ultimately, though, we hope that the necessary time and effort spent on cases like these pays off in compensation that both justifies and rewards the patience of our valued clients.

What it all boils down to is that the old saying is 100 percent true: Good things usually come to those who wait. So, while we do our best to expedite all of our cases, we take care never to act hastily. That way, we can be sure our clients receive all the compensation they deserve without settling for less. We think you’ll agree that it makes absolutely no sense to leave money on the table or to accept a lowball offer when it’s obvious that the defendants and their insurance company are simply trying to avoid retribution by dangling a paltry settlement or by dragging their feet.

If you feel that way, we’re definitely the right attorneys for you. (And we’re sure that’s one key reason we’ve grown to become Michigan’s largest personal injury law firm!) To get our proven experience and expertise working on your case, all it takes is a simple phone call to 855-MIKE-WINS (855-645-3946). Make that call, and you’ll know you have a team of top-notch lawyers on your side from the very moment you appoint us as your attorneys of record.