Q: Settlement delay: lawyer not informing about lien resolution process.

A: You provide none of the details necessary to provide any meaningful answer to your question. Liens and subrogation interests can be complicated and are easily confused. Why didn't you ask these questions when you authorized the settlement? In my experience, clients don't care whether their claim is settling for $50,000 or $500,000. My clients only care about how much they get to keep. If your attorney was not able to provide you with that information or an estimate based on your attorney's prior experience, you should never have authorized settlement. Your instinct is correct that nothing takes 10 months. If you had an outstanding hospital lien or other medical lien, your attorney could have requested the Court to adjudicate it (if appropriate). If Medicare is involved and your attorney did not previously notify Medicare that your claim was about to be settled OR if Medicare's lien included fees for medical care that was unrelated to your injuries, the process of submitting revised paperwork to Medicare and securing permission to revise the amount payable to Medicare can take several months. If Medicare is not involved, I cannot think of any reason for such a lengthy delay. The fact that you state your medical bills are on "payment plans" suggests that Medicare is not involved.

If there were any liens on your file, they needed to be negotiated BEFORE settlement. If there is a legitimate lien on your file at the time the case was settled, your attorney has a legal obligation to satisfy that lien BEFORE any of the money is distributed to you. After the case is settled, the lienholder has little to no incentive to reduce the lien. Moreover, your attorney's lien for his/her attorney fees is superior (takes precedence) to any other lien. That means that liens do not prevent or delay payment to your attorney. Your suspicion is certainly warranted. The question that you need to ask is the same question that you should have asked before you authorize settlement. You should request a draft settlement statement that lists the amount for which the claim settled and each lien or other encumbrance on the file as well as how much the attorney reasonably believes you will have to pay to satisfy them. If your total liens were = or greater than 40% of your settlement, The Illinois Healthcare Lien Act applies. Under that Act, the providers' liens are capped AND YOUR ATTORNEY'S FEE IS REDUCED TO 30%.

A: I'm very sorry to hear of the situation you find yourself in. Though not all necessary facts are provided in your description, I can confidently inform you that under nearly all circumstances, it should never take 10 months to resolve a client's liens. Personal injury attorneys know the work does not stop once you reach a settlement number, but rather continues until your client gets timely paid their portion of the settlement proceeds after resolution of all liens. Sometimes the process is short (e.g. fewer lienholders, and lienholders readily willing to negotiate) and can resolve within approximately 45 days, and other times it is long (e.g. difficult lienholders, a massive workers' compensation lien, or a health insurance carrier that should have paid a bill and didn't and for which an appeals process is warranted) and may take a few months to resolve. Regardless of the time frame, as the client you have a right to receive periodic updates on the status of resolving the liens from your attorney (and not just a legal assistant, though they are wonderful), and your attorney should be able to provide you with details (and not just vague reassurances and efforts to brush you off) if you request them. I would suggest reaching out and requesting a list of all lienholders, the amount claimed by the lienholders, which liens have been resolved and for what amounts, the anticipated timeframe for resolving the remaining outstanding liens, the reason for it taking the time it has taken thus far, and the steps being taken to get it resolved. You may also want to email this request to your attorney. Good luck!

A: Unfortunately, in some cases it can take an inordinate amount of time to reconcile public health insurer liens - especially if Medicaid or other agency assigned the liens to a third-party administrator that took on more lien files than it can dispose of in a reasonable period of time, resulting in a backlog. I'm sorry for your frustration. Good luck

A: What you're going through is incredibly frustrating, especially after already waiting so long for a resolution to your case. The lien resolution process can take time, but ten months without clear communication or partial disbursement is unusually long. You have every right to expect transparency and regular updates about where your settlement stands and what’s being done on your behalf.

Your lawyer is obligated to inform you about the progress of your case, including the status of liens and any delays in disbursement. Repeatedly brushing you off, refusing to meet, and ignoring your inquiries is not acceptable. At the very least, you should have been given a written breakdown of which lienholders are involved, what amounts are being negotiated, and what remains unresolved. If you’ve asked for this and only recently received vague documents, your frustration is justified.

You can consider writing a formal letter demanding a full accounting of the settlement funds and status of each lien, along with a timeline for distribution. If that doesn’t prompt a meaningful response, you may need to report the issue to your state’s bar association for a misconduct review. You trusted your lawyer to guide you through recovery—not leave you in the dark. You deserve clarity, accountability, and the peace of finally moving forward.