Marion Personal Injury Lawyer

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

At Ward & Ward Personal Injury Lawyers, we are a personal injury practice built on more than 70 years of trial work.

If a crash on the State Road 9 bypass, a fall at a store on the north side of Marion, or a mistake at a local hospital has left you with further injuries, the insurer has already assigned an adjuster whose first job is to minimize your settlement. Our Marion, IN personal injury lawyer has represented injured Hoosiers since 1954, and you pay nothing unless we recover. Contact our office for a free consultation.

Personal Injury Lawyer Marion, IN

A personal injury attorney proves that another person’s carelessness caused your injury, calculates what the injury has cost and will cost, and collects that amount from the responsible party’s insurer or from a Grant County jury. In Indiana, the attorney also keeps your assigned share of fault below the line that ends a claim.

Grant County recorded 2,129 traffic collisions and 11 traffic deaths in 2024, and 1,088 of those collisions happened inside the City of Marion, according to the county crash profile published by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute from state police data. Crashes are the largest share of the cases a personal injury attorney in Marion handles; falls, workplace injuries, and medical errors make up most of the rest.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Marion

Grant County’s cases come from Interstate 69, the two-lane state roads that feed it, the retail corridor along the bypass, and the county’s factories and hospital. Our Marion personal injury lawyers handle the following cases.

• Car accidents. Rear-end and intersection crashes on State Road 18, State Road 9, and Baldwin Avenue produce most of the county’s injury claims. We obtain the crash report and the other driver’s policy limits early.
• Truck accidents. Semi-trailers on I-69 carry freight through Grant County at highway speed. We preserve the truck’s electronic data and the driver’s logs before the carrier’s insurer does.
• Motorcycle accidents. The county reported 51 motorcycle collisions in 2024. The other driver’s insurer will argue the rider was speeding or hard to see.
• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Students near the Indiana Wesleyan campus and residents crossing Washington Street are struck by drivers who did not yield. Both the driver’s coverage and your own policy may apply.
• Slip and fall accidents. A wet floor at a grocery store, an unlit stairway at an apartment complex, or ice on a parking lot creates a claim against the property owner when the owner knew of the hazard or should have.
• Construction and workplace injuries. Workers’ compensation pays part of a worker’s loss. A separate claim against a contractor, equipment maker, or property owner recovers the rest.
• Medical malpractice. A missed diagnosis or surgical error at a Grant County hospital goes through Indiana’s medical review panel before a lawsuit can be filed. We handle both stages.
• Head and spinal injuries. A brain or spinal cord injury changes the value of a case because the losses continue for life. We work with the treating physicians to document future care.
• Wrongful death. When a crash or a medical error kills a family member, the estate’s representative brings the claim for the family’s financial losses.

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

Three Terms on the Commission That Selects Indiana’s Appellate Judges

Donald W. Ward was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1954 after Hanover College and Notre Dame Law School, and he served three terms on the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that screens candidates for the Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. He is a past president of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association and has belonged to the American Association for Justice since 1958.

Best Lawyers Recognition and Super Lawyers Every Year Since 2005

Charles P. Ward has practiced injury law since 1989, after graduating from Butler University and Indiana University and clerking for a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. He holds an AV Preeminent rating, has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2005, and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for plaintiff personal injury litigation. He is a member of the Indianapolis Inn of Court.

We have recovered millions of dollars for injured clients across Indiana. We handle Grant County cases from our Indianapolis office, meet by phone or video, and give every client our cell phone numbers. You pay nothing unless we recover for you, and the consultation is free.

What Is Important To Understand About Personal Injury Cases?

What Should You Bring to Your Personal Injury Consultation?

The items below let a personal injury attorney in Marion, IN open the claim at the first meeting.

• The crash report from the Marion Police Department, the Grant County Sheriff, or the Indiana State Police, or the incident report from the store or employer.
• Your own auto insurance declarations page, which shows whether you carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and medical payments coverage.
• Discharge papers and bills from Marion General Hospital or the hospital you were transferred to.
• Pay stubs or an employer letter showing the time you have missed.
• Every letter, voicemail, or recorded-statement request from any insurance company.

The consultation is free, and we will tell you whether the claim is worth pursuing and what it is likely worth.

What Are Important Aspects of a Personal Injury Case?

Four features of Indiana law decide most Grant County injury claims before a jury hears them.

1. The 50 percent line. A claimant whose fault exceeds the fault of everyone else combined recovers nothing; a claimant below that line recovers a reduced amount. The adjuster’s fault assignment is the first fight in every case, and a person who was partly at fault can still recover.
2. The seat belt amendment. For injuries after June 30, 2024, a defendant may argue that an unbelted adult’s injuries would have been less severe, and the jury may reduce damages on that basis. Grant County’s restraint use fell to 83.8 percent in 2024.
3. The coverage gap. Indiana requires only $25,000 of liability coverage per person, which does not pay for a surgery. Your own underinsured motorist coverage fills the gap, and an underinsured defendant cannot use your coverage to reduce what he owes.
4. The distance to trauma care. Marion General Hospital has an emergency department but no trauma designation, so serious injuries are transferred to Fort Wayne or Indianapolis. The transfer, the specialist care, and the travel are part of the damages, and a pre-existing condition made worse by the injury is compensated as well.

What Is The Personal Injury Case Timeline?

A Marion personal injury attorney opens the claim with the at-fault party’s insurer and your own insurer in the first week, then gathers the crash report, the photographs, and the medical records while you treat. We do not value the case until your doctors know whether you will recover fully, because a signed settlement cannot be reopened. Most claims settle with the insurer within a year of the end of treatment. When the insurer refuses a fair figure, we file in the Grant Circuit Court or one of the three Superior Courts at 101 East 4th Street in Marion, and discovery, mediation, and a trial date follow over one to two years. A car accident case and a hospital case follow different paths, and we explain yours at the first meeting.

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Personal Injury Cases

Liability rests on negligence, the failure to use the care a reasonable person would use, and the claimant proves duty, breach, causation, and damages. Under Indiana Code 34-51-2-5, the claimant’s own fault reduces the award in proportion, and under Indiana Code 34-51-2-6 a claimant whose fault exceeds 50 percent is barred. The seat belt rule in Indiana Code 9-19-10-7, as amended in 2024, allows evidence of nonuse to mitigate damages for a plaintiff who was at least 15 years old.

Damages include medical expenses, lost earnings, reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering, and Indiana places no cap on them in an ordinary negligence case. Punitive damages are limited to the greater of three times compensatory damages or $50,000 under Indiana Code 34-51-3-4. The collateral source rule in Indiana Code 34-44-1-2 lets the jury hear about certain payments from other sources, except insurance you paid for yourself. In a wrongful death case, Indiana Code 34-23-1-2 caps loss of love and companionship at $300,000 