The Life of a Florida Injury Lawsuit: What Happens After Suit Is Filed, Stage by Stage, and How Long It Really Takes

By Jay Wasserman

A 46-year-old restaurant manager is driving home on Glades Road in Boca Raton when a driver runs a red light and broadsides her car on the passenger side. She is taken to the emergency room with neck and shoulder pain. Over the next ten months she has physical therapy, two cervical injections, and arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in her right shoulder. Her surgeon says she has reached maximum medical improvement with a permanent impairment. Her lawyer sends the at-fault driver’s insurer a demand package with her records and bills. The insurer, which has a $250,000 policy, offers $85,000.

Her lawyer recommends filing suit. Her first question is the one nearly every client asks at that point: “What happens now, and how long is this going to take?”

The honest answer is that a lawsuit is a series of stages, each with its own purpose, its own rules, and its own effect on what the case is worth. Most Florida injury lawsuits settle before trial, but they settle at predictable points, usually after one side learns something it did not know. Understanding the stages helps an injured person make better decisions, keep realistic expectations about time, and avoid the mistakes that cost cases money. This article walks through a typical Florida negligence lawsuit from the decision to file through verdict, appeal, and payment.

Before the lawsuit: why many claims are filed only after a demand fails

Most injury claims begin without a lawsuit. The injured person treats, the lawyer gathers records and bills, and once the medical picture is reasonably clear, often at maximum medical improvement, the lawyer sends the insurer a demand. Many claims resolve at this stage, particularly where liability is clear and the policy limits are low relative to the injuries. Our guide to policy limits demands and bad faith in Florida explains how a well-built demand can create pressure on an insurer to pay its limits.

A lawsuit becomes necessary when the gap between the offer and the claim’s value is too wide, when liability is genuinely disputed, when the insurer refuses to engage, or when a deadline is approaching. For most negligence claims arising after March 24, 2023, Florida’s statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury, under Fla. Stat. § 95.11. Claims against government entities, medical malpractice claims, and some others have pre-suit notice requirements that must be satisfied before filing. Our guide to the personal injury statute of limitations in Florida covers those deadlines.

Filing suit changes the insurer’s internal handling. The file moves from an adjuster to defense counsel and a litigation supervisor, a reserve is reset, and the case is now on a court’s calendar. The case does not have to go to trial, but it is now moving toward one.

Stage 1: The complaint, the court, and service

Which court

In Florida state court, injury cases worth more than $50,000 are filed in circuit court. Claims at or below that amount go to county court, whose jurisdictional limit was raised to $50,000 in 2023. Almost every case involving surgery, permanent injury, or significant lost income belongs in circuit court.

Where

Venue is governed by Fla. Stat. § 47.011 and § 47.051: generally where a defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or, for a corporation, where it has an office for the transaction of its customary business or an agent. A crash in Palm Beach County involving a driver who lives in Broward County can usually be filed in either. Venue choices matter, because jury pools, judges, and the pace of the docket differ from county to county.

Who

The complaint names each party who may be responsible. In a car crash case that typically includes the driver and, under Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine, the vehicle’s owner, even if the owner was not in the car. If the driver was working, the employer is named under respondeat superior. If the injured person’s own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may be needed, the UM carrier may be named as well. Our guide to uninsured motorist claims in Florida explains when that happens.

Service

After the complaint is filed, each defendant must be formally served with the summons and complaint, usually by a process server or the sheriff. Rule 1.070(j) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure requires service within 120 days of filing, and the court can dismiss a defendant who is not served in time unless good cause is shown. Defendants who have moved, left the state, or are avoiding service can take weeks to locate. Florida’s long-arm and substitute service statutes allow service on out-of-state drivers in many cases.

Removal to federal court

A defendant sued in state court may remove the case to federal court within 30 days of service if the parties are citizens of different states and more than $75,000 is at stake. Out-of-state trucking companies, rental car companies, and national retailers often do. Removal is barred if any properly joined and served defendant is a citizen of Florida. A case in federal court follows the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, typically moves on a tighter schedule, and is tried to a jury drawn from a wider district. Our guide to rental car and out-of-state driver accidents discusses how removal arises in tourist crashes.

Typical timing: filing to service, two to eight weeks in most cases; longer if a defendant is hard to find.

