The saying “the wheels of justice turn slowly” means that courts move at a deliberate pace because thoroughness matters more than speed, and the phrase is a shortened version of an older proverb whose second half promises that the slow grind eventually produces an exact result. Lawsuits take years because the Constitution requires notice and a meaningful chance to be heard, because the mechanics of discovery and motion practice each consume months, and because judges’ calendars are stacked with hundreds of thousands of other cases waiting their turn.
Where the Saying Comes From
The expression is a paraphrase of a much older line: “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.” The idea traces to the ancient Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus. The version most English speakers know comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who translated a set of German aphorisms by the seventeenth-century poet Friedrich von Logau. Longfellow published his English rendering in 1850 under the title “Retribution,” and the full couplet reads: “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; / Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.”
The second half is the part most people forget. The metaphor isn’t only about delay. It’s about thoroughness. A mill produces a fine result because it works at a deliberate pace. Applied to courts, the proverb suggests that the slow grind of litigation exists to ensure accuracy. Judges prioritize getting a verdict right over getting it fast, because a rushed judgment that destroys someone’s livelihood is worse than one that takes an extra year.
Due Process Is the Constitutional Reason Courts Can’t Rush
The legal system doesn’t move slowly by accident. The Fifth Amendment prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” and the Fourteenth Amendment applies that same restriction to state governments.1Congress.gov. Amdt5.5.1 Overview of Due Process In practice, due process means two things: notice and an opportunity to be heard. Every party must receive formal notice of what is happening and enough time to prepare a response before a court takes action against them.2Congress.gov. Amdt5.6.1 Overview of Due Process Procedural Requirements
If a court compressed a complex lawsuit into a single week, the losing party would almost certainly get the judgment thrown out on appeal. The appellate court would find that the rushed timeline denied someone a meaningful chance to gather evidence, retain an attorney, or challenge the claims. The case would then restart from scratch, making the shortcut slower than doing it properly the first time. Due process is the legal system’s built-in speed governor.
The Phases That Consume the Calendar
Beyond constitutional principles, each stage of a lawsuit takes its own block of time. Understanding these phases explains why a straightforward dispute can take well over a year.
Filing and Service
A lawsuit begins when the plaintiff files a complaint. The defendant must then be formally served with the complaint and a summons. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a defendant generally has 21 days after being served to file a response.3United States Courts. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 12 If the defendant waives formal service, that window extends to 60 days. When a defendant cannot be found, courts allow alternative methods like publication in a newspaper, which adds weeks or months before the case even gets a response.
Discovery
Once initial pleadings are filed, both sides enter discovery, the formal process of exchanging information about witnesses and evidence before trial.4American Bar Association. How Courts Work This includes depositions, document requests, written questions called interrogatories, and sometimes physical examinations or inspections.5Justia. The Discovery Process in Lawsuits In a case with large volumes of records or numerous witnesses, discovery alone routinely stretches past a year. This is the phase where most of the calendar disappears.
Motions
Before trial, attorneys file motions that shape the case. A motion for summary judgment, which asks the court to rule without a trial, can be filed up to 30 days after discovery closes.6Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 56 – Summary Judgment The opposing side then has its own response window. Judges can grant extensions for “good cause” before a deadline expires, or for “excusable neglect” after one passes.7Legal Information Institute. Rule 6 – Computing and Extending Time; Time for Motion Papers A single round of motion briefing easily consumes two to three months, and complex cases involve multiple rounds.
Scheduling
Even after both sides are ready, getting into a courtroom requires a slot on the judge’s calendar. Federal district courts had over 398,000 civil cases and nearly 110,000 criminal defendants pending as of early 2025.8United States Courts. Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2025 A hearing that takes 30 minutes to conduct may not be scheduled for months because hundreds of other cases need the same judge’s time.
