Most pedestrian claims never reach a courtroom, and the ones that do follow a sequence that is largely fixed. Filing a lawsuit is not a dramatic step so much as a procedural one: it starts a process with its own stages, its own deadlines, and its own pace, and that pace is set by rules rather than by how urgent the case feels. This page sets out what actually happens after a complaint is filed in California, in the order it happens, using the stages the California Courts self-help guide describes. It does not predict how long any particular case will take, because that is not something anyone can responsibly tell you in advance.
Key Takeaways
- A lawsuit is one route to resolving a claim rather than the default. Negotiation resolves most claims.
- A defendant personally served has 30 days to file a response, or 40 days where the papers were mailed.
- Discovery is described by the Courts guide as usually the longest part of the process.
- A case management conference is typically scheduled 4 to 6 months after the complaint is filed.
- Settlement remains possible at every stage, including after trial preparation has begun.
- Where a public entity may be responsible, a written claim comes before any lawsuit and carries a much shorter deadline.
Before Anything Is Filed
Filing is not the first step and is rarely the second. What normally comes first is establishing who may be responsible, preserving evidence, opening insurance claims, completing treatment far enough to understand the long-term picture, assembling the record, and making a demand.
That matters to the timeline because a claim is typically filed either when negotiation has not resolved it or when a deadline is approaching. Our page on California pedestrian accident claims sets out the deadlines, including the much shorter period that applies where a public entity may be responsible for a roadway, a crossing or a signal — in that situation a written claim must be presented to the entity before any lawsuit exists at all.
The Stages, in Order
The California Courts self-help guide sets out six steps for a civil case. What follows is that structure, with the intervals the guide states.
1. Filing and service
The guide describes the first step as filing papers in court and paying a fee to start the lawsuit, then having them delivered — served — to whoever is being sued. Service is a formal process with its own requirements, and a defendant who cannot be located can hold up this stage considerably.
2. The response
According to the guide, after a defendant is personally served with the summons and complaint they have 30 days to file a response, or 40 days from the date the papers were mailed where substituted service was used.
Where no response is filed, the guide describes a default process in two parts: a request for entry of default, which a plaintiff may file within 10 days after the response deadline has passed, and then a request for a default judgment, which must be made within 45 days once default has been entered. A defendant can still respond before the default is actually filed.
In practice, most defendants in a pedestrian case are defended by an insurer and a response is filed.
3. Discovery
The guide describes this stage as “usually the longest part of the process,” and as the point where you prepare your case by gathering evidence while both sides can try to reach an agreement.
Discovery runs in both directions. The guide identifies form interrogatories, special interrogatories, requests for admission, and requests for production or demands for inspection, and notes that a party must respond and swear under oath that the response is true. The response period it states is 30 days where a request is personally served, or 35 days where it is mailed within California, with longer periods for requests mailed from outside the state or the country.
This is also the stage where a plaintiff in an injury case is usually deposed, where medical records are obtained formally rather than voluntarily, and where the other side’s account is tested. It is slow because it is thorough, and because every exchange carries its own response period.
4. Case management
Courts generally schedule a case management conference, and the guide states this is typically 4 to 6 months after the complaint was first filed, with a case management statement due at least 15 calendar days beforehand. This is where the court takes stock of the case and sets the schedule that governs the rest of it.
5. Trial preparation
The guide describes this as beginning once discovery is finished, and notes that even at this point the case may still be resolved by agreement. In an injury case this stage involves expert work, motions that narrow what the jury will hear, and preparation of the evidence that will actually be presented.
6. Trial and judgment
If the case is not settled, it goes to trial and the judge or jury decides it, with the result entered as a judgment. Where a plaintiff wins, the guide notes that a judgment states what is owed — which is a separate matter from the money being paid.
Why There Is No Reliable Answer to “How Long”
The intervals above are the ones the Courts guide states, and they are real. They are also not a timeline, because the periods between them vary with things nobody controls: how quickly a defendant is located and served, how much discovery the case requires, how crowded the court’s calendar is, whether motions are brought, and whether the medical picture is settled enough to try the case.
