Case values
How Long Do Injury Cases Take in New York?
How long New York injury cases take from filing to resolution, by borough and kind of case, counting only cases with both dates on record.
Updated October 8, 2026
Key findings
- A court case typically took 2.5 years from filing to resolution (44,367 resolved cases); half took between 14 months and 4.3 years.
- Claims settled with the City before any lawsuit typically took 18 months (48,104 claims).
- Among the five boroughs, court cases moved fastest in Staten Island (typically 15 months) and slowest in Brooklyn (3.1 years).
- Among claims settled before a lawsuit, police and civil-rights claims were quickest (typically 14 months) and fall and property claims took longest (3.4 years).
The data
2.5 years
typical time from filing a court case to resolution
18 months
typical time to settle a claim against the City before a lawsuit
44,367
resolved court cases with both dates
48,104
settled pre-lawsuit claims
By borough
The borough is the county of the court or the City's claim record, not a law firm's office. Numbers in brackets are how many cases each figure is based on.
| Borough | Court cases | Claims before a lawsuit |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | 2.8 years (8,420) | 21 months (7,931) |
| Brooklyn | 3.1 years (11,654) | 20 months (12,093) |
| Queens | 2.6 years (7,308) | 2.1 years (5,885) |
| The Bronx | 2.1 years (13,809) | 15 months (18,163) |
| Staten Island | 15 months (2,512) | 21 months (1,743) |
By kind of case
| Case | Court cases | Claims before a lawsuit |
|---|---|---|
| Police and civil-rights claims | 3.1 years (281) | 14 months (31,476) |
| Falls and property conditions | 3.3 years (157) | 3.4 years (6,978) |
| Vehicle accidents | 3.3 years (124) | 2.8 years (4,670) |
| Medical malpractice | 3.2 years (77) | 3.2 years (1,056) |
| School injuries | Not enough cases | 3.1 years (2,063) |
| Workplace injuries | 2.7 years (16) | 3.2 years (777) |
| Construction accidents | 5.2 years (42) | Not enough cases |
What these figures can and can't tell you
- Court-case durations run from filing to payment, judgment or other resolution; claim durations from the notice of claim to the Comptroller's settlement.
- Most dated lawsuits are against the City of New York, whose records give both dates; cases against private defendants may move at a different pace.
- Only resolved cases are counted, so recent years under-represent long cases.
Every figure on this page comes from the records; nothing is estimated. Groups with fewer than 10 records show no figures. How we collect records