I was hurt in a Tennessee car wreck. I really don’t want to go to court but the one-year filing deadline for personal injury claims is coming up and I need to file my lawsuit. However, I don’t want to go through the discovery process. How often do cases settle without any discovery?
It is impossible for me to know the answer to that question. Many cases resolve before a lawsuit is filed. Many others are also resolved after a lawsuit is filed but before trial. Unless active negotiations are underway in your case at the time you file suit and you are filing suit solely for the purposes of filing before the deadline but with a goal of getting the case resolved (and the insurance company has the main mindset) it is reasonable to assume that discovery will happen.
Remember, you can settle your case (assuming the insurance company also wants to settle) and avoid litigation, including discovery. If the insurance company wants to settle and you want it to settle, it will settle – just not at the dollar value it should settle. By that I mean that if your case has any merit whatsoever you can almost always settle it for less than the true value of the case.
Learn more about discovery in personal injury and wrongful death litigation here.