When you have been hurt in a motorcycle accident, car wreck, truck collision or any other kind of accident in Indianapolis, it seems as though your life may never be the same. This is unfortunately a very common experience for many people who find themselves suffering the consequences of a catastrophic accident.
Whether it was a slip and fall on someone else’s property due to a hazardous condition they should have prevented, a car accident from a driver who wasn’t paying attention or who was under the influence of alcohol at the time, or a hotel pool drowning that could have been prevented with appropriate security and safety measures, you may have grounds to pursue maximum compensation.
Thankfully, Blackburn Romey is here to help you when you’ve suffered an accident caused by another’s negligence such as car accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful deaths, slip & fall injuries, and more. Our Indianapolis personal injury attorneys take each case seriously and give you the personalized attention you deserve when fighting back against the insurance company.
Immediately following an accident in which you have sustained an injury, there are critical steps you need to take to protect your rights.
Not every accident will lead to a claim filed by an injury attorney, which is why you need to know what’s required to initiate a claim for a full and fair recovery. The basis for any personal injury claim in Indiana has to be founded on the idea that someone else was negligent or reckless, that their actions or inaction led to an accident, and that such an accident caused you harm. This can be shown in many different ways, such as a car driver who fell asleep at the wheel or a hotel that had dangerous pool equipment on the premises. A thorough investigation of the accident should be completed immediately after it happens.
Whether it was a slip and fall or a trucking accident, gathering evidence is essential not just for your insurance claim but also for your ability to bring a lawsuit down the road. Illustrating that another party was negligent either through their lack of action or direct action is the best way to prepare an injury case.
Your Indianapolis personal injury attorneys will evaluate the circumstances of your individual accident to provide you with further information about what you can expect. It should not be the injured party’s responsibility to figure out who could be held responsible after an accident. That job should be managed by an Indianapolis personal injury attorney and your attorney should be engaged quickly to determine liability in your case.
With your recovery dependent on this compensation, you need someone committed to fighting on your behalf.
The statute of limitations in Indiana enables you to pursue a claim a maximum of two years from the date of the accident. You need to consult with an experienced Indianapolis personal injury lawyer immediately to figure out whether or not you have grounds to file a claim. Gathering your evidence and creating a timeline of events, as well as how the accident has influenced you and your family, is necessary if you intend to file a legal suit.
Personal injury law in Indiana allows someone to recover money when another person has harmed him or her. You may be able to recover amounts to fully compensate you for the harm suffered. This includes your lost wages, medical treatment, decreased earning potential, and pain and anguish. Indiana law refers to these as compensatory damages.
If you were partially negligent for the accident, the amount you recover may be reduced. A jury will first assign what is known as a percentage of blame for every person involved in the incident. If you were more than half at fault for the entire accident, you will be ineligible to recover anything. If you were 50% or less at fault, however, then the jury determines the total damages amount and could reduce it by the amount of your fault.
Only in certain situations will you be entitled to punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded to punish the defendant for bad conduct and to make an example out of him or her. If the defendant acted with reckless disregard for human life, you could be entitled to punitive damages. It is very difficult to establish reckless disregard and for this reason, you will want to hire an experienced Indianapolis personal injury attorney.
Settlement amounts will vary from one case to another and a knowledgeable Indianapolis personal injury attorney can assess your accident and injuries and then give you a better idea of appropriate and fair compensation for your case. These considerations include:
The primary objective of your Indianapolis personal injury attorney should be to determine adequate and fair compensation for your injuries. An experienced lawyer will know what a judge is likely to consider reasonable compensation for the injuries you have sustained.
After an attorney has established the issues with your accident and begun investigating your claim, your attorney makes an official claim with the person or persons responsible for your injuries before filing a lawsuit. You could settle your case without litigation, particularly if there are relatively few issues in dispute and in cases in which liability clearly sits with one party. However, in the event the claim is substantial and cannot be resolved with a settlement demand through the insurance company, the attorney might file a claim with the with the relevant local court.
The discovery phase of your case initiates after your lawyer has filed. Your personal injury lawyer will pull together evidence to be used at trial from the opposing party and collect evidence to be used at trial, and from other sources like eyewitnesses or expert witnesses. This usually amounts to an extended interview known as a deposition to ask you questions.
Your Indianapolis personal injury attorneys will help you prepare for such a stage and will be present at the deposition to make sure the defendant attorney does not ask unfair questions or harass you. Furthermore, your lawyer may ask you to produce and gather any documents that relate to your claim. Once both sides of a lawsuit have initially exchanged documents in the discovery phase and know more about the kinds of arguments that will be made in the case, your personal injury attorney might try to make a settlement offer.
The other party’s attorney might try to make a settlement offer. In many cases, this is the phase in which the defendant can file motions with the court asking to have the claims dismissed. Your attorney might also suggest mediating your claims if possible.
The judge may in some cases require mediation before you go to trial. This means going before a neutral third-party who will try to resolve your claims in a non-binding fashion. In many cases, this can be less expensive and more efficient as a manner of resolving your personal injury claim but it might not be successful if you and the other party are unable to come to terms. If all attempts to settle or mediate fail, your Indianapolis personal injury attorney will bring the evidence and witnesses together and try your case in front of a jury or judge. It can take a long time for your case to be heard before the courts due to scheduling concerns. Your personal injury attorney may want you to be a witness in the case.
The length of your trial will depend on the facts of your case. You only have one chance to recover compensation when you have been hurt in a life changing accident so make sure you do it properly by hiring a knowledgeable Indianapolis personal injury attorney who will make you feel informed throughout the duration of your case and who will use determination and skill to fight for everything you’re owed.
Sometimes the injuries associated with an accident are fatal, whether immediately at the scene or afterwards. In these cases, family members or the personal representative of the deceased’s estate may file a lawsuit with the help of an Indianapolis Wrongful Death Attorney. In the event that you have recently lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence in Indianapolis, you may have grounds to pursue a personal injury claim with the help of a lawyer. You are essentially filing a legal claim on behalf of the loved one who passed away who is now ineligible to do so.
When a person dies as a result of another individual’s recklessness or negligence, the surviving victims of this wrongful death may be eligible to pursue a claim. Justice can be served to those who suffered due to a loved one’s death by fighting for financial and emotional support of the deceased. Wrongful death is classified as a type of damage and only certain family members are entitled to file such a claim in Indiana. Consulting with the right Indianapolis Wrongful Death Attorney to determine your eligibility and taking action immediately can help put you and your family on the path towards a better future.
Figuring out your next steps is never easy when you or a loved one is in this challenging situation. With your future circumstances hinging on your ability to get help from an experienced attorney, you cannot afford to wait to get insight from a knowledgeable Indianapolis personal injury attorney who will do everything possible to protect your rights from the moment you file.
Navigating the complex insurance system and identifying all potentially liable parties is overwhelming for someone who is dealing with grief or the consequences of such an accident. Waiting too long or responding to the insurance company and making things easier for them to pursue the claim are not in your best interests.
Too many people find themselves in this situation of not having the protection of a lawyer who is knowledgeable about your rights and who can help you avoid many of the most common mistakes made in these cases. When a lawyer is at your side working hard on your behalf from the moment you have been hurt, you will know that situations such as accident reconstruction, contacting eyewitnesses to gather their statements, management of the insurance company and careful review of any settlement offers they present, and helping you find the specialist you need will all be handled by a team that cares about you and your future.
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It’s easy to feel alone if you find yourself the subject of a recent injury caused by another person. You might even be tempted to take that settlement offer presented by the insurance company but making these mistakes early on in your case could make it difficult or impossible for you to recover in full or to go back to work knowing that the medical bills will only continue to pour in.
The right lawyer, however, will be an advocate for you from day one of your case and can help you figure out what you must do in order to protect yourself. Without the services of an attorney at your side, mistakes made in your case could cost you the settlement or verdict you need to get proper medical treatment and recover as much as possible.
Your life maybe forever changed by an accident and there’s no way to go back in time and undo the damage that has already been completed but the right lawyer will be an advocate for you from the outset of your case and will help you fight for full and fair compensation. Indiana is an at-fault state in terms of car accident claims. This means that multiple avenues are available to you in the wake of an accident. You can file a claim with your insurance carrier or the other party’s insurance company, or you can go to court to seek damages by proving fault. To figure out what’s right for you, you should walk through the issues with a lawyer.
In many of these cases where you are in gridlock with an insurance company, the threat of going to court, especially with Indianapolis personal injury attorneys who have a reputation for success, can be enough to encourage settlement.
You need someone who will handle your personal injury claim with accuracy and care so that you can focus on what is most important, your medical care. There are so many different things to worry about in the wake of an accident but finding the right legal team to help you navigate the circumstances of your personal injury case will give you a great deal of peace of mind.
In complex cases such as trucking accidents, the determination of your Indianapolis personal injury attorney may be critical for figuring out everyone who could be held potentially liable. The financial issues associated with a serious accident should be the responsibility of the party who caused it and the right personal injury lawyer can help you ensure that any liable parties in your case cover your damages.
A personal injury case can move forward based on one or more possible theories for a court to give money to a plaintiff in an award. In an intentional tort case, you would allege that the defendant has intentionally done some wrongful act. In a negligence case however, you would argue that the defendant was not careful enough in his or her activities and such a lack of care ultimately caused the plaintiff to sustain some harm.
The determination of the appropriate theory to use in your personal injury case is extremely important to your outcome. This is why you want to schedule a consultation directly with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Indianapolis immediately.
Other theories of recovery after an injury include strict liability and products liability depending on the circumstances of your original case. If a dangerous product did not come with enough of a warning or if it was made in an unsafe manner, you could use this information in your personal injury lawsuit. Strict liability applies in dog bite cases when you or someone you know is viciously attacked by an animal. In most states around the country, dog owners could be protected to some degree if the dog attack in question was the first one and there was no reason to suspect the dog was dangerous. However, these “one bite rules” do not apply in Indiana. Instead, an animal’s owner is strictly liable for injuries caused by a dog, regardless of whether or not that dog had a past history of aggressive behavior.
Depending on the circumstances in that type of case, you could file an injury claim against the dog’s owner or with his/her insurance company. Knowing what you have to do and the options available to you is never easy since you’re already coping with the injuries and other problems from the accident.
Hiring an injury lawyer who knows the laws and will help you prepare the most compelling case possible is powerful for you and your family members.
With multiple locations across Indiana, Blackburn Romey handles different personal injury cases such as:
Look no further than us when searching for “Personal Injury attorneys near me” in Indianapolis.
If you or someone you know has been having ongoing problems with their vehicle that is under the manufacturer’s warranty or was when problems started emerging, reach out to Blackburn Romey, experienced lawyers near you, to explore options on your case and to learn what compensation you might be entitled to.
Contact one of our lawyers today.
Blackburn Romey founding partner Tom Blackburn graduated with honors receiving a degree from Indiana University at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Initiating his legal career in 1977, he has been active in practicing law and currently serves as a member of the Indiana State Bar Association on the Ethics and Advertising Committees, the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, as a board member at the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, and as an appointed member of the Executive Committee for the State of Indiana for the National Trial Lawyers Association.