Stage 2: The defense answers

A served defendant has 20 days to respond under Rule 1.140(a), either with an answer or with a motion to dismiss. Extensions are routinely agreed. In most injury cases the defense answers, admitting some facts, denying most, and asserting affirmative defenses. The defenses that appear most often are:

• Comparative negligence. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, as amended in 2023, a plaintiff found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing in most negligence cases, and a plaintiff found less at fault has damages reduced proportionately.
• Fabre nonparties. The defense may ask the jury to apportion fault to someone who is not a party, such as another driver, a road contractor, or a prior accident. The defendant must plead the nonparty and prove its fault.
• Seat belt defense. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.614(10), failure to wear a seat belt may be considered as evidence of comparative negligence if the defense proves it contributed to the injuries.
• Permanency threshold. In a motor vehicle case, Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) bars recovery of pain and suffering damages unless the plaintiff proves a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function. Insurers frequently contest permanency.
• Setoffs. The defense will claim credit for PIP benefits paid and for certain collateral sources under Fla. Stat. § 768.76, which are addressed after the verdict.
• Pre-existing conditions and causation. The defense will contend that some or all of the claimed injuries pre-date the crash. Our guide to pre-existing conditions in Florida injury claims explains how aggravation claims are proved.

The defendant’s liability insurer hires and pays defense counsel and controls the defense, subject to its duties to the insured.

Stage 3: Case management and the schedule

Florida’s civil procedure rules changed significantly on January 1, 2025, bringing state practice closer to the federal model. Under amended Rule 1.200, the court assigns each case to a case management track, streamlined, general, or complex, and issues a case management order that sets deadlines for service, amendments, fact discovery, expert disclosures, mediation, and pretrial motions, and a projected trial period. Most injury cases fall on the general track. Deadlines in the order are enforced, and under amended Rule 1.460, continuances are disfavored and must be supported by specific reasons.

The Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration set a goal of resolving civil jury cases within 18 months of filing. Actual timelines vary by county and by judge, and complex or catastrophic injury cases often take longer.

For the injured person, the practical change is that the case now moves on a schedule. Deadlines to produce records, sit for a deposition, attend a medical examination, and identify experts will arrive whether or not treatment is finished.

Stage 4: Discovery

Discovery is the process by which each side obtains the other’s information. It is usually the longest stage of the case and the one that most affects its value.

Initial disclosures

Under amended Rule 1.280(a), each party must serve initial disclosures within 60 days after service of the complaint, without waiting for a request. They identify people likely to have discoverable information, documents the party may use, a computation of each category of damages claimed, and any insurance policy that may cover the claim. For the plaintiff, that means an early, organized presentation of medical providers, bills, and lost income. Parties must supplement disclosures as new information becomes available.

Written discovery

Interrogatories under Rule 1.340 are written questions answered under oath, limited to 30 including subparts unless the court allows more. Florida has standard form interrogatories for negligence and automobile cases that ask about the plaintiff’s background, employment, prior injuries and claims, medical providers for a period before the incident, and the incident itself. Requests for production under Rule 1.350 seek documents, such as photographs, tax returns, phone records for the time of the crash, and medical bills. Requests for admission under Rule 1.370 ask a party to admit specific facts, and an unanswered request is deemed admitted.

The defense will also subpoena records directly from medical providers, employers, pharmacies, and prior insurers, often going back ten years or more. Under Fla. Stat. § 456.057(8), and the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Hasan v. Garvar, 108 So. 3d 570 (Fla. 2012), defense lawyers may not have private, ex parte conversations with the plaintiff’s treating doctors about the plaintiff’s medical condition. They obtain that information through records, subpoenas, and depositions.

Letters of protection. For cases filed after March 24, 2023, Fla. Stat. § 768.0427 requires a plaintiff whose treatment was provided under a letter of protection to disclose the letter, itemized coded bills, whether the provider sold the account to a factoring company and for how much, whether the plaintiff had health insurance at the time, and whether the plaintiff was referred to the provider by a lawyer. The same statute limits the evidence the jury may hear about past and future medical expenses. These rules have made medical damages one of the most heavily litigated parts of every Florida injury case.

Depositions

A deposition is sworn testimony taken outside court, recorded by a court reporter and often on video. The plaintiff’s deposition is usually the most important single event in discovery, and the defense will often take it before disclosing any surveillance it has. Our guide to the plaintiff’s deposition in a Florida injury case explains how to prepare and why surveillance and social media matter.

