Liability was accepted, so why is the case going to litigation?

Attorney Answer

Accepting liability settles who caused the crash. It settles nothing about what the injury is worth — and that is almost always what litigation is about.

An acceptance of liability removes one argument. The insurer is no longer saying its driver did nothing wrong. What remains is damages: the extent of the injury, how much of it this collision caused, what treatment was reasonable, and what it is all worth.

Those are the questions that go unresolved far more often than fault does. An insurer can accept liability and still dispute that the treatment was necessary, that a pre-existing condition was made worse, or that the figure claimed is supportable.

Litigation is the process for resolving that disagreement. Filing does not mean a trial: most cases filed still settle, often after the parties have exchanged evidence and taken depositions and each side can see what the other actually has.

It also means deadlines now come from a court rather than from an adjuster, and the process has a timetable that does not depend on an insurer returning calls.

What you can do

1. Ask your lawyer what specifically remains in dispute — it is usually treatment, causation or value, not fault. 2. Keep treating and keep every record; the medical evidence is what the dispute is about. 3. Expect to give a deposition, and prepare for it properly rather than casually. 4. Tell your lawyer about any earlier injury to the same body part before the other side finds it. 5. Keep a simple record of what you cannot do now that you could before.

⏱ Time limits apply. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 requires actions for injuries to the person to be brought within two years after the right of action accrues. Waiting also costs evidence — footage is overwritten and memories fade — so the practical deadline is usually much earlier than the legal one.

A Georgia attorney can tell you quickly how the facts here line up, and most will look at a matter like this at no cost.