Injured in an automobile accident 4 years ago and still NO settlement!! HELP!!?

Four years ago on Decemeber 17th, I was injured in an automobile accident. My stopped car was hit by a semi-truck hauling pipe and pushed 150 yards up the road. I was lucky. I came out of the accident with nerve damage to my right arm. All my doctors advise no surgery will correct the damage, just to live with what I have been dealt. A bit easier said than done. I was pregnant when I was in my wreck and have since had a (healthy) baby boy. The only good thing out of 4 years of hell. My husband and I have finacially been knocked to our knees. Going from 2 incomes to one. Making ends meet monthly is a sturrugle beyond belief. I have just had a (federal) disability hearing and am waiting for the verdict (hearing that it is almost impossible to get disability at my age).

I need help with my auto settlement. I hired a larger firm a few months after the accident. They seem to move at snails pace. Is there anything I can do to speed up the process? My lawyers seem not to care. HELP!!

Catz: Yes, they did file last December, so I am in the good with filing. It just seems that everything else is in slow motion. My attorneys allow the trucking companys attorney extensions, they delay depositions. Todya was supposed to be my witnesses depos that were canceled for the 3rd time. And yes, the trucking company had a huge policy, which may be part of the problem. But I am not looking to get rich, I just want paid for my injury. My right arm was injured for life. I think the least of what they owe me should be my lifetime wages.

These things can take a long time. The defense attorneys do that on purpose in hopes that you will give up or even die before they have to pay up. Keep on your attorney and even threaten to get a new one if they can't get things moving.

get a new lawyer

What do they say? It's not unheard of, but it IS a long time. PLEASE say they filed the suit papers. If they didn't, well, you're probably out of luck, as that statute of limitations is probably expired (read, too late for a suit, which means no settlement). Then you have an E&O claim on the lawyer.

I'd also suggest that maybe you need a new lawyer. Make sure the new lawyer gives you an estimated time frame for having a court date. It should be less than 6 months. Once there's a court date, then the settlement talks begin.

Assuming, of course, that the trucking company had insurance.

You hired an attorney. The only thing you can do is continue to follow up with your lawyers office.

If you have filed suit - the litigation process is slow. You have to go through discovery. Have you been disposed yet? They will also dispose all the doctors who treated you and the other driver. Usually mediation may take place. Most of the claims that I have that are a law suit - take 2-4 years from when the suit being filed before they see the inside of a court room.

Suits ain't quick.

You are going to be paying your lawyer a huge chunk of your settlement (probably 1/2 + expenses) - make an appointment to sit down with him and ask about the specifics of your case.

What state are you in? I don't know how the courts are over there, but in one of the courts in Southern California (Riverside Superior Court), the first hearing date you get is approximately 1 year after the filing of the lawsuit (and that's only a status conference). In California, civil cases are required to be tried no later than FIVE YEARS after the lawsuit is filed (and because of a backlog at that particular court, there are LOTS of cases running up against that deadline).

Professional courtesy is always granted (so continuances of depositions are not unique), plus if the defense is the one setting the depositions of your witnesses, they can decide when they want to take it without your attorney's input (usually based upon the convenience of the witnesses).

There is nothing you can do to speed up the process.

Also, court dates are set at the convenience of the COURT's calendar - not any of the attorneys (at least, the first hearing date) - so there is nothing that your attorneys can do to speed up the first court date UNLESS you meet some type of requirement that allows you to have a "speedy" trial (in CA, you have to be over a certain age and/or have a medical reason [i.e. you're dying soon]).

Sorry.