Can My Case Settle At Trial?

Transcript: Hi. I’m Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub.

One question that we’re frequently asked is, “Can my Indiana accident case settle during trial?”

The quick answer is yes.

Most cases can be settled before trial, during trial, even after trial if an appeal is taking place. Settlement during trial, however, is very rare. 90% – 95% of the cases settle before trial. The reason cases rarely settle at trial is that the parties are usually hardened in their position by the time they’ve gotten to trial, and hopefully they’ve discussed settlement before getting to trial. And unless something happens during trial to change the expectations of one party or both parties, they usually don’t get together and try to settle during trial.

However, sometimes a witness does not testify as expected or a witness passes away just before trial and are not available, and so things do change and things can result in a settlement during trial. Also, we’ve had cases where we had a hung jury.

Which means the jury, after deliberating maybe five, six hours, tells the court that they just are at an impasse and they can’t come up with a unanimous verdict. In those situations, both sides sit down and evaluate, “Well, should we try to settle this case?”

And sometimes they do. So yes, Indiana personal injury cases can settle during trial. Check out our website for additional informational videos.