Your case has been pending for years

Some of the wait is built into the system. Some of it is a lawyer who has let the file sit. The problem is that from where you stand, both look identical: nothing happens for months. This page helps you tell them apart.

Why filed cases take years

• Court backlog. Many California courts cannot give a civil trial date quickly. You wait in line.
• Discovery. Written questions, document demands, and depositions each run on multi-week clocks, and there can be several rounds.
• Experts. Medical and liability experts have to review records, be deposed, and coordinate schedules.
• Continuances. Trial dates get moved, often more than once, sometimes on the eve of trial.
• Treatment. A case usually should not settle or try until your medical condition is stable enough to value.

The five-year rule

California law generally requires a civil case to be brought to trial within five years of the date the complaint was filed. Miss it, and the case can be dismissed. Some periods — appeals, stays, times when trial was impossible — are excluded from the five years. Tracking this is your lawyer's responsibility, and a case drifting toward that line without a trial date is a warning sign.

Sources: Code Civ. Proc., § 583.310 (five years to bring to trial); § 583.360 (mandatory dismissal); § 583.340 (excluded periods).

Questions to put to your lawyer, in writing

1. What stage is the case at right now?
2. Is there a trial date? If not, when will one be requested?
3. What discovery is outstanding, by whom, and by when?
4. When does the five-year deadline fall, accounting for exclusions?
5. What are the next three things that will happen, and on what dates?

A firm that can answer these in a paragraph is managing the case. A firm that cannot is the delay.

If the problem is really that you cannot get an answer at all, see your lawyer isn't returning your calls. For court filing procedure in your county, see court forms.

Common questions

How long is a personal injury lawsuit supposed to take?

It varies widely by court and by case. A straightforward filed case often takes one to two years to reach resolution; a disputed one with heavy discovery and experts can take longer. California law generally requires a case to be brought to trial within five years of filing (Code Civ. Proc., § 583.310).

What is the five-year rule?

A civil case must be brought to trial within five years after the complaint is filed, or it can be dismissed (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 583.310, 583.360). Certain periods are excluded from the count. It is your lawyer's job to track it.

Is the delay my lawyer or the court?

Ask for a timeline. If the case is waiting on a trial date the court has not given, that is the system. If months pass with no discovery served, no depositions taken, and no motion filed, that is the lawyer.

Can I do anything to speed it up?

You can ask your lawyer to request an earlier trial date, to push discovery, and to give you a written schedule. Whether the court grants a preference is up to the judge.