The honest position is that the sequence is predictable and the duration is not. Anyone quoting a specific figure for how long a pedestrian case takes is describing cases they have handled rather than the one in front of you.
Settlement Does Not Stop Being Possible
Filing a lawsuit is frequently misread as a decision to go to trial. It is not. The Courts guide notes the possibility of reaching an agreement at the discovery stage and again at the trial preparation stage, and in practice most cases that are filed still resolve without a verdict.
What filing does is impose a structure and a schedule on a claim that was not moving, and compel the production of information that was not being produced voluntarily. Those are often the reasons to file.
What Affects the Outcome Rather Than the Timeline
Where responsibility is shared, California reduces a recovery by the share assigned rather than barring it, and our page on pure comparative fault explains how that works and who decides the percentage. Where more than one party is responsible, each defendant is liable for non-economic losses only in proportion to their own share of fault, while economic losses remain subject to joint and several liability so that any liable defendant can be pursued for the full amount.
There is no preset value for a pedestrian claim and no attorney can promise a figure. What is available to satisfy a claim also matters: our page on uninsured motorist coverage in California explains that coverage on a household auto policy can apply to a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle, and that the declarations page of every policy in the household is worth checking even though no car of yours was involved.
What Helps While a Case Is Pending
- Complete treatment and follow through on referrals, since gaps become both a medical and an evidentiary problem.
- Keep the record as you go — bills, receipts, mileage, work missed, duties changed.
- Expect to be asked to account for your own history in detail, and disclose it fully rather than selectively.
- Avoid discussing the case on social media for its duration.
- Keep your lawyer informed of changes in treatment, employment or address.
- Respond promptly when documents or information are requested, because discovery runs on fixed periods.
- Understand what any document you are asked to sign actually resolves before signing it.
Talk to a California Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Vaksman Khalfin, PC represents injured pedestrians throughout California. A free consultation can review where a claim currently sits, which deadlines are running, and whether filing is the right route at this point. Call (650) 250-0705, schedule a free consultation, or read more about California pedestrian accident claims, the San Mateo office, and the wider California personal injury practice.
Reviewed by Alan D. Khalfin, Partner and Managing Attorney, Vaksman Khalfin, PC (admitted in California). Last reviewed: 10/13/2026
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no reliable general answer. The sequence is predictable — service, response, discovery, case management, trial preparation, trial — but the time between stages depends on service, the amount of discovery, the court's calendar, motions, and whether the medical picture has settled. The California Courts guide describes discovery as usually the longest part of the process.
The Courts self-help guide states that a defendant personally served with the summons and complaint has 30 days to file a response, or 40 days from the date the papers were mailed where substituted service was used.
The guide describes a default process in two parts: a request for entry of default, which may be filed within 10 days after the response deadline passes, followed by a request for a default judgment within 45 days once default is entered. A defendant can still respond before the default is filed.
Discovery is the formal exchange of information between the parties, running in both directions. The guide identifies interrogatories, requests for admission and requests for production, states that responses must be sworn under oath, and gives a response period of 30 days for personally served requests or 35 days where mailed within California. It takes time because every exchange carries its own period and because the case is being built rather than summarised.
Most cases that are filed still resolve without a trial. The Courts guide notes that agreement remains possible during discovery and again during trial preparation. Filing imposes a schedule and compels production of information; it is not the same as deciding to try the case.
No. There is no preset value for a pedestrian claim and no attorney can promise a figure. Filing changes the process rather than the value, though it can change what information becomes available and what pressure exists to resolve.
A written claim must be presented to the entity before any lawsuit, and that deadline is much shorter than the period for suing a private party. Identifying a potential public entity early matters more than in almost any other situation.
The initial consultation is free. If the firm takes a case, attorney's fees are contingent on a recovery; case costs are a separate category, and how they are handled is set out in the written fee agreement before any representation begins.
