How to File a Personal Injury Claim with a Hammond Personal Injury Lawyer

February 21, 2025

Accidental injuries are an unfortunate fact of life in Hammond, but you may have grounds for a personal injury case when somebody else is responsible for yours, and a skilled attorney could help ensure that every legal requirement for that case is met.  Let Hensley Legal Group explain how to file a personal injury claim with a Hammond personal injury lawyer. 

Identify the Defendants 

The Hammond personal injury claims process rarely varies, no matter if you were hurt in a construction accident, a slip-and-fall, or a collision, of which 3,608 took place in Hammond in 2022.   

To be viable, any personal injury claim has to demonstrate both negligence, which is the failure to exercise care to avoid inflicting harm, and damages, which are the negative consequences of that failure.  Basically, if a plaintiff incurs bodily damages because of a defendant’s negligence, that plaintiff could file a claim against the defendant in order to obtain financial damages. 

As such, the first step in filing a Hammond personal injury claim is to identify the defendant or defendants for it, which could be more challenging than you might think.  Indeed, multiple parties could be liable for the same accidental injury, and you will have to pursue each of them within the period set by law or be forever barred from full fiscal recovery. 

This could be a daunting prospect to a novice plaintiff like yourself, but not to a seasoned Hammond personal injury attorney.  Once retained, your lawyer will conduct a comprehensive investigation to unearth the root causes of your injury and the defendants who contributed to it before moving on to the other half of the personal injury claim equation, in which a plaintiff needs to… 

Assess the Damages 

Even if you have been injured before, the odds are that you have not had to calculate your injuries in economic terms before, which you must do accurately if you want to determine whether a proposed settlement for those injuries is fair. 

Yet your current injuries may only constitute a small fraction of your total damages.  For example, the symptoms of some injuries might not be immediately apparent, and certain grave medical complications may end up developing over time.  Moreover, damages aren’t always monetary in the way that medical bills and lost wages are, but non-monetary damages like pain and suffering and psychological trauma could potentially be more detrimental and more enduring.  And if you accept an offer that does not reflect the entirety of your damages, you could be stuck dealing with the actual costs when they finally emerge. 

In contrast, a proficient attorney will be able to evaluate what your damages are really worth and will strive to equal or exceed that figure during negotiations with the defendants’ insurance carriers.  This is a key reason why personal injury victims receive 3.5 times more on average with lawyers than they do without them. 

Of course, you won’t be eligible to receive anything until you… 

Establish a Valid Claim 

Assuming that you have figured out how you were injured, the defendants who injured you, and the damages you sustained because you were injured, you can now establish a valid claim against the defendants.   

Typically, your attorney will accomplish this task by sending the defendants formal notification in writing and possibly alerting their insurers as well.  This notification should inform the defendants why damages are being sought and request that all future communications be directed to the lawyer, who will be representing your interests with regard to this incident.  Upon completing these steps, your personal injury claim will have officially been filed, at which point your attorney will work to get you top dollar for your damages.   

Though a claim could provide a sufficient means of redress for a capable Hammond personal injury lawyer, a plaintiff may opt to file a lawsuit too, which could satisfy any remaining statutory obligations while affording greater legal protections and the opportunity to bring the case to trial. 

But if you do decide to take this additional step, it is critical to select the appropriate venue for your suit, since it could be dismissed if it isn’t filed in a court with the authority to issue a binding judgment – the kind of senseless oversight that a meticulous attorney will never allow. 

Get in Touch with Our Hammond Personal Injury Lawyers 

Hensley Legal Group has been fiercely advocating for the wrongfully injured for over a quarter century.  If you have been badly hurt in the Hammond area through no fault of you own, get in touch with our Hammond personal injury lawyers to explore that may be remedies available to you. 

For a free case review with a dedicated Hammond personal injury attorney, please call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form today.