Wrongful death lawsuits serve to compensate plaintiffs for damages they incurred because of their loved one’s wrongful death. It is natural for plaintiffs in wrongful death cases to question how long their lawsuit will take.
Wrongful death lawsuits can take months to years to complete but may take several years. There is not a standard answer to this question. Numerous factors can affect how long your case will take. For instance, your lawsuit may be delayed by disputes from the defendants’ insurers, pending criminal cases, and lengthy settlement negotiations.
If your loved one was killed because of another person’s wrongful act, get help determining how long your case may take. Contact our experienced Chicago wrongful death lawyers by calling the Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502 for a free case review.
The Time it Takes to Begin a Wrongful Death Case in Illinois
Simply beginning a wrongful death case takes time. The complexity of the case and your loved one’s estate may slow things down or speed things up, depending on the circumstances. In any case, it is wise to speak to an attorney as soon as possible so they can help you begin preparations and move the case forward.
Determining Cause of Death
This is one of the most important factors in your case. If we cannot prove the cause of your loved one’s death, we cannot connect it to the defendant. Some cases involve obvious or straightforward causes of death. For example, suppose a healthy individual is injured in a car accident and passes away from their injuries. In that case, the car accident is clearly the primary cause of death, and the negligent driver may be held responsible.
Other cases are more complex. If a person passes away after a long and complicated illness, determining whether medical negligence contributed to their demise might be very challenging and could take a long time to figure out. For others, a combination of factors might have contributed to their passing and determining whether the defendant is responsible. If your loved one’s cause of death is difficult to determine, it might take us longer to begin the case.
Your Loved One’s Estate
Since the deceased person is gone, they cannot file any legal action. Instead, the legal entity at the center of the case is their estate. Estates do not always exist automatically, and you might need to set one up before starting a wrongful death case. Before beginning a wrongful death claim, talk to your attorney about your loved one’s estate. They can help you determine what is included in the estate or if the estate still needs to be established.
If the deceased person left a will, the probate process and establishing an estate in their name may be easier. If they passed away without a will, or intestate, we might need to jump through a few extra legal hoops to probate their estate and get everything established before moving the case forward. If that is the case, it might take a bit longer to get your case started.
Deciding Legal Action
You also might need time to figure out what you want from all this. What do you want to do? While you might want justice for your loved one and family, you might also want to move on from the whole ordeal as fast as possible.
Working out a settlement might help you get fair compensation and put the matter to rest quickly. However, this can leave some feeling as though justice was not served, and that the person responsible for their loved one’s passing simply paid a fine and walked away. A civil lawsuit and trial may help you and your family get the justice and closure you need to move forward with your lives, but this will likely take much more time.
It is normal to need some time to think, but the longer you mull over your options, the more evidence might disappear and the harder it might be to prove your claims, leading to a more protracted and lengthy legal battle.
Factors that Affect How Long a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Will Take in Illinois
The process of a wrongful death lawsuit can be long and complicated. Several factors may affect how long your case will take. Plaintiffs can contact our Illinois wrongful death for help determining if any of the following factors may have an impact on their lawsuit:
Disputes from Defendants’ Insurance Companies
Insurance companies and defense attorneys will represent most defendants in wrongful death lawsuits. Insurers will often delay cases by refuting various aspects of your claim. Illinois courts follow a modified comparative negligence rule when awarding damages in wrongful death cases. This means that damages are awarded based on percentages of fault. while the defendant is 80% to blame, the defendant will pay for 80% of the damages caused by the death while the remaining 20% will go unpaid. If the victim was more than 50% to blame for their death, then their family may not recover damages in a wrongful death claim.
Insurance companies and defense lawyers may hire private investigators to try and shift blame for wrongful death. By assigning blame to someone other than the defendant, insurers may avoid paying the full value of a claim. Therefore, the process of debating fault can severely delay your claim. Our Naperville wrongful death lawyers can expedite your case by fighting insurance companies and proving the defendant was at fault.
A Pending Criminal Case
After a wrongful death, a defendant may also be tried criminally if they broke the law. For example, a drunk driver who causes a wrongful death may face criminal charges in addition to a civil wrongful death case filed by the victim’s personal representative.
