You and the at-fault insurance company agree on a number. The lawyer says "we have a deal." That night the client calls family to share the news. Then nothing happens for two months. The check does not arrive in a week. It does not arrive in 30 days. It is not the lawyer being slow — it is the structure of how settlement money moves.
Understanding the steps demystifies the wait and, more importantly, surfaces the negotiations that quietly happen behind the scenes — the ones that decide how much of the settlement the client actually keeps.
1. The settlement agreement itself
When the lawyer and the adjuster verbally agree on a number, the deal is not done. The settlement agreement and release has to be drafted, reviewed, and signed by all parties. The release language matters — what claims are released, what carve-outs (if any) exist, how the damages are allocated for tax purposes (see our post on tax treatment of personal injury settlements). Most releases are 3 to 8 pages and take 5 to 10 days to draft, review, redline, and finalize.
In larger cases or those involving structured settlements, the documentation expands further — annuity contracts, qualified assignments under IRC § 130, court approval if a minor or incapacitated person is involved. None of this is optional, and shortcuts here can cost the client real money or create future tax problems.
2. The check from the insurer
Once everyone signs the release, the insurer cuts a check, almost always made payable jointly to the client and the attorney. By Georgia rule, the check is deposited into the attorney's IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account) — a special escrow account, not the firm's operating account. The IOLTA holds the funds while the disbursement work happens.
Insurers typically issue the check within 14 to 30 days of receiving the signed release. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. Government insurers (claims against the State of Georgia, county, municipality) are slower — 60 to 120 days is not unusual.
3. Lien resolution — the negotiation nobody mentions
This is the step most clients do not anticipate, and it is the step that most directly affects how much money the client takes home. Anyone who paid for the client's medical care related to the injury has a claim against the settlement.
Common lienholders in a Georgia personal injury settlement
- Health insurance (private) — ERISA plans assert the strongest claims; non-ERISA plans are subject to the made-whole doctrine and other equitable defenses
- Medicare — federal statutory lien with mandatory reporting under MMSEA Section 111
- Medicaid — Georgia state Medicaid lien under O.C.G.A. § 49-4-149
- Hospital liens — perfected hospital liens under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470 et seq.
- Health-care providers who treated on lien (chiropractors, MRIs, surgery centers)
- Workers' compensation carrier (in dual workers' comp / third-party cases)
Each lien starts at face value and is almost always negotiable. Medicare and Medicaid have specific statutory negotiation procedures. Hospital liens have particular requirements that, when not met by the hospital, can void the lien entirely. ERISA plans have leverage but can usually be persuaded to take a percentage reduction.
Lien negotiation is where many personal injury firms quietly cut corners. They take the lien at face value, deduct it, and move on. We negotiate. A $40,000 hospital lien reduced by 30% puts $12,000 in the client's pocket that they otherwise would not have seen. That work is real, and it requires both knowing the law and having the time to actually do it.
4. Attorney fees and case costs
The contingency fee is calculated against the gross settlement, after which case costs are reimbursed. The standard sequence in a Georgia plaintiff personal injury settlement:
- 1. Gross settlement amount
- 2. Less: attorney contingency fee (typically 33⅓% pre-suit, 40% if suit was filed, set in writing at engagement)
- 3. Less: case costs (filing fees, expert fees, deposition costs, medical record retrieval, court reporter fees)
- 4. Less: liens negotiated and paid from settlement
- 5. Net to client
Case costs vary widely. A pre-suit settlement may have $500 to $2,000 in costs. A litigated case with experts can have $30,000 or more. The engagement agreement spells out which costs are advanced by the firm and reimbursed from the settlement, and which the client may be responsible for.
5. The disbursement statement
Before any money moves, the client receives a disbursement statement — a line-by-line accounting showing the gross settlement, the attorney fee, every cost reimbursed, every lien paid (and the negotiated reduction on each), and the net to the client. The client signs this statement, and only then does the lawyer cut the checks.
A clean disbursement statement is non-negotiable. The client should be able to read it and understand exactly where every dollar went. If a firm refuses to provide a detailed statement or pushes back on questions about specific lines, that is a signal worth escalating.
6. The check to the client
Once the disbursement statement is signed, the firm cuts the client's net check from the IOLTA. Most clients get the check the same day or within a few days. Direct deposit to the client's bank is the standard method now; physical checks are increasingly rare.
A representative timeline
Pre-suit settlement (most common)
- Day 0 — verbal settlement reached
- Day 5–10 — release drafted, reviewed, redlined
- Day 10 — release signed by all parties
- Day 14–30 — settlement check from insurer to firm IOLTA
- Day 30–60 — lien negotiations complete
- Day 60–75 — disbursement statement prepared and signed
- Day 60–80 — net check to client
Litigated cases with multiple lienholders or complex Medicare/Medicaid coordination can run 90 to 180 days from settlement to client check. Wrongful death cases requiring probate distribution can run longer still. The lawyer who keeps the client informed throughout this window is doing the job. The lawyer who goes quiet for two months is not.
What clients should ask before they sign the engagement
- What percentage is the contingency fee, and does it change if suit is filed?
- Who advances the case costs? Are costs my responsibility if we don't recover?
- How are liens negotiated, and who negotiates them — the firm or a separate vendor?
- When can I expect the disbursement statement?
- How is the firm paid if I terminate the engagement before settlement?
These are not pushy questions. They are the questions that separate clients who understand the deal from clients who learn the answers in the worst possible way two months after settlement. Any reputable firm should answer them clearly and put the answers in writing.