Do Most Car Accident Cases Go To Trial?
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering whether or not your car accident injury claim is worth pursuing. Or perhaps you’ve already started the process and you are wondering how long the process will take. If you’re stressing over whether or not your case will advance to trial, then you can rest easy. Most car accident cases will not escalate to trial. In fact, unless there are millions of dollars at stake, most insurance companies want to avoid having a case go to trial as the process creates an additional expense, which will increase their out-of-pocket fees.
Court Hearings Versus Trial
Even if a court date is set, most car accident cases reach a resolution by mutual agreement before the actual trial date. In some instances, the parties reach a settlement before a legal case even begins.
It is not at all unusual to have a few court hearings in the interim of your case; however, these are generally just preliminary hearings–not a trial. It is all part of the evidence-building process and alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as depositions and mediations, used to facilitate the process of settling a car accident case.
In the rare instance that both parties fail to reach a mutual settlement agreement, then yes, your case will likely escalate to trial. Again, the process of pursuing a trial is lengthy and can become incredibly expensive, so if you were involved in a car accident or other type of personal injury accident where the damages are not excessive, you have a 95% chance of settling your case outside of “court.”
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