Usually, our Illinois wrongful death lawyers will wait for a criminal case to finish before proceeding with a civil case. Our team can use a criminal guilty verdict to help bolster our wrongful death claim against the defendant. Unfortunately, criminal lawsuits can also take a long time to complete. Accordingly, your Illinois wrongful death lawsuit may take longer if there is a criminal case pending against the defendant.
Discovery
In order for a wrongful death lawsuit to succeed, a plaintiff must show that another person’s wrongful act caused the death at issue. Many forms of evidence can be used to establish this causal link. The following are types of evidence frequently used by our Joliet, IL wrongful death lawyers to prove that a defendant caused a wrongful death:
- Surveillance footage
- Accident reports
- Witness testimony
- Expert witness testimony
- Medical records
- Financial statements
- Personal recollections
However, the process of collecting such evidence can be difficult. Lengthy depositions must be scheduled in order to obtain crucial witness testimony. Furthermore, parties in charge of crucial documents may be hard to reach or otherwise uncooperative. Our experienced team can help ease your stress by gathering the required evidence and expediting your lawsuit.
Delays in Scheduling Cases
One major factor that can affect how long your Illinois wrongful death lawsuit will take is when your case is scheduled. Courts can get backed up and may be forced to schedule cases far in the future. Some courts may schedule cases months in advance, while other courts schedule cases a year out. If your local court is particularly busy, it may take a long time before your case may proceed to trial. Our Illinois personal injury lawyers can help advise clients on whether their lawsuits will be affected by delays in scheduling cases.
Settlement Negotiations
Furthermore, settlement negotiations can have a major impact on the length of time it takes your case to conclude. A settlement agreement is a sort of legal contract that ensures a defendant will pay an agreed-upon amount to a plaintiff in exchange for their lawsuit being voluntarily dismissed. By settling early, plaintiffs can complete their cases and receive compensation more quickly. If plaintiffs do not settle, they must undergo the long ordeal of trying their case.
While getting paid quicker is enticing, settling early is not always the right decision. Not all settlement offers are fair. Insurance adjusters want to settle cases for as little money as possible, which may lead to lengthy settlement negotiations that do not end in an agreement.
Plaintiffs who do not receive a fair settlement offer may take their case to trial to obtain additional compensation. Going to trial may greatly extend the length of time it takes to complete their lawsuit. However, in some cases, that may be the only way for plaintiffs to recover fair compensation.
Calculating Damages
Lastly, the time it takes to calculate damages can affect how long your wrongful death lawsuit takes in Illinois. In some cases, damages may be straightforward to calculate. In others, the calculations may be complex. In that case, multiple expert witnesses may be required to establish the cost of things like lost earning capacity. Moreover, non-economic damages, such as the loss of companionship and intimacy with your loved one, can be difficult to quantify, and proving those damages might require a list of witnesses as well. Our Aurora personal injury lawyers can help explain the process for calculating damages in your case.
How Long You Have to Prepare a Wrongful Death Case in Illinois
Preparing a wrongful death case can take a lot of time, and it is best to speak to an attorney and get the ball rolling as soon as possible. Simply preparing the case is time-consuming, and you have a limited window to actually file the case and get it into court. The statute of limitations sets a time limit, also called a limitation period, in which a plaintiff must file a case or possibly lose their right to bring the cause of action.
According to 740 I.L.C.S. § 180/2(d), plaintiffs seeking to file wrongful death claims have 2 years from the date of death to do so. Remember, this limitation period begins on the day that your loved one passed away, not necessarily the date of the initial accident or injury. For some, this might push the deadline back a bit. Your attorney can help you make sure your limitation period is calculated accurately.
According to subsection (e) of this same law, the limitation period may be extended to 5 years from the date of death if the death results from intentional violent conduct. Alternatively, if the criminal case takes longer than 5 years, you may file the case within 1 year of the final disposition. Since many wrongful death cases are also connected to criminal charges for homicide offenses, this extra time is likely to come in handy.
If Your Loved One Suffered a Wrongful Death in Illinois, Our Lawyers Can Help
If your loved one was killed because of another person’s wrongful act, seek assistance from our experienced Chicago personal injury lawyers by calling the Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502 for a free case review.
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