Criminal Cases Move Faster in Theory
The Sixth Amendment guarantees every criminal defendant “the right to a speedy and public trial.”9Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Sixth Amendment Congress gave that right teeth through the Speedy Trial Act, which generally requires a federal criminal trial to begin within 70 days of the indictment or the defendant’s first court appearance, whichever comes later.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC Chapter 208 – Speedy Trial
In practice, the 70-day clock has so many exceptions that criminal cases frequently take much longer. The statute excludes delays caused by pretrial motions, mental competency evaluations, interlocutory appeals, plea negotiations, transportation of the defendant, and periods when the defendant is absent or unavailable.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3161 – Time Limits and Exclusions A complex fraud case with extensive pretrial motion practice can run well past a year despite the nominal deadline. The clock stops every time a qualifying event occurs and restarts only when that event resolves.
Civil litigation has no equivalent statute. Because no one’s physical liberty is at stake, civil cases sit behind criminal matters on the court’s priority list. Civil plaintiffs routinely wait years for their day in court, especially in jurisdictions with heavy caseloads.
Appeals Add Another Layer
A trial verdict is rarely the end. The losing party can appeal, and appeals take time. The median duration for a civil appeal in the federal courts of appeals is approximately 11.5 months from the filing of the notice of appeal to the final opinion.12United States Courts. Table B-4A – US Courts of Appeals Median Time Intervals With over 32,000 cases pending in the appellate courts, that timeline can stretch further depending on the complexity of the issues and the circuit’s backlog.
If an appellate court finds that the trial court made a serious error, it can vacate the judgment and send the case back for a new trial. The parties then repeat much of the process from the beginning, which is why experienced attorneys treat cutting corners as the slowest possible strategy.
The One Clock That Does Run Fast
While the legal process itself moves slowly, the deadline to start a case does not wait. Statutes of limitations set firm windows for filing a lawsuit, and missing the deadline means losing the right to sue entirely, no matter how strong the claim. For federal civil actions arising under statutes enacted after 1990, the default filing window is four years from when the cause of action accrues. Specific claims have their own windows. Securities fraud actions, for example, must be filed within two years of discovering the violation or five years of the violation itself, whichever comes first.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1658 – Time Limitations on the Commencement of Civil Actions Arising Under Acts of Congress State-law claims have their own deadlines, which vary widely by jurisdiction and type of claim.
Courts can sometimes “toll” or pause the limitations clock under narrow circumstances, such as when the plaintiff is a minor, the defendant is hiding from service, or the plaintiff could not reasonably have discovered the injury despite exercising diligence. Tolling is the exception, not the rule. The slow pace of courts is not a reason to assume unlimited time to file. The door to get in can slam shut fast.
Faster Alternatives to Trial
People who want to resolve a dispute without waiting years for a trial have options outside the traditional court system.
Mediation
Mediation involves a neutral third party helping both sides negotiate a resolution. It is voluntary, confidential, and comparatively fast. The American Arbitration Association reports a median settlement time of 112 days for mediated disputes, and mediation produces a settlement roughly 70 to 80% of the time. Even when mediation does not fully resolve a case, it often narrows the issues enough to shorten any subsequent litigation.
Arbitration
Arbitration is more formal. An arbitrator or panel hears evidence and issues a binding decision, much like a private judge. Resolution times vary by subject matter. Financial services disputes can be resolved in under two months, while employment arbitrations take a median of about 17 months. Construction arbitrations involving large claims are resolved roughly 1.7 times faster than comparable cases that go to trial. Many contracts, especially employment and consumer agreements, contain mandatory arbitration clauses that require disputes to go through this process rather than court.
The tradeoff with arbitration is that you typically give up the right to appeal. A court can overturn an arbitration award only in very limited circumstances, such as fraud or an arbitrator exceeding their authority. For parties who value finality, that is a feature rather than a flaw.
The mills of God grind slowly because the alternative, fast and sloppy justice, tends to be no justice at all. That is cold comfort when you are two years into a lawsuit and still have not reached trial, but knowing where the time goes at least lets you plan for the wait and recognize when a faster path might deliver the result you need.