The plaintiff’s lawyer will depose the defendant driver, any witnesses, the investigating officer, and, where a business is involved, its corporate representative under Rule 1.310(b)(6), who must be prepared to testify about topics the plaintiff designates, such as the company’s training, policies, and records. The parties will also depose the treating physicians, whose testimony about causation, permanency, and future care is central to damages.

The compulsory medical examination

Under Rule 1.360, the defense may require the plaintiff to be examined by a physician of its choosing when the plaintiff’s physical or mental condition is in controversy. Florida law allows the plaintiff to have counsel or another representative present and to record the exam in many circumstances, and limits the scope of the examination. The plaintiff is entitled to discover how often the examiner works for the defense and how much of the examiner’s income comes from that work. The examining doctor’s report frequently disputes causation, permanency, or the need for future surgery, and it becomes a centerpiece of the defense.

Typical timing: discovery commonly runs six to twelve months, sometimes longer in cases with multiple defendants or extensive future care claims.

Stage 5: Experts

Most significant injury cases are decided by expert testimony. The plaintiff’s experts may include treating physicians, a retained orthopedic surgeon or neurologist, a life care planner who projects future medical needs and their cost, an economist who reduces future losses to present value, a vocational expert who addresses lost earning capacity, and an accident reconstructionist. The defense often retains its own physicians, a biomechanical engineer who argues the forces involved could not have caused the injury, and, since 2023, billing experts who testify about the reasonable value of medical services.

Expert opinions must meet the Daubert reliability standard, which Florida adopted by statute in Fla. Stat. § 90.702 and which the Florida Supreme Court adopted for state courts in 2019. Either side may move to exclude an expert whose methodology is unreliable or whose opinion does not fit the facts. A successful challenge to a key expert, such as the plaintiff’s causation witness or the defense’s biomechanical engineer, can change the value of the case overnight.

Expert disclosures and depositions usually follow the close of fact discovery, under deadlines set in the case management order.

Stage 6: Summary judgment

A party may ask the court to decide all or part of the case without a trial by filing a motion for summary judgment under Rule 1.510. Since May 1, 2021, Florida has followed the federal summary judgment standard: the court asks whether a reasonable jury could find for the non-moving party on the evidence in the record. Under the earlier Florida rule, the slightest doubt about a fact precluded summary judgment. The current standard makes it easier for defendants to win before trial in cases with thin evidence on an essential element.

In injury cases, summary judgment motions commonly target notice of a dangerous condition in slip and fall cases, the permanency threshold in auto cases, and claims against secondary defendants such as vehicle owners or employers. The plaintiff may also move for summary judgment on liability where fault is clear, which can narrow the trial to damages.

Stage 7: Proposals for settlement

Florida’s offer of judgment statute, Fla. Stat. § 768.79, and Rule 1.442 create a powerful tool for shifting attorney’s fees. Either side may serve a formal proposal for settlement. A proposal to a defendant may be served no earlier than 90 days after that defendant was served, a proposal to a plaintiff no earlier than 90 days after the action began, and no proposal may be served later than 45 days before trial. The recipient has 30 days to accept.

The consequences arrive after the verdict:

• If a defendant’s proposal is rejected and the plaintiff’s judgment is at least 25 percent less than the proposal, or the plaintiff loses, the defendant may recover its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred after the proposal was served, which are set off against the plaintiff’s recovery.
• If a plaintiff’s proposal is rejected and the judgment is at least 25 percent more than the proposal, the plaintiff may recover attorney’s fees from the defendant from the date of service.

Proposals are technical, and Florida courts strictly construe them, so a proposal with an ambiguous condition or one that does not properly apportion among multiple parties may be unenforceable. A well-timed plaintiff’s proposal increases pressure on the insurer. A defense proposal increases the risk the plaintiff takes by rejecting a reasonable offer. Every proposal deserves a careful conversation between the client and the lawyer about the risk of the case.

Stage 8: Mediation

Nearly every Florida injury lawsuit goes to mediation, usually after the key depositions, the compulsory medical exam, and expert disclosures, and often within a few months of trial. Courts require it through the case management order and Rules 1.700 through 1.730. A neutral mediator meets with both sides, often in separate rooms, and carries offers back and forth. The defendant’s insurer must have a representative with settlement authority present. A large share of cases settle at mediation or shortly after it. Our guide to mediation in a Florida injury case explains who must attend, what happens in the room, and how to evaluate an offer.

If mediation ends in impasse, the case continues toward trial, and the numbers discussed at mediation become the reference point for later negotiations.

Stage 9: Pretrial

As trial approaches, the court holds a pretrial conference and requires the parties to exchange witness and exhibit lists, deposition designations, proposed jury instructions, and a proposed verdict form, and to file a joint pretrial statement. Both sides file motions in limine asking the court to exclude evidence or argument before the jury hears it, such as references to insurance, unrelated prior claims, the plaintiff’s immigration status, or the defendant’s prior traffic history. The rulings on these motions shape the trial and often prompt a final round of negotiations.

Many Florida circuits place cases on a trial docket for a period of several weeks, and the case is called when a courtroom is available. A case may be ready for trial and still wait.

Stage 10: Trial

The jury

Florida civil juries usually have six members, with one or more alternates. During jury selection, the judge and the lawyers question prospective jurors about their backgrounds, experiences with injuries and lawsuits, and attitudes toward damages. Each side may remove jurors for cause without limit and has three peremptory challenges under Rule 1.431(d) to remove others without stating a reason, subject to constitutional limits.

The trial itself

The plaintiff presents its case first: the plaintiff, family members or co-workers who describe the change in the plaintiff’s life, the treating physicians, often by video deposition, and the experts. The defense then presents its witnesses, typically including the defendant, the compulsory medical examiner, and its other experts. Each side gives a closing argument, and the judge reads the jury instructions, which in Florida are largely drawn from the Florida Standard Jury Instructions (Civil).

A typical car crash trial takes three days to two weeks. Cases with catastrophic injuries, multiple defendants, or contested liability can take longer.

The verdict

The jury answers questions on a verdict form: whether the defendant was negligent, whether the negligence caused the injury, the percentage of fault of each party and any nonparty, whether the plaintiff sustained a permanent injury, and the amount of each category of damages, past and future medical expenses, past and future lost earnings, and past and future pain and suffering, as Florida’s itemized verdict statute, Fla. Stat. § 768.77, requires. Florida civil verdicts must be unanimous.

Stage 11: After the verdict

Post-trial motions. Within 15 days of the verdict, a party may move for a new trial under Rule 1.530, or for remittitur or additur under Fla. Stat. § 768.74 if the award is excessive or inadequate in light of the evidence.

Setoffs and reductions. The court reduces the verdict by the plaintiff’s percentage of fault, and by setoffs for PIP benefits, certain collateral sources under § 768.76, and amounts paid by settling defendants. These calculations can significantly change the final judgment.

Fees and costs. The prevailing party may recover taxable costs under Fla. Stat. § 57.041. Motions for attorney’s fees under a proposal for settlement must generally be filed within 30 days after judgment under Rule 1.525.

Excess verdicts. When a verdict exceeds the defendant’s policy limits, the question becomes who pays the excess. If the insurer had a reasonable opportunity to settle within limits and failed to, the defendant may have a bad faith claim against its own insurer, which is often assigned to the plaintiff.

Appeal. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the final judgment under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110. Appeals go to one of Florida’s district courts of appeal and commonly take a year or more. Interest accrues on the judgment at the statutory rate under Fla. Stat. § 55.03 while the appeal is pending, and a defendant that wants to stop collection during the appeal must post a bond.

Stage 12: Getting paid

When a case settles or a judgment is paid, the funds go into the law firm’s trust account. Before the client receives a distribution, the firm pays attorney’s fees and costs under the fee agreement and resolves liens from health insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, hospitals, and providers who treated under letters of protection. A detailed closing statement shows every dollar. Our guide to personal injury settlement liens in Florida explains how liens are negotiated and why they can be the difference between a good net recovery and a disappointing one.

A realistic timeline

Every case is different, but for a typical Florida car crash case with significant injuries filed in circuit court, the stages often look like this:

Cases settle at every point in this timeline. The points where settlement is most likely are after the plaintiff’s deposition, after the compulsory medical exam and expert disclosures, at mediation, after rulings on summary judgment or key expert challenges, and in the weeks before trial.

What the injured person does at each stage

Lawyers handle the filings, but several things in a lawsuit depend on the client:

• Keep treating as your doctors recommend. Gaps in treatment are among the defense’s most effective arguments.
• Keep your lawyer informed of new providers, new injuries, changes in work, address changes, and any other claims or accidents.
• Answer written discovery fully and honestly, including prior injuries and claims. The defense will obtain the records regardless, and an incomplete answer can damage credibility or, in extreme cases, lead to dismissal for fraud on the court.
• Preserve everything: photographs, damaged property, receipts, and your social media accounts. Do not delete posts, and assume anything public will be seen.
• Prepare carefully for your deposition and the medical exam, and attend mediation ready to make decisions.
• Plan for the time. A case that goes to trial will take most of two years after filing. Knowing that early helps with financial and medical planning.

Back to the restaurant manager

Applying this to the opening example: her lawyer files in Palm Beach County circuit court against the driver and the vehicle’s owner. Service takes three weeks. The defense answers, pleading comparative fault, the permanency threshold, setoffs, and a pre-existing shoulder condition based on a gym injury seven years earlier. The court issues a general track case management order with a trial period about twenty months out.

Within 60 days both sides serve initial disclosures. Her answers to interrogatories disclose the old gym injury and the single orthopedic visit that followed it. At her deposition in month six, she describes the crash, her treatment, and her limitations consistently with her records. In month eight, the defense’s compulsory medical examiner concedes the labral tear but attributes some of her neck complaints to degeneration. Her surgeon testifies in month eleven that the tear was caused by the crash and that she will likely need a shoulder replacement in her sixties, and a life care planner prices that future care.

In month nine her lawyer serves a proposal for settlement at $225,000. The insurer does not accept it within 30 days. At mediation in month thirteen, the insurer’s offer rises to $175,000. The case reaches impasse. Six weeks before trial, after the court denies the defense’s motion to exclude the life care planner, the insurer pays its $250,000 limits.

Whether a case resolves that way depends on the facts, the evidence, and the risk each side faces. The pattern, though, is typical: value moves as information develops, and the case settles when one side’s assessment of the risk of trial changes.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a personal injury lawsuit take in Florida? For a typical car crash case with significant injuries, a case that goes all the way to trial usually takes 16 to 30 months after filing, plus whatever time was spent treating and negotiating before suit. Many cases settle sooner, often at mediation.

Will my case go to trial? Most do not. The large majority of Florida injury lawsuits settle, often at mediation or shortly before trial. A case should still be prepared as if it will be tried, because that preparation is what produces a fair settlement.

Do I have to go to court? You will need to sit for a deposition, which takes place in a lawyer’s office or by video, attend a compulsory medical exam, and attend mediation. You will testify in court only if the case goes to trial.

Why did the defendant move my case to federal court? A defendant from another state may remove a case to federal court if the parties are citizens of different states and more than $75,000 is at stake. Federal court has different procedures and a different jury pool, but the substantive Florida law governing the claim is the same.

Can the insurance company make me see its doctor? Yes. Rule 1.360 allows the defense to require a compulsory medical examination when your physical condition is in controversy. The exam is subject to limits, and you are entitled to discover how often the doctor works for the defense.

What happens if I lose at trial? Under a standard contingency fee agreement, you generally do not owe your lawyer a fee. You may owe the defendant’s taxable costs, and if the defendant served a proposal for settlement that you rejected, you may owe its attorney’s fees incurred after that date. These risks are part of every decision about whether to accept an offer.

Can I settle at any time? Yes. A case can settle at any point, including during trial and while an appeal is pending, if both sides agree.

Talk to a Florida personal injury trial lawyer

A lawsuit is not a single event but a sequence of decisions: where to file, whom to sue, how to answer discovery, when to serve a proposal for settlement, how to prepare for a deposition and a medical exam, which experts to retain, and when an offer reflects the real risk of trial. Insurers evaluate cases based on how they expect them to look in front of a jury, which is why cases prepared for trial settle for more than cases that are not.

KWBR’s personal injury, auto accident, premises liability, and wrongful death practices try cases in state and federal courts throughout Florida from our Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando offices. If an insurer’s offer does not reflect what your injuries have cost you, contact us to talk about whether a lawsuit makes sense and what it would involve.

This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Court procedures, deadlines, and local practices vary by county and by judge, rules and statutes change, and the hypothetical example is illustrative only. Consult a qualified Florida attorney about your situation.