The Top 5 Questions Hensley Legal Group’s Clients Ask Our Indiana Personal Injury Attorneys

March 31, 2026

• Partnering with knowledgeable personal injury attorneys in Indiana can get you the best settlement.
• A lawyer can work through the complexities of a case that can take months or even years.
• Experienced representation is crucial when dealing with insurance companies looking to limit what your case is worth.

When you get in an accident, your life changes. Your plans can be upended for weeks, months, or possibly years. It can be confusing, and even scary. The thing you need right away is answers to your questions so you can begin to get your life back to where you want it to be.

There are a lot of questions that will be unique to your case, but there are also a lot of general questions that most people have when they are thinking about hiring a personal injury lawyer to represent them.

Knowing the answers as you start your journey lets you focus on the specifics of your case and prepares you for the next stages of the healing process. When you have experienced Indiana personal injury attorneys, you can get your questions answered and your case brought to completion.

It starts with knowledge, so here are the Top 5 Questions Hensley Legal Group’s clients ask our Indiana personal injury attorneys.

“How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?”

The question of cost is at the top of our clients’ minds. Everyone has heard horror stories about getting a big settlement and losing most of it to attorney fees. Or they’ve been told that they can’t afford experienced representation because they can’t afford to pay up front.

That can frustrate people whose lives are already turned upside down by an accident. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With Hensley Legal Group, you pay nothing up front. It starts with a free consultation where we review your case and decide whether to take it on.

If and when we do, we work on a contingency basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case, at which point we take a percentage of the winnings for our fee. There will also be reimbursement for any extra fees we covered, including medical record fees, police report fees, and court filing fees, among others.

One other direct benefit of working with a personal injury attorney in Indiana is that we can work with your medical providers to reduce your bills. This might not be a settlement, but it can mean more money in your pocket.

“Do I need a personal injury lawyer?”

Many people in Indiana who have been in an accident are aware of the stories we mentioned above. They imagine a settlement and then start subtracting attorney fees. It’s very easy and tempting to think that you don’t need a personal injury lawyer and that not having one will allow you to end up with a bigger share of your settlement.

However, while you can legally work as your own representation, it is almost never a good idea. Personal injury cases are complex and challenging, involving multiple parties, different vectors of liability, and an overwhelming amount of paperwork.

The insurance companies you are fighting are very good at managing this paperwork and navigating the complexities. Luckily, so are experienced personal injury lawyers in Indiana.

When you work with a personal injury attorney, you get a team of people skilled in the difficulties of getting you the settlement you deserve. You get a team that knows how to negotiate with insurance companies. The areas that they manage include:

• Determining who was at fault
• Assessing immediate injuries and medical bills
• Calculating how injuries will affect you in the future and what you will need later on
• Coordinating with witnesses and experts
• Understanding how evidence can work in your favor
• Navigating the complexities of a court case
• Knowing when to settle and when to go to trial
• Pushing back against an insurance company trying to lower your settlement
• Adding up all underlying costs
• Bringing a claim to a successful conclusion

This is just a partial list, of course. But it is a full-time job, which is why settling your personal injury case without an attorney in Indianapolis is almost never a good idea.

Working with an experienced attorney isn’t free. But not employing the services of a dedicated team can cost you so much more.

“How long does a personal injury case take?”

There are two parts to this question. When thinking about the time your case will take, the first question you should ask is how long you have to file an Indiana personal injury claim.

Your time to file is not unlimited. In most cases, the Statute of Limitations is two years, but it can be much shorter if the fault is with a government entity, whether that’s a state, county, or city body or its employee, so you will want to contact an Indiana personal injury attorney sooner rather than later.

However, getting started might not be as simple as you think. Settlement negotiations generally shouldn’t begin until all your medical treatment is complete. This can be frustrating for clients, who are understandably eager to get started (and finished).

But there are other factors that need to be considered. For instance, a broken leg might not heal properly after a cast is set. There could be muscle or nerve damage that isn’t apparent in the weeks after the accident and might not be visible during initial treatments. There could be long-term damages for which you will need to be compensated.

Basically, if you settle for the costs of a broken leg, you might be out of luck for damages that only come to light down the road.

Once negotiations start, it can take months or even years to reach a settlement. There could be a lengthy mediation process to settle out of court. If the case goes to court, pre-trial motions can extend the timeline.

The case can also be complicated when there are multiple parties involved and liability disputes. For example, if you are in a car accident and are suing the other driver’s insurance company, the company might blame the city for poor road maintenance. This can add even more time.

There are many wrinkles to every case, which is another reason why it is important to hire an experienced Indiana personal injury attorney. Doing things right takes time, but it is the best way to get a fair settlement.

“How much is my personal injury case worth?”

This is the $25,000 question…or much more. You will want to know how much you stand to recoup from your personal injury case. While no amount of money can change the reality of your accident, it can help you get your life back to a better place.

There’s no one answer to how much your personal injury case is worth, but some factors that go into a final settlement include:

• Medical expenses, both immediate and long-term (which is why it is smart to wait until after treatment is complete before negotiating).
• Severity of injuries.
• Lost wages. You might be out of work for a few weeks, a few years, or much longer. Your lost wages, both actual and potential, go into what your personal injury case is worth.
• Pain and suffering. This is harder to put a number on. Shock, pain, and trauma can have long-term effects on you. They are hard to quantify, but no less real for that. That’s why it’s important to have a personal injury lawyer who understands long-term effects.

The important thing to remember is that, to the opposing insurance company, you’re a claim that has to be lowered or even denied. You’re a number. To the Indiana personal injury attorneys at Hensley Legal Group, you are a person who deserves full compensation for what happened.

An experienced Indiana accident lawyer can help determine what your personal injury case is worth and fight for you to get it.

“What should I do after a car accident?”

The moment of a car accident can be shocking, but knowing what to do if you’re involved in an Indiana car accident is the first step toward healing.

The first thing to do is make sure that you are safe and able to move. You will want to move your car to a safe spot as quickly as you can. If that isn’t possible, you need to move yourself to a safe space off the road. From there, there are important things to do…and not to do:

1. Contact the police. This could be city or state police, depending on if you are on a local road or the highway.
2. Gather information from the other driver(s).
3. Talk to witnesses and get their information as well (names and phone numbers). Witnesses can be very important for your case, and the police might not be able to talk to all of them.

One thing we have to emphasize is that you should not give statements to anyone other than the police. Opposing insurance companies can use your words against you. You might still be in shock (even days later). They will not be. They’ll be professionals trying to limit the scope of their responsibility and what they have to pay.

This is why it is important to talk to an Indiana personal injury attorney without delay. Until you have representation, you should not give statements or pursue a claim on your own. Doing so can hurt your case.

Working with an experienced team dedicated to getting you the best results can help it.

Reach Out to Our Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys in Indiana

You may have a lot of questions, but you can get answers from Hensley Legal Group, PC, a dedicated Indiana personal injury law firm whose experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of the wrongfully injured since 1998.

Simply call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form now for a free consultation with a knowledgeable Indiana accident lawyer.