Anyone who has suffered a personal injury has many things to consider both immediately after the incident and in the weeks that follow. Immediately following an accident, it’s very important to seek medical care for your injuries. If you wait any amount of time, be it an hour, a day, or a week, courts will likely take your waiting as indication that your injuries may not be all that serious (and, therefore, not all that deserving of compensation). In addition, defense can then argue that your injury actually occurred during this waiting period. Even if you are unsure of the severity of your injury, receiving a proper medical assessment can prove to be invaluable evidence during trial. This applies to most types of personal injury cases, including negligence, motor vehicle accidents, defamation, medical injury, product liability, or wrongful death. Whether you were injured by a defective product or suffered a work-related injury, you must follow all the advice and treatment recommendations from your medical doctor for your best chance of recovering any damages. This includes follow-up visits, therapy, medications, or whatever medical discourse is suggested by your medical professional. The bottom line is this: If you hope to recover damages from a personal injury lawsuit, you must go to a medical doctor and follow every piece of their advice.
In addition, Indiana has strict guidelines on the time limit to file any personal injury claims. This makes it even more important to consult with an experienced attorney as soon as possible to discuss the legal validity of your case. For most types of personal injury cases, that timeline is 2 years (this can vary depending on the situation). Indiana operates on a modified comparative negligence, which means that someone may only recover damages if they are less than 50% at fault for the accident/incidence, and that damages are rewarded based on percentage fault. So if you are suing for $100,000 in damages and the court finds that you were 20% at fault and the defending party was 80% at fault, the defendant would end up paying out $80,000 (80% of $100,000).