If a lawsuit is filed, there is usually a filing fee required. At some point the court will set a hearing and at that hearing a trial date will be set. Depending on the jurisdiction, that time can widely vary. In some jurisdictions, it is critical to know that if you're terminally ill, or very old, or there is some reason that your case should proceed more quickly that in a regular course, your attorney needs to know that immediately so that he or she can try and speed up the process by filing the appropriate legal papers as soon as possible. At some point experts will frequently need to be hired to give opinions on technical subjects such as medical, dental, or engineering issues.
Experts are an expensive but necessary part of modern day litigations.
When all of the discovery is complete, the court will usually set a date for a settlement conference to see if both sides can agree to an informal settlement of the case. If the case settles, then the lawsuit is usually dismissed. If it doesn't, then the case goes to trial. At the conclusion of the case, the judge instructs the jury on the applicable law they are to apply to the facts of the case. The jury then retires, deliberates and then renders a decision.