I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I was injured once when a truck backed over my right foot at work. My employer tried to settle with me fast because I knew they were try to get me to sign some papers to release them from responsibility. I called a nearby injury lawyer in my area who provided me useful advice and I was able to get a small settlement to cover my insurance bills that weren't covered by my work insurance. I'd find a lawyer in your area. http://www.accidentlawyerlocator.com My accident lawyer was help me because they hope to make some money at the same time. Try calling a lawyer to see if they can help.
Heop everything works out.
For this question, I am assuming that you are the Plaintiff. Now prior to filing a lawsuit, the lawyer has to perform an "independent investigation" wherein he essentially checks out your story and makes sure the law warrants filing a lawsuit for whatever your injury entails.
Once the lawyer is satisfied that you have a valid claim, then he needs to comply with any pre-suit procedural steps. The other poster mentioned that for some kinds of defendants, like cities, you have to provide them with notice that you are considering suing them and why. They then have "X" number of days to respond and try to settle the matter.
If there are no procedural steps, or if they are satisfied, the lawyer then has to draft the Complaint (the "lawsuit") and file it with the court. After filing, the Complaint must be personally served on each defendant. This can take a while depending on whether or not the defendants try to duck service, or if they are out of state, etc. Once each defendant is served, they get "X" number of days to answer.
Typically, once the lawsuit is filed and/or served, your lawyer will send you a copy of the filed Complaint. You are always welcome to call him (although I strongly recommend not calling every day - these things don't happen at lightspeed) or his assistant to check on the status of your case. You should also be receiving regular letters or phone calls from your attorney letting you know where things stand. Keep in mind, it is his or her responsibility to keep you informed of what's going on.
If you are the Defendant, you will be served with the Writ soon after the court receives it. However, if you are the Plaintiff, its likely your lawyer will try to save you money by not generating more paper and time ... you should be in touch with your lawyer's secretary on a regular basis to see how the case is progressing.
How long does it take? There are limitation dates by which time your lawyer must file a law suit. Where I live, we must file within 2 years of a car accident, or within 1 year of the time the incident happened in other matters (eg. if I get hurt by a teammate while playing hockey). If I'm suing the City, I have only 6 months to file against them! Limitation dates can vary for different types of lawsuits and also depending on the jurisdiction. Check with your lawyer's secretary.
Every personal injury claim must be filed within a certain amount of time or it will expire; if a claim expires, you will lose your chance to collect compensation.
More Info:
http://Find-Accident-Lawyer.com
Consultations should be free. Personal injury lawyers should not charge you to talk about your case and should give you an idea of what they think your case is likely to be worth in compensatory and other possible damages. The accident attorney should also be able to give you some idea of how long it should take to get results.
Personal injury lawyers will often take your case on a "contingency fee basis." Which means they will not charge any legal fees for their services until after they have helped you recover financial compensation.
If your personal injury lawyer is willing to provide the necessary funds to keep your case moving forward, it is a good sign. After all, the lawyer is taking a gamble by doing so because if you don’t receive a settlement they will not likely be reimbursed for those fees and they will be out that money. Their willingness to provide these funds towards you case is a good indicator that they believe that you have a reasonably strong case.
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