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Personal injury lawyers are responsible for helping their clients get justice after an injury. Getting compensation to deal with the effects of an accident can be difficult if you are actively recovering from your injuries. It can also be difficult to know whom to sue, how to file your claim, where to file your claim, and how much to ask for in damages.
With the help of a South Bend, IN personal injury lawyer, you can get your lawsuit filed and start on the road to recovery. However, it is important to act quickly because the statute of limitations blocks cases filed after two years.
If you or someone in your family was injured in an accident, call Wruck Paupore today at (219) 322-1166. Our South Bend, IN personal injury attorneys offer free case evaluations.
Injuries can happen in many different ways. Various cases are usually grouped together into a few different categories of personal injury cases. Although our attorneys tend to see these cases more often than other cases, our attorneys still handle any type of personal injury case you might need help with.
Car crashes are some of the most common ways people are injured. Driving is the most dangerous thing most people do in their daily lives, and negligent drivers can leave victims with serious injuries. Rehabilitation costs, vehicle repair costs, and more can all be claimed in a car accident case.
Injuries from slipping and falling are another of the most common types of personal injury cases our South Bend personal injury lawyers handle. Whether the injury occurred in a slippery lobby, at a grocery store with an uncleaned spill, or on an icy sidewalk, our injury attorneys can help you get compensation.
Injuries from negligent medical care can leave patients with severe injuries. Victims of medical malpractice often do not have the expertise to tell whether their injury is from normal complications or medical mistakes. Because of this, they often need the help of an experienced injury attorney and a second opinion from another physician to uncover what happened.
Our attorneys are dedicated to helping injury victims get compensation for what happened to them. This includes compensation for injuries from abuse in nursing homes and assisted living. These victims are often some of the most vulnerable people in society, and they often deserve compensation for medical expenses and punitive damages to set right what happened to them.
Many injury attorneys handle car crash cases, but these claims are often more complex when they involve commercial truck drivers. Truck accident lawsuits can often be filed against the trucking company and the driver, potentially leading to more difficult legal questions that our attorneys are prepared to answer.
Injuries on someone else’s property can include burns, injuries from collapsing structures, drowning injuries, dog bites, and more. Our South Bend injury attorneys represent victims of all kinds of injuries from dangerous conditions on someone else’s property. This includes claims against private homeowners and claims against businesses, restaurants, grocery stores, and more.
When you purchase a product with an unsafe design or manufacturing defects, you could be seriously injured. You could also be hurt if the product is missing the proper warnings to keep you safe while using the product. Our attorneys work to hold negligent manufacturers responsible for these kinds of injury cases.
If you are injured at work, workers’ compensation rules will often prevent you from suing. Our injury attorneys can help you find any loopholes or exceptions to help you maximize compensation through a lawsuit when possible.
When you have a personal injury case, your injury lawyers will need to prove four major elements to get you the compensation you need. They will need to prove these elements “by a preponderance of the evidence” to meet the burden of proof.
Most injury cases are based on claims that the defendant injured you through negligence rather than intentional action. When proving a negligence case, you need to show the court that the defendant owed you a legal duty to prevent or avoid injury. The legal duty in your case is usually based on the relationship between you and the defendant. This does not mean you must personally know the defendant, only that circumstances have given rise to a relationship that creates a legal duty.
For example, doctors owe their patients a level of care similar to that of other doctors with equivalent training and experience. Property owners and businesses renting properties are legally obligated to take reasonable measures to prevent harm to people legally, and sometimes illegally, on the premises. For instance, nursing homes and staff have a duty to provide appropriate care to residents while keeping the home safe.
Duty can also be based on laws that are intended to keep people safe, such as traffic laws or local ordinances. In addition to following traffic laws, drivers in South Bend must remain focused and attentive when behind the wheel, just like any other reasonable driver.
Second, you must show that the defendant breached that duty through carelessness or lack of skill. A negligent driver would violate their duty by texting while driving, speeding, or running a red light. Perhaps your doctor failed to make a diagnosis that another similarly experienced doctor in the same field would not have missed. Our team will review the evidence to determine how the defendant breached their duty.
Third, you must prove that the defendant’s breach actually caused your injuries (i.e., your injuries would not have happened without the defendant’s mistakes). This might also mean showing that a prior accident or condition is not the cause of your current damages if you were injured in the past.
Last, we will show that the injury resulted in economic and/or non-economic damages for which a court can order compensation. Economic damages can be proven with medical bills, repair estimates, and other records. At the same time, experts and your own testimony can establish the non-economic damages you should be compensated for.
In a civil lawsuit, the plaintiff (the victim) needs to produce evidence of what happened to prove their case. They hold the burden of proof and production and must convince the jury that the defendant was at fault. Cases must be proven “by a preponderance of the evidence,” which essentially means proving that your claim is, more likely than not, true.
This is a much easier burden for victims to meet than in criminal cases where cases have to be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.” This means that many cases can be won and lost because of how the jury swings that day. This is why having an experienced, dedicated South Bend personal injury lawyer handling your personal injury claim is vital.
Various pieces of evidence are used to prove the elements described above. While the evidence you need will depend on the type of claim you are filing, some forms of evidence are common to most injury cases. Accident reports and photos are instrumental in proving liability and your damages. We can also arrange for eyewitnesses and experts to testify, significantly strengthening your claim.
Accident reports are one of the best places to start building a case. They often contain detailed information about the accident, including the people involved, the time it occurred, and other facts that can be easily forgotten soon after. For example, if you are injured in a car crash, one of the first steps to take is to call the police. They will note the important details, like the driver’s insurance information and witnesses’ identities. They will also include their observations about the scene and the other driver that you might not have noticed.
If your accident occurred on another’s property, it is a good idea to report it to the property owner. In many cases, this will be a business of some type and will likely take a formal accident report. You are entitled to a copy of any report drafted, as well as internal communications regarding your accident.
Photo evidence is commonly used in personal injury claims. For instance, photos of your damaged car or the spill that caused your fall often have a more profound impact than simply describing those details. Be sure to take photos of the scene before leaving to get medical care. The accident scene will likely be cleaned right after, and important details will be lost if they are not preserved. This includes photographing your injuries, if possible, so their original can be fully understood later.
Video evidence has also become more typical as the use and accessibility of cameras and security systems have increased. If you recorded videos after your accident rather than take photos, the videos can be submitted as evidence. Dashcam footage can be useful if it shows the defendant’s negligence. Your incident might also have been captured on nearby security cameras if the accident happened in public or a business. However, we must act fast to request it, as footage in others’ possession usually does not last long.
If witnesses to your accident come forward, our team can contact and interview them to determine whether their testimony supports your claim. If so, they can provide important information to fill in the gaps. For instance, if you were t-boned in an accident, you might not have noticed the other driver until they slammed into you, so you would not have seen the red light they ran. If a witness across the street did, it would help settle the issue of which driver had the right of way and, thus, who should be held liable.
If your injuries allow, speak to witnesses before leaving the scene. However, do not say more than you need to get their contact information and notes about what they observed. The defendant’s attorneys will have the chance to question your witnesses. You do not want any innocent statements you previously made to come back up and get misconstrued by opposing counsel.
Expert testimony is sometimes needed to prove elements of a case that are beyond the common understanding of laypeople. For instance, you will need a medical expert who can testify as to how your doctor deviated from their standard of care in a medical malpractice claim. Experts can also explain how your particular injuries will impact your overall quality of life or reduce your ability to work.
To learn more about filing an injury case with the help of our South Bend, IN personal injury lawyers, call Wruck Paupore today for a free review of your potential case. Our phone number is (219) 322-1166.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
Contact Us:
Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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