The longest case has been unresolved for seven years.
It can go unresolved for another generation, it can be unresolved for three generations.
The problem with this description is that people who run effective organizations don't let their underlings squabble endlessly, so that fundamental questions are unresolved for months.
And the Senate race in Minnesota between Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent, and Al Franken, a professional comedian, is subject to a recount, and may be unresolved for weeks.
Mr. Lochbaum and his organization have complained in the past that one such issue, concerning whether debris generated in an accident would clog emergency pumps,has been unresolved for more than 15 years.
In her introductory statement before television cameras were ushered out of the ornate conference room, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pleaded for both sides to make the compromises needed to end a dispute that has been unresolved for more than six decades.
Sometimes, the ownership of the required plots of land may be unresolved for years as their heirs do not claim them.
This tension may be unresolved for a long time until finally some articulation or Gestalt is reached that defines a person's character.
The wheels of justice grind slowly in India - more than 30 million cases are pending in its courts and more than a quarter of them have been unresolved for at least five years.
Interestingly, these are also issues that are unresolved for tissue banks established in developed countries.
