Do I Need a South Bend Car Accident Lawyer for My Car Accident Injury?

November 1, 2025

With so many motorists traveling on busy South Bend roads like SR 23 every day, car accidents may be inevitable in the city, and the injuries inflicted can be devastating. Luckily, you may have grounds for a personal injury case if you get hurt in South Bend traffic through no fault of your own, and hiring an attorney could increase your chances of success. Learn about the benefits of skilled legal assistance if you are wondering “Do I need a South Bend car accident lawyer for my car accident injury?”

Challenges of Handling Your Own Case

Though you certainly aren’t required to retain an attorney before seeking compensation for a car accident injury, you could face significant challenges if you handle your own case.

For instance, as in any kind of personal injury claim, a viable South Bend car accident case has to prove two core components: “negligence,” which is the failure to exercise caution to avoid harming others, and “damages,” which are the negative outcomes of negligence, such as an injury. Essentially, anyone who sustains physical damages in a South Bend car accident caused by a defendant’s negligence could go after that defendant for financial damages, but simply identifying every defendant could be tougher than you might think.

The list of candidates might include the driver who hit you, the owner of his or her vehicle, a business deploying that vehicle, and possibly other individuals, entities, and government agencies too. Very often, multiple defendants will share liability for the same South Bend car accident, and each of them must be pursued within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations, or you could be forever barred from getting fairly compensated for your losses.

And assuming you somehow locate everyone who contributed to your injury, you may still encounter stiff opposition from the insurance companies with applicable coverage, who are generally the primary sources of fiscal recovery in car accident cases. This may be your first serious collision, but it won’t be the first for a veteran insurance adjuster, who could exploit your relative unfamiliarity with the claims process to justify offering you less than your claim is worth – and the truth is you might not actually know what it’s worth.

Even if you have been injured before, you probably haven’t calculated an injury in dollars and cents before, so you may not be able to tell whether a proposal is too low. Moreover, what might seem like a moderate injury in the immediate aftermath of a South Bend car accident could eventually grow far worse or lead to dire complications that you didn’t anticipate but which could demand prolonged treatment at profound expense. Consequently, if you agree to a settlement that only reflects the short-term costs of your South Bend car accident, you could get stuck with the bill when the long-term costs finally emerge.

What a Seasoned Legal Practitioner Can Do for You

As you can see, you could be at a distinct disadvantage if you try to get justice for a car accident injury by yourself. However, the advantage could be yours if you partner with a seasoned legal practitioner, like the South Bend car accident lawyers at 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.

Just as it won’t be adjuster’s first accident, neither will it be the first for your lawyer, who will be much better equipped to unearth all of the potential defendants and fend off the tricks and tactics of their insurers. Your attorney will also be better equipped to assess the real value of your injury and will do whatever it takes to equal or exceed that figure by amassing irrefutable evidence of both its impact on your well-being and its link to the misconduct of the defendants.

Actions like these are a big part of why injured victims receive 3.5 times more on average with lawyers than they do without them and why the vast majority of car accident cases are resolved during negotiations. Nevertheless, a South Bend car accident attorney will be indispensable if a trial becomes necessary, since 96 percent of plaintiffs lose when they represent themselves in court but professionally represented plaintiffs are statistically favored to win.

Get in Touch with Our South Bend Car Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been standing up for hardworking Hoosiers for nearly three decades. If your life has been disrupted by a catastrophic car accident in the South Bend area, get in touch with our South Bend car accident lawyers to explore the remedies that may be available to you.

You can schedule a free consultation with a knowledgeable South Bend car accident attorney by calling us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form now.