Kokomo Personal Injury Lawyer

Are you looking for a personal injury lawyer in Kokomo, IN?

At Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers, we ask that you contact our office for a confidential case review with a Kokomo personal injury lawyer.

If a driver on State Road 931, a property owner on the south side of Kokomo, or a doctor at a local clinic caused an injury that put you out of work, the claim that follows will be evaluated by an insurance adjuster. The adjuster works for the company that pays, with a goal of minimizing your settlement. Our firm has challenged adjusters on behalf of injured Hoosiers since 1954.

Our Kokomo, IN personal injury lawyer represents clients on a contingency fee, so no attorney fee is owed unless we recover compensation. Contact our office for a free case review.

Personal Injury Lawyer Kokomo, IN

A personal injury lawyer brings a claim on behalf of a person who was hurt by someone else’s negligence and proves the fault, the injury, and the cost. The attorney deals with the insurer, documents the losses, and files suit when the insurer’s offer falls short of what the claim is worth.

In 2022, 3,821 people were involved in traffic collisions in Howard County, and 475 of them were injured, 102 of them with incapacitating injuries, while 7 were killed, according to Indiana Crash Facts from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. A personal injury attorney in Kokomo, IN handles the claims that follow those crashes, along with falls on commercial property, dog bites, medical errors, and workplace exposures that arise in Howard County.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Kokomo

Our Kokomo personal injury attorneys accept cases in which another person’s or company’s negligence caused the injury. Every client is a plaintiff; we do not defend insurers.

• Car accidents. Collisions on US 31, State Road 931, and Markland Avenue produce most of the claims we receive from Kokomo. We establish fault from the crash report and the vehicles’ data, and we identify every policy that may pay.
• Truck accidents. A crash with a semi on US 31 involves a driver, a carrier, and often a broker or shipper, each separately insured. We send preservation demands for the truck’s electronic records before they are overwritten.
• Motorcycle accidents. Riders suffer serious injuries in crashes that drivers describe as minor. We gather the physical evidence that shows the driver’s failure to yield.
• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents. A person struck in a crosswalk or along a shoulder has a claim against the driver and, when the driver is uninsured, against the household’s own auto policy.
• Slip and fall injuries. A store, restaurant, apartment complex, or parking lot owner must repair or warn of hazards it knew about or should have found. We obtain the incident report and surveillance video before they are discarded.
• Dog bites. An owner who knew the dog was dangerous or failed to control it is responsible for the injuries, and the owner’s homeowners or renters policy usually pays the claim.
• Medical malpractice. A missed diagnosis, surgical error, or medication mistake at a Kokomo hospital or clinic is reviewed by a medical panel before it reaches a courtroom. We retain the physicians who evaluate the care.
• Mesothelioma. Kokomo’s industrial history produced asbestos exposures that caused disease decades later. We trace the products and the companies responsible.
• Wrongful death. When an injury is fatal, the personal representative of the estate brings the claim for the surviving spouse, children, or dependents.

Why Choose Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers as my Personal Injury Lawyer in Kokomo, IN?

A Former Prosecutor and City Attorney Who Has Tried Injury Cases Since 1954

Donald W. Ward served as a Deputy Trial Prosecutor for Marion County from 1962 to 1965 and as Deputy Corporation Counsel for the City of Indianapolis from 1975 to 1980 before devoting his practice to injured plaintiffs. The Indiana Trial Lawyers Association gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 and named him a Lifetime Director. He graduated from Hanover College in 1951 and from Notre Dame Law School in 1954. Charles P. Ward, a Butler University graduate who was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1989, holds the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, as does his father, and carries the Lead Counsel verification.

Both attorneys handle Kokomo injury cases, and the firm has helped clients recover millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.

Two AV Preeminent Attorneys and a Fee Paid Only From Your Recovery

We charge no attorney fee unless we recover compensation, and the fee is a percentage of what we recover. The first consultation is free and confidential. We represent Kokomo and Howard County clients from our Indianapolis office.

What Is Important To Understand About Personal Injury Cases?

What Are Important Aspects of a Personal Injury Case?

An injury claim is decided by the insurer’s file. The first weeks determine what that file contains.

• The adjuster’s early offer arrives before the medical bills are complete, and a person who accepts money from the other side’s insurer signs away the rest of the claim.
• Health insurers, Medicare, and hospitals may assert a subrogation claim or lien against the settlement, and the amount paid to you depends on how those claims are negotiated.
• Medical bills must be paid while the claim is pending, and who pays them in the meantime depends on your health coverage, your auto policy’s medical payments coverage, and the provider’s willingness to wait.
• The insurer gains from delay, because an insurance stall shortens the time an attorney has to investigate before the filing deadline.
• A claim against a city, county, or state agency, including a crash with a government vehicle, requires a written notice of claim within months of the injury.

What Is The Personal Injury Case Timeline?

A Kokomo personal injury lawyer manages the steps below, and the pace depends on how long your medical recovery takes.

1. We open the claim with every insurer involved and send letters requiring the preservation of video, vehicles, and records.
2. We collect the crash or incident report, photographs, witness statements, and your medical records as treatment proceeds.
3. Your physicians determine when you have recovered or what permanent limitations remain.
4. We send the insurer a demand that documents fault and every category of loss, and negotiation follows.
5. We file suit in the Howard Circuit or Superior Court when the offer does not reflect the claim’s value, and discovery, mediation, and trial follow over the next year or more.

Settlement timing depends more on the injuries than on the court, and a claim with a disputed fault defense or an uninsured defendant takes longer than one with clear liability.

What Should You Bring to Your Personal Injury Consultation?

The records below let us evaluate the claim at the first meeting, and we can obtain whatever you do not have.

• Your account of what happened, written while it is fresh, with the date, location, and the names of anyone involved.
• The crash report, incident report, or the name of the agency or business that prepared one.
• Medical records and bills, or the names of the providers who treated you.
• Your health insurance card and auto insurance declarations page, which show what coverage may pay bills now and what may claim reimbursement later.
• Any letter, email, or voicemail from an insurer.

The consultation is free. A personal injury attorney in Kokomo will tell you whether the facts support a claim, what the claim may be worth, and what mistakes to avoid while it is pending.

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Personal Injury Cases

Liability requires proof of the three elements of a negligence claim: the defendant failed to use reasonable care, that failure caused the injury, and the injury produced measurable losses. A driver who runs a red light, a landlord who ignores a broken stair, and a surgeon who leaves an instrument behind have each failed in that duty.

Indiana’s comparative fault law reduces an award by the injured person’s share of fault, and a person found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing under Indiana Code 34-51-2-6. Insurers raise that defense in most contested claims.

Compensation includes medical expenses, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering, and most Indiana injury claims carry no cap on those damages. Punitive damages for reckless or malicious conduct are limited to three times the compensatory award or $50,000, whichever is greater, under Indiana Code 34-51-3-4. A lawsuit must be filed within two years of the injury under Indiana Code 34-11-2-4, and a wrongful death claim must be filed by the personal representative within two years of the death under Indiana Code 34-23-1-1.

Most Dangerous Locations for Personal Injury Accidents in Kokomo

State Road 931, the former US 31 route through the city, carries local traffic through a series of signalized intersections, and the Indiana Department of Transportation’s current program of projects for Howard County includes median construction on State Road 931 between State Road 26 and US 35 and resurfacing between the US 31 ramps and Markland Avenue.

The county’s transportation plan commits the Kokomo-Howard County Governmental Coordinating Council to evaluate the ten highest-crash locations in the county each year by crash rate and severity. Our Kokomo personal injury attorneys request that data when a crash location is in dispute.

• Injury lawsuits in Howard County are heard in the Circuit Court or in one of the Superior Courts at the Howard County Courthouse, 104 North Buckeye Street, including Superior Court II and Superior Court IV, both courts of general civil jurisdiction.
• Crashes inside the city are investigated by the Kokomo Police Department on South Union Street.
• The Kokomo Fire Department responds to injury crashes from seven stations, and its run reports document the scene.
• State highways in Howard County are maintained by INDOT’s Greenfield District, whose maintenance records matter when a road defect contributed to a crash.

Reach Out to Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation

A personal injury attorney in Kokomo, IN can review the report and your insurance coverage and explain what the insurer owes you. There is no fee unless we recover compensation, and the first meeting is free. Contact us to schedule a consultation at our office or by phone. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we respond promptly.