Auto Accident Case in California: Process From Start to Finish

You’ve been in an accident. The adrenaline has faded, the pain hasn’t, and now you’re sitting in a waiting room or lying in bed trying to figure out what comes next. Maybe an insurance adjuster already called with a number that felt insultingly low. Maybe a friend told you to “get a lawyer,” but nobody explained what that actually means in practice.

Here’s the thing most law firm websites won’t tell you: an auto accident case isn’t one event. It’s a process that unfolds over months, sometimes over a year, with specific phases that each serve a purpose. The decisions you make in the first few weeks affect what lands in your bank account at the end.

This is what your case actually looks like from the inside.

Key Takeaways

• Most California auto accident cases settle in 6 to 18 months. Simple cases with clear fault and minor injuries can wrap up in three to six months. Serious injuries or disputed liability push that timeline to 12-24 months or longer.
• Medical liens can eat 30% to 60% of your settlement if nobody negotiates them. California law caps hospital liens at 50% of your net recovery and health insurance liens at one-third of your settlement under Civil Code 3040. A good attorney fights these down aggressively.
• About 97% of personal injury cases never go to trial, according to federal civil case data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Filing a lawsuit isn’t about going to court. It’s about getting access to discovery tools and creating pressure that makes the insurance company take your claim seriously.
• You have two years to file. California’s statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of injury for most auto accident claims. Government entity cases? Six months. Miss these deadlines, and your case is gone.

How Long Does an Auto Accident Case Take in California?

There’s no single answer, but there is a predictable pattern. Think of it in three phases.

Phase 1: Treatment and investigation (0-6 months). You focus on getting better. Your attorney focuses on building the file. Police reports get pulled, medical records get collected, and witness statements get locked down. Nothing gets sent to the insurance company until you’ve reached maximum medical improvement, or at least until your doctors have a clear picture of your long-term prognosis. Settling too early, before you know the full extent of your injuries, is one of the most expensive mistakes people make.

Phase 2: Demand and negotiation (6-12 months). Your attorney sends a demand package to the insurance company. This isn’t a one-page letter. It’s a detailed document that lays out liability, documents every medical treatment, calculates economic losses, and makes the case for pain and suffering. The insurer responds, usually with something lower than the demand, and negotiations go back and forth. Straightforward cases with clear fault often settle within this window.

Phase 3: Litigation (12-24+ months). If the insurance company won’t offer a fair number, your attorney files a lawsuit. This opens up discovery, which is the formal process where both sides exchange evidence, answer written questions (interrogatories), and take depositions under oath. Discovery alone takes 6 to 12 months, depending on complexity. After discovery, most cases go through mediation before ever reaching a courtroom. About 80% of California civil cases filed with Superior Courts conclude within 24 months.

A Martindale-Nolo Research survey found that the average car accident settlement takes about 10.7 months. That’s across all severities. For California specifically, back and neck injury settlements range from $2,500 for minor soft tissue cases to over $1.25 million for severe spinal injuries. Your number will depend on how badly you were hurt, how clear the fault is, and how cooperative the insurance company decides to be.

Why Do Medical Liens Take Such a Big Bite Out of Settlements?

This is the part that blindsides people. You settle for $200,000 and start doing the math. Attorney fees, some costs, the rest is mine. Then your lawyer mentions liens, and suddenly that number shrinks.

Medical liens are claims against your settlement from anyone who paid for your accident-related treatment. Hospitals, health insurers, Medi-Cal, and Medicare. They all want their money back, and they have a legal right to get it from your settlement before you see a dime. In some cases, liens consume 30% to 60% of a settlement before the client sees anything.

Here’s how the hierarchy typically shakes out in California:

• Hospital liens filed under California Civil Code 3045.4 are capped at 50% of your net recovery after attorney fees and costs. So they can’t take everything, but they can take a lot.
• Health insurance liens are limited to one-third of your settlement under California Civil Code 3040 if you have an attorney (one-half without one). On a $100,000 case, that protection alone is worth $16,700.
• Medi-Cal liens are required by statute to be reduced based on the overall settlement value, fees, and costs. In one published case example, a Medi-Cal lien of over $81,000 was negotiated down to $11,430.
• Medicare liens are the toughest. Medicare has what’s called a “super lien,” and while attorneys can negotiate the amount, Medicare rarely waives its claim entirely. Paying it back isn’t optional.

This is where your attorney earns their fee in ways you might not expect. Between the Common Fund Doctrine (which forces lienholders to share your attorney’s costs) and lump-sum discount negotiations (providers routinely accept 25-50% less for immediate payment), skilled lien work can mean tens of thousands more in your pocket.

What Does California’s Comparative Negligence Rule Mean for Your Case?

California uses pure comparative negligence. That means you can recover damages even if you were partially at fault. If a jury decides you were 30% responsible and your damages total $500,000, you’d still recover $350,000.

This cuts both ways, though. Insurance companies love to argue comparative negligence because every percentage point of fault they pin on you reduces what they owe. If they can convince an adjuster or jury you were 40% at fault instead of 10%, that’s a massive swing on a large claim.

Why Does Filing a Lawsuit Sometimes Help Your Settlement?

This confuses a lot of people. They hear “lawsuit” and picture a courtroom and a judge. But filing a lawsuit isn’t about going to trial. It’s about pressure.

Before you file, the insurance adjuster handling your claim has limited authority and limited motivation to offer top dollar. After you file, the case moves to a litigation team with a real budget. Discovery opens up, and now your attorney can subpoena records, depose witnesses, and force the insurance company to show its hand.

Roughly 97% of personal injury cases never make it to trial. The lawsuit is the tool that gets you to that better settlement number. Mediation, which typically happens 9-18 months after filing, is where most litigated cases actually resolve.

What Happens After You Settle?

You agreed to a number. Great. But your check doesn’t arrive the next day. There’s a process, and it adds another 30-90 days to your timeline.

Your attorney receives the settlement check and deposits it into their client trust account. The check clears (7-14 days for large amounts). Then comes lien resolution: your attorney contacts every provider, insurer, and government agency with a claim to negotiate final amounts. Hospital liens might take a few weeks. Medi-Cal or Medicare? Months.

After all liens are resolved, your attorney prepares a final disbursement statement showing every dollar: attorney fees (typically 33% pre-litigation, 40% if the case went to litigation), case costs, lien payments, and your net recovery. Then they cut your check.

One more thing people don’t think about: the IRS generally doesn’t tax personal injury settlements for physical injuries. Compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering is typically tax-free. Punitive damages and interest are taxable.

The Decisions You Make Early Matter Most

Evidence disappears. Witnesses forget. Surveillance footage gets recorded over. The strongest cases are built in the first weeks, not the last months. Get your police report. Document everything. Keep every medical record and receipt.

If you’re dealing with an auto accident in California, contact DK Law for a free case evaluation. We’ll walk you through what your timeline and case value could realistically look like.