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how long from filing to actually getting the settlement check

Patient · · 11 views
So I'm trying to figure out realistic timelines here because I need to understand what we're actually looking at financially. I was diagnosed in November and my lawyer is already talking about filing, but I want to know what the actual range is. Is it months? A year? Multiple years?

I worked at the Johns-Manville plant in Cleveland from 1978 to 1985 doing insulation work, so the exposure is well documented. My case should be pretty straightforward from that standpoint. But I'm reading conflicting things online about whether you're talking 6 months or 3 years or what.

Does it depend on whether you settle versus going to trial? And are there cases that get held up because the defendant is dragging things out, or is that more of a legal threat than something that actually happens in practice?

I'm not trying to rush the process if it means getting less money, but I also need to plan around this and I can't do that without some actual numbers.

1 Reply

Family
I don't have direct experience with this since my mom's case is still pretty early, but I've been doing a lot of listening and asking questions because like you, I need to understand what we're dealing with financially. She was exposed back in the 70s too at a manufacturing facility here in Arizona, and our lawyer mentioned timelines range anywhere from several months to over a year depending on a bunch of factors.

From what I understand, settlement versus trial makes a huge difference. Settlements can move faster because both sides agree, but trials obviously take longer. And yeah, defendants absolutely drag things out. That's not just a legal threat, that actually happens. Our lawyer explained it like sometimes they're hoping you'll get tired or run out of money and take less, which is honestly infuriating to hear but good to know going in.

The well-documented exposure you have from Johns-Manville sounds like it should help your case move along though. That's what our lawyer said would make things clearer for us too if we had that kind of paper trail. I wish I had more specifics for you, but what I'd say is keep asking your lawyer for realistic timelines and what factors might speed things up or slow things down in your particular situation. They should be able to give you better numbers based on what they're seeing with similar cases right now.

Hang in there with the planning part. That stress of not knowing is real.

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