Common Questions / Trial
Will my personal injury case go to trial?
Statistically, probably not: the large majority of injury cases resolve by settlement, most often at or after mediation. But the cases that settle best are the ones visibly prepared for trial, because insurers pay full value only when the alternative is a jury.
The honest odds, and why they mislead
Most personal injury cases, by a wide margin, resolve without a verdict, through negotiated settlement before suit, during litigation, or at mediation, which Texas courts order in nearly every case. So the odds say your case will settle. What the odds hide is causation: cases settle at fair value because trial is a live possibility, not despite it. An insurance company's offer is its estimate of what a jury would do, discounted by how confident it is that your lawyer will never actually pick one. Firms that fold get folded on.
How insurers price your lawyer
Carriers keep institutional memory on law firms: who files suit and who only writes letters, who takes depositions that hurt, who has tried cases to verdict and what happened. That memory sets the negotiating range before your file is even opened. This is not a slogan, it is the market working. When Silver Key Law says every case is prepared for trial, it means the demand is written with the exhibits already in mind, because that preparation is what the other side is actually paying for.
What going to trial actually involves
If your case is the one that does not settle, trial means jury selection, opening statements, witnesses and cross-examination, experts, closing argument, and a verdict, typically compressed into days after months of preparation. It is demanding, and it is also where wrongfully denied claims get corrected. Some of this firm's most important results came from verdicts after insurers refused reasonable demands, including recoveries exceeding the defendant's policy limits when a timely demand had been wrongfully rejected.
You hold the decision
One rule never changes: settlement is the client's call. A lawyer advises, negotiates, and tells you plainly what trial risk looks like, but no offer is accepted or rejected without your authority. The strategy that serves you is the one that makes every path, settlement or verdict, lead somewhere you chose from strength rather than exhaustion.
Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.
Related: Our Results · How Long Will My Case Take? · Submit Your Case · All Common Questions
This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.
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