Introduction
One of the first questions injured clients ask me is a simple one: how long will my case take to settle? It is rarely an idle question. When a serious injury keeps you from working and you are facing the cost of rehabilitation and attendant care, the prospect of waiting years for compensation can feel overwhelming.
If you were hurt in a car accident, Ontario’s no-fault accident benefit system provides some funds relatively quickly, and you may also have extended health or long-term disability coverage through your employer. For many seriously injured people, though, and especially those whose injuries fall outside the auto insurance system, those benefits fall well short of real financial security. That is what makes the timeline question so pressing.
There is no single answer, because every case is different. What I can do is walk you through the major stages of a personal injury or medical malpractice lawsuit and give you a realistic sense of how long each one tends to take. One point worth knowing at the outset: in Ontario, most claims must be started within two years of the date you knew, or ought to have known, that you had a claim. Some situations carry shorter notice periods or different deadlines, so the safest step is always to get advice early.
The Stages of a Lawsuit
Investigation Stage
Every case begins with investigation, before a lawsuit is ever started. For a straightforward personal injury claim, that groundwork is often quick. For a complex medical malpractice claim, where we may need to assemble hospital records and obtain a preliminary opinion from a qualified expert before we can responsibly allege negligence, it takes much longer. Most investigations take 3 to 12 months.
Pleadings
The pleadings are the formal court documents that start the lawsuit and set out each side’s position. Once we issue the claim, it has to be served on the defendants, and simply locating and serving them can take time. The defendants then have a set period to prepare and file their defence. Allowing for service and the exchange of pleadings, this stage usually takes 2 to 6 months.
Discoveries
Discovery is the formal exchange of information between the parties before trial, and it has two parts. Documentary discovery comes first: each side produces the relevant documents in its possession. Oral discovery, the examination for discovery, follows. That is where one side’s lawyer questions the opposing party under oath, with the answers recorded by a court reporter and available for use as evidence at trial. Between producing documents, scheduling, and completing the examinations, along with the undertakings that often follow, discovery commonly takes 12 to 24 months.
Expert Reports
Every personal injury and medical malpractice case turns on expert evidence, so once discovery is complete the focus shifts to finalizing expert reports. You may need to be assessed, in person or virtually, by one or more physicians. A simple claim might call for only one or two reports. A complex claim can require six or more, sometimes including foundational reports that other experts rely on. Because the best experts are in demand and need time to prepare, this stage can take 6 to 18 months.
Mediation
Mediation is a without-prejudice meeting at which a neutral mediator helps the parties try to reach a settlement. It is mandatory in Toronto, Ottawa, and Windsor under the Rules of Civil Procedure and voluntary elsewhere, though it is usually worth doing wherever your case is based. It works: in my experience, roughly three out of four general personal injury cases settle at mediation. It tends to succeed less often in medical malpractice and other complex claims, where the parties’ positions can simply be too far apart. Sought-after mediators book up well in advance, so reaching this stage can take 6 to 12 months.
Pre-trial
A pre-trial conference is a mandatory meeting with a judge and the parties, and the court will not let your case go to trial until it has happened. A pre-trial is scheduled only after a trial record is filed, which generally cannot happen until discoveries, and mediation where it applies, are complete. Expert reports also have to be served ahead of the pre-trial: as a rule, your own reports at least 90 days before, and any responding reports at least 60 days before. Most lawyers therefore want their expert evidence finalized before they request a date. The wait for a pre-trial varies by region, but it often takes 8 to 12 months.
Trial
The great majority of cases settle somewhere along the way, but for those that do not, trial is the final destination, subject to any appeal. Civil trials do not have the priority that criminal matters do, so at many courthouses they are heard only in the spring or fall sittings. Judicial resources are scarce, and even a scheduled trial date is not guaranteed. It is not unusual for a trial to be adjourned when no judge is available. A case can sit on a trial list for 12 to 24 months before it is reached.
Conclusion
Set out stage by stage, the process shows just how involved civil litigation is for anyone seeking compensation for a serious injury. Even relatively straightforward cases usually have to reach discovery before a sensible settlement opportunity appears. Some matters resolve earlier: a slip and fall claim, for instance, can sometimes be settled directly with an insurance adjuster before a lawsuit is even started. Medical malpractice claims are the opposite. They almost always run through discovery and a full exchange of expert reports before settlement becomes realistic, and they are fought harder, and reach trial more often, than any other kind of personal injury case.
For an uncomplicated claim, I tell clients that a genuine settlement opportunity usually arrives 18 to 24 months in. That timing often works out well, because most people need about that long to recover enough for their damages to be properly assessed. For a complicated claim, it can take 3 to 5 years to reach trial or a late-stage settlement.
If you are weighing a claim and want a realistic read on what it would involve and how long it might take, contact us for a straightforward assessment.
