What is a "closing"?

Once your case settles, the other side will mail us some legal papers for you and your spouse (if any) to sign.  When we receive them, we will analyze them and (if they are O.K.) we will call you and your spouse into the office to sign the other side's legal papers.  (If you were married on the day of the accident, the other side will not write a check to you without putting your spouse's name on the check.)  Then, we will send the signed legal papers back to the other side.  When the other side receives the signed legal papers back, they will mail us a settlement check which will be made payable to you, your spouse and to us (for the total amount you agreed to settle for).  When we receive the settlement check from the other side, we will call you and your spouse back into the office again to sign ("endorse") the settlement check and to review and sign a detailed ("closing") statement that shows who will receive settlement money and how much.  Then, we will deposit the settlement check into a special bank account that is regulated and overseen by a government agency.  When the settlement check "clears" (when the insurance company's bank actually transfers the settlement money into the special, government-supervised bank account), then (you and everyone else to whom you owe money) gets paid according to the detailed ("closing") statement that (by then) you will have reviewed, approved and signed.  This means that it takes two to four weeks after your case is settled (sometimes longer) to actually receive your share (your "profit") of the settlement funds.  Similar rules apply to jury awards (unless there is an appeal).  We will provide you a free copy of all financial papers (including a statement showing you where every penny of settlement money went), all settlement papers, all the checks we received from others and all the checks we wrote to others from settlement funds.  Of course, you will also receive your share of the settlement money which is the share left over after attorney fees and legal costs are paid as well as payment of any remaining unpaid medical bills.