Dunwoody, GA Personal Injury Lawyer

Very few people get through life without getting injured. If another person was responsible for your injuries, you should not have to pay for their negligence.

Negligent people cause accidents in countless ways. To get the compensation you deserve, our attorneys can help by collecting evidence, determining the liable parties, and counseling you on the best legal strategies to use. Our team will strive to get you the compensation you need as quickly as possible while building the strongest case we can. Your lawsuit might not settle overnight, but it is often worth the struggle so you are not left with damages that will impact you for years to come.

For a free case review with our personal injury attorneys, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (470) 287-3070.

How Long Will My Personal Injury Claim Take to Complete in Dunwoody, GA?

When people are injured and need to file a lawsuit, they usually want to know how long their case will take. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to determine how long a particular case will go on. Some lawsuits might be resolved within a few weeks or months without much impact on your day-to-day life. Other cases could take years before reaching the point where the parties can negotiate a settlement. Despite that, there are a few ways of assessing the potential timeframe your case might have.

One of the most important factors is the complexity of your case. The more complex the facts are for your accident or injuries, the easier it tends to be to fight liability. Expert witnesses often need to explain complex facts, either by affidavit or testifying in court. If the facts of your claim are simple, like a minor car accident caused by another driver who is not fighting liability, your case might only take as long as the insurance company takes to process your settlement.

Another factor impacting how long your lawsuit takes is the evidence our personal injury lawyers need to prove the elements of it. In most cases, the more evidence you have showing the other person’s fault, the less likely they will be to fight the case. Most insurance companies and defense attorneys would much rather settle a claim they cannot win than take their chances in court and waste more money and time.

Of course, having the right evidence does not mean the defendant will be willing to cooperate. Some defendants do not want to take any responsibility for their actions and will make you fight the case out in court. Fortunately, the court sets the dates for the trial, so they can only draw it out for so long. If we cannot convince them that it would be cheaper to settle now, we will be ready to argue your case in court.

How Long Will I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Dunwoody, GA?

Another important question most injury victims have is how long they have to file a lawsuit. Some victims are not sure if their accident rises to the level of a lawsuit or believe they cannot afford it. Unfortunately, this can cost you critical time. To ensure you do not lose your right to file a lawsuit, the best thing to do is have our team review your case. If you do have a valid claim, we can prepare it immediately and file it before the “statute of limitations” passes.

Injury victims only have a short time to file a lawsuit in Dunwoody. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 allows victims only two years from the date of their injuries to file their lawsuits. As soon as you are injured, the clock starts ticking. If your claim is filed just one day after the deadline passes, the court will still dismiss your lawsuit. You will not be able to file another, effectively cutting you off from any paths to recovering compensation. However, certain situations will cause the statute of limitations to “toll,” potentially pushing the deadline back.

Individuals Under Disability

A common exception is for minor victims. If a personal injury victim is younger than 18 at the time of the accident, the time to file does not start to run until they turn 18 years old, according to § 9-3-90(b). Upon turning 18, they will have two years to file a lawsuit.

The statute of limitations will also not toll if the victim is suffering from an intellectual disability or mental illness at the time of the accident that prevents them from exercising their legal rights, as per § 9-3-90(a). Once the mental illness or intellectual disability is considered removed, the person will have two years from that date to file their claim.

Defendant Not in the State

If the person who injured you fled the state or does not live in Georgia and refuses to return, the time they are out of the state will not count against you under § 9-3-94.

However, you will need to keep your case active and keep watch for the defendant’s return. Once they return to reside in Dunwoody or anywhere else in Georgia, though, you will need to be prepared to file your lawsuit.

Fraud

In some cases, the defendant deceives you in order to run the time out on your case. Perhaps they gave you a false name or address at your accident. After taking the time to discover their identity, your case was dismissed because you only learned who they were after the statute of limitations passed. Under § 9-3-96, we can argue that the defendant’s fraud deterred you from bringing your lawsuit and that time should not count against you. If the court agrees, the statute of limitations will only run from the time you discovered the fraud.

Foreign Objects in the Body

Victims of surgical medical malpractice will also have more time to file a lawsuit if they were not aware of their injuries during the limitations period. Typical medical malpractice claims must be brought within two years of the injuries, according to § 9-3-71(a). However, if a foreign object has been left in a patient’s body, the victim will have one year from the date they discover the wrongful or negligent act to file a lawsuit, regardless of when the surgery took place, as per § 9-3-72.

“Foreign objects” typically include things like scalpels, rings, sponges, and other surgical instruments. The law does not consider chemical compounds, prosthetic aids, or fixation devices to be foreign objects since they serve a medical necessity.

Our Dunwoody, GA Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help You Now

Contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (470) 287-3070 to get your free case assessment with our personal injury lawyers today.