What Happens After You Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Utah

For the full stage-by-stage walkthrough, see our guide to the steps in a Utah personal injury case. This post covers what the process looks like from your side once you have a lawyer.

Short answer: A Utah injury claim moves from medical treatment and your own PIP coverage, to an investigation and a written demand, to negotiation with the at-fault driver’s insurer. Most claims resolve there; the ones that do not are filed in court, go through discovery and often mediation, and are tried only if nothing else works.

Here is the order most cases follow:

1. Medical treatment, paid first through your PIP coverage
2. Checking whether the claim meets Utah’s injury threshold
3. Investigation and evidence
4. The demand package
5. Negotiation with the adjuster
6. Filing suit before the deadline
7. Discovery
8. Mediation
9. Trial
10. Liens and disbursement

1. Treatment Comes First, and PIP Pays First

Utah is a no-fault state for the first layer of medical bills. Every Utah auto policy must include personal injury protection, and the minimum medical benefit is $3,000 (Utah Code 31A-22-307). That coverage is yours regardless of who caused the crash, so the first bills go to your own insurer, not the other driver’s.

The most important thing you can do early is get treated and keep going. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster points to when arguing an injury was minor.

2. The Injury Threshold

Because PIP pays first, Utah limits when you can sue the at-fault driver for pain, suffering and other general damages. The claim has to involve at least one of the following (Utah Code 31A-22-309): death; dismemberment; permanent disability or permanent impairment based on objective findings; permanent disfigurement; a bone fracture; or medical expenses of more than $3,000.

Most injuries serious enough to need a lawyer clear that bar quickly, but it is the first legal question in every car accident case.

3. Investigation and Evidence

While you treat, the claim is built: the police report, photographs, witness statements, vehicle damage, and any video from nearby businesses or dashcams. Evidence held by others does not keep forever, which is why a written request to preserve it goes out early. Insurance is identified at the same time, including your own underinsured motorist coverage, which in Utah stacks on top of the at-fault driver’s policy.

4. The Demand Package

A demand is usually sent once your doctors can say where your recovery is headed. Sending it earlier risks settling before the full cost of the injury is known. The package sets out how the crash happened, why the other driver is responsible, your medical records and bills, lost income, and the effect on your daily life, and it asks for a specific amount. In an auto claim, a demand for the at-fault driver’s policy limits must also include the medical records and bills and support for other economic losses, and give the insurer at least 30 days to accept or reject it (Utah Code 31A-22-323, effective May 6, 2026).

5. Negotiation With the Adjuster

This is how attorneys handle the insurance claim in practice. The adjuster responds with an offer, usually low, and the two sides trade positions on fault, on which treatment was necessary, and on what the injury is worth. Utah’s comparative fault rule sits in the background of every one of those conversations: your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and it is barred if your fault is not less than the other side’s (Utah Code 78B-5-818). Our guide to car accident settlements in Utah covers what drives value at this stage.

6. Filing Suit Before the Deadline

If the insurer will not pay a fair amount, the claim is filed in court. Most Utah injury claims must be filed within four years (Utah Code 78B-2-307). A wrongful death claim must be filed within two years (Utah Code 78B-2-304). If a city, county, UDOT or another government entity is involved, a written notice of claim is due within one year (Utah Code 63G-7-402), which is the deadline people most often miss.

7. Discovery

Once a case is filed, each side exchanges documents, written questions and depositions. In Utah, how much discovery is allowed depends on the damages claimed (Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 26): Tier 1 covers claims of $50,000 or less, Tier 2 covers more than $50,000 and less than $300,000, and Tier 3 covers $300,000 or more. Higher tiers allow more deposition hours and more written discovery.

8. Mediation

Many filed cases settle at mediation, where a neutral mediator meets with both sides and carries offers between them. Nothing is agreed unless both sides agree, but the discovery record usually makes each side’s risks at trial much clearer than they were during early negotiation.

9. Trial

A small share of cases go to trial, where a judge or jury decides fault and damages. Preparing a case as if it will be tried, from the first week, is also what makes a fair settlement possible short of trial.

10. Liens and Disbursement

Before a settlement reaches you, anyone with a right to be repaid from it has to be dealt with. Medical providers, health insurers and government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid may assert those claims, and they are often negotiated down before the money is distributed. You then receive a written statement showing the settlement, the attorney fee, case costs, each lien paid, and your share.

Talk to a Utah Personal Injury Attorney

Every case follows these steps in roughly this order, but how long each one takes depends on the injury and on the insurer. If you are early in the process, our Salt Lake City car accident attorneys can tell you where your claim stands and what comes next.

Hurt in Utah? Contact West Injury Law for a free case review. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español.