Statute of Limitations & Case Timeframe for a Motorcycle Accident Cases in Illinois Injury Law, Motorcycle Accidents

Interviewer: How long does a typical motorcycle injury case take?

In Illinois, You Have Two Years To File A Lawsuit Against At-Fault Driver If You Are Hurt In A Motorcycle Accident

Rochford and Associates: In Illinois, the statute of limitations to either settle an injury case or file the lawsuit against the at-fault driver to preserve the injury person’s rights is two years. In other words, if an accident happens today and somebody’s injured, that person has two years from the date of the accident to either settle the case or file the lawsuit to preserve his rights. That two-year window is what we’re looking at when we’re working on a case.

It Is Always Recommended To Fully Recover From The Injuries Causes Due To A Motorcycle Accident Before Hiring An Attorney To File A Claim Against The At-Fault Party

If a client comes in and hires me to represent him on an injury case, we hope that the client gets the treatment that he needs and has a full recovery within the first several months after the accident. Let’s say six or 12 or even 18 months after the accident he has a full recovery. That gives us enough time to order all the records, review them, figure everything out, send the records to the insurance company, and try and negotiate a settlement. We try to settle our cases rather than file lawsuits because, generally speaking, people don’t want to be involved in litigation or lawsuits. The length of time that it takes to settle a case, though, depends on the nature and the extent of the injury and the amount of time that is required to recover from the injury.

Some people may have medical care and treatment, therapy, that type of thing, and recover within eight months of their accident, or 10 months, and then that gives us plenty of time to order the records, review them, get them to the insurance company, and negotiate a settlement. We may have a settlement a year and a half after the accident or 12 months after the accident. The more complicated cases or the more serious injury cases may require treatment for a year and a half or two years or more, so in those cases we may want to file a lawsuit and not wait for that two-year time limitation to settle the case.

The Length Of A Case Depends On Number Of Factors Like Severity Of Injuries, The Amount Of Treatment Needed, Etc.

The length of the case and the time that it takes to settle all depend on the severity of the injury, the amount of treatment needed, and the type of recovery that the person has. Every case is different. I’ve been an attorney for more than 35 years, so I can usually make an educated guess as to how much treatment somebody needs, but it is a guess, because everybody’s body is different, so I can never really predict how long it’s going to be before we can settle a case, because it all depends on the amount of treatment, the length of time of the treatment, and the recovery.

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