How long can a medical malpractice case take?

Medical malpractice cases aren’t quick fixes. If you’re thinking you’ll have your settlement check by next Tuesday, think again. These cases are slow burns. On average, you’re looking at two to three years—and that’s if everything runs smoothly. Some cases stretch on for five years or more, especially if the healthcare providers and insurance companies dig in their heels.

The truth? You’ll need patience. But the potential payoff—compensation for your injuries, losses, and a bit of peace of mind—makes the wait worth it.

If a medical mistake turned your life upside down, don’t wait to get the right help. Call (888) 778-1197, and TopDog Law’s network of medical malpractice lawyers will connect you with a local attorney who knows how to handle these cases. Your lawyer will review your situation and lay out your legal options, plain and simple.

How long can a medical malpractice case take?

• Most cases take 2–3 years, but complex or high-stakes claims may last over 5 years, especially if they go to trial.
• Delays often come from expert review requirements, multiple defendants, and defense teams using tactics to drag out the process.
• States may require pre-suit notices, affidavits of merit, or review panels that add months before filing is allowed.
• While many cases settle during discovery, trial prep, or even the night before court, patience often leads to better compensation.

Average Timelines of Medical Malpractice Cases

That two to three years is the average, but if you’re lucky and the facts are clear, a settlement might happen in under a year. That’s the exception, however, not the rule.

If the case heads to trial? Prepare for a marathon. Trials drag things out, sometimes taking four years or longer. Some high-stakes cases—think catastrophic injuries or wrongful death claims demanding millions—push the timeline to five, ten, even fifteen years. This is because the higher the stakes, the harder defendants fight.

And these aren’t delays for the sake of bureaucracy. They’re often deliberate strategies by defense teams to wear plaintiffs down, hoping they’ll settle for less just to get it over with.

Factors Influencing Case Length

No two cases look the same, but a few common factors tend to slow things down.

Complex Medical and Legal Issues

Medical malpractice cases aren’t cut and dried. Proving a doctor or hospital made a serious mistake that directly caused harm requires thorough investigation. Lawyers need to comb through hundreds, sometimes thousands, of pages of medical records, test results, and treatment notes. One missing detail could mean the difference between winning and losing.

Take Pennsylvania’s MCARE Act (Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund), 40 P.S. § 1303.101 et seq., for example. It sets strict requirements for filing claims, including a certificate of merit—a sworn statement from a qualified medical professional who agrees there’s a legitimate basis for the lawsuit. This step alone can delay filing by weeks or months.

Multiple Liable Parties

Things get slower when more than one party might be at fault. Maybe it’s the surgeon. Maybe it’s the anesthesiologist. Maybe the hospital cut corners on staffing. When several defendants are involved, each brings their own legal team, their own experts, and their own delay tactics. Every additional party complicates discovery, negotiations, and scheduling.

Expert Witnesses

Expert testimony isn’t optional in these cases—it’s required. Most states, including New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-27) and Illinois (735 ILCS 5/2-622), mandate an affidavit or certificate confirming that an expert has reviewed the case and agrees there’s a reasonable chance malpractice occurred. Finding the right expert, scheduling evaluations, and waiting for detailed reports eats up time. And these experts often have full-time medical practices to run, making them harder to pin down.

Strategic Delays

Defense attorneys know the clock works in their favor. They’ll file motions to dismiss, drag out discovery, request continuances—all to stretch the process out. Some will even wait until the eve of trial to offer a settlement, betting that years of waiting will make the plaintiff eager to accept.

Steps in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A medical malpractice lawsuit follows a set path, but each step comes with its own time sinks. Here’s the basic roadmap:

Investigation

This is where it all begins. Lawyers gather the facts, request medical records, and consult with experts. In some cases, this phase alone takes six months or more—especially if hospitals slow-walk the release of records.

Filing the Lawsuit

Once the evidence is in place, the plaintiff’s attorney drafts and files the complaint. Some states require pre-filing notification to the defendant. For example, in Texas (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.051), plaintiffs must give defendants 60 days’ written notice before filing a lawsuit.

Discovery Phase

Think of this as the exchange of firepower. Both sides swap evidence, depose witnesses, and dig for weaknesses in the other side’s case. It’s thorough, tedious, and can take 12 to 24 months (or longer), depending on the complexity and number of parties involved.

Settlement Negotiations

At some point during discovery, settlement talks usually start. If the facts are strong and liability is clear, settlement happens here. If not, the case moves toward trial.

Most medical malpractice cases end in settlement. Statistically, fewer than 10% make it to trial. Settlements save everyone from additional risk, expense, and years of uncertainty. For the injured person, a settlement provides closure and compensation without having to gamble on a jury.

Negotiations tend to heat up after discovery wraps. Defense attorneys have reviewed the evidence. They’ve heard from your experts. If the facts stack up well for the plaintiff, the defense’s appetite for risk goes down, and they look for ways to cut their losses.

Some states encourage settlements with legal requirements. In California, under Code of Civil Procedure § 998, either party can make a formal offer to settle. If the other side rejects the offer and fails to get a better outcome at trial, they may have to pay the offering party’s post-offer costs. That adds pressure to negotiate seriously.

Settlement talks don’t guarantee a quick end, though. Insurers and defense teams frequently test how patient the plaintiff’s side will be. They might offer a lowball figure early on, hoping the stress of years in litigation will make it look attractive. Patience here tends to lead to better numbers.

Trial

Trials don’t just pop up on the calendar. There’s a waiting list, and courts are backlogged—sometimes by years. A trial can last days or weeks, but the lead-up to trial is where most of the delays happen. Judges set court dates months in advance, and if a trial gets bumped, you’re back to waiting.

A medical malpractice trial usually lasts several days or weeks, depending on how complicated the facts are. Attorneys present arguments, call witnesses, and cross-examine experts. Juries listen to complex testimony about standards of care, causation, and damages. In some states, juries receive detailed instructions that break down these legal concepts. For example, New York Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI 2:150) explain the burden of proof in malpractice cases and the concept of proximate cause.

Trials are unpredictable. Even a case that seems airtight during discovery can hit snags. Jurors may sympathize with a trusted local doctor. Expert witnesses might lose credibility under cross-examination. And once the verdict is in, either side has the right to appeal, dragging the process out even longer.

But a trial also offers the potential for a larger award. Juries have the power to award compensation not only for economic damages—like medical bills and lost income—but also for non-economic harm, including pain, suffering, and emotional distress. Some states cap these damages. Maryland, for instance, limits non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-09, adjusting the cap annually for inflation.

Either way, the finish line doesn’t always mean the end. Even after a verdict, post-trial motions and appeals keep things going. But it’s the point where decisions finally get made, and the question of compensation gets answered.

How States Try to Keep Medical Malpractice Cases From Lasting Forever

Courts don’t want medical malpractice lawsuits dragging on any more than plaintiffs do. Cases that last a decade clog up the system, drain resources, and frustrate everyone involved. That’s why many states have put laws in place to keep things moving—or at least, to weed out cases that have no business being filed in the first place.

Some of these laws set early checkpoints. Others raise the bar for filing. Either way, the goal stays the same: push strong cases forward and make weak ones think twice.

Medical Review Panels and Tribunals

Certain states require claims to go through a review panel or tribunal before they move into full-blown litigation. These panels work like a gatekeeper. If the case doesn’t pass muster, it either dies there or gets slapped with extra requirements.

Massachusetts has one of the more well-known systems. Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 231, § 60B, once a plaintiff files a malpractice claim, the court refers it to a tribunal made up of a judge, a physician, and an attorney. The panel reviews the evidence and decides whether the plaintiff has enough proof to justify proceeding. If they rule against the plaintiff, the case can still move forward—but only if the plaintiff posts a bond (usually $6,000). The bond protects the defendant from having to pay legal fees if the plaintiff loses.

Indiana takes a similar approach. Under Ind. Code § 34-18-8-4, medical malpractice claims involving more than $15,000 in damages must be reviewed by a medical review panel before filing a lawsuit. The panel gives an expert opinion on whether the evidence supports the claim. While the panel’s decision isn’t binding, it carries a lot of weight in court.

Affidavit of Merit Requirements

Some states skip the review panel and go straight to demanding upfront proof. They want plaintiffs to show from day one that their claim is serious.

Nevada makes this clear. Under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41A.071, a plaintiff must file an affidavit of merit alongside the complaint. The affidavit must come from a medical expert in the same field as the defendant, and it has to state that the defendant’s actions fell below the standard of care. Without it, the court dismisses the case automatically.

New Jersey follows a similar rule. Under N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:53A-27, plaintiffs must file an affidavit of merit within 60 days of the defendant’s response to the lawsuit. An expert in the field must confirm that there’s a reasonable probability the healthcare provider breached the standard of care. If the plaintiff misses the deadline or fails to provide the affidavit, the case gets dismissed.

Pre-Suit Requirements and Cooling-Off Periods

Other states use pre-lawsuit hoops to slow down frivolous cases and encourage settlement talks before anyone files in court.

Florida, under Fla. Stat. § 766.106, requires plaintiffs to notify the healthcare provider of their intent to sue and then wait 90 days before filing. During that time, both sides exchange information and try to settle. If no agreement happens, the plaintiff moves ahead with the lawsuit. This mandatory waiting period filters out claims that might settle early and reduces the number of lawsuits clogging the court system.

Texas goes a step further. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.051, a plaintiff must give the defendant 60 days’ written notice before filing. Once the lawsuit is underway, the plaintiff also has 120 days to provide an expert report outlining the standard of care, how it was breached, and how the breach caused harm.

Damage Caps and Limits on Claims

While not directly speeding things up, damage caps can impact how quickly cases settle. Defendants may be more willing to negotiate when they know the maximum exposure is limited.

California’s MICRA law (Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975) caps non-economic damages at $250,000 (recently increased to $350,000 in 2023, with further annual increases). This cap reduces the potential payout for pain and suffering, which sometimes makes cases simpler to resolve because both sides know the upper limit.

Don’t Let Delay Kill Your Case

The healthcare system moves fast when it sends the bill—but slow when it’s time to take responsibility. A medical malpractice case demands patience, but you don’t have to wait alone.

Call (888) 778-1197 today. TopDog Law’s network of lawyers will connect you with a local attorney who knows how to push these cases forward and fight for the compensation you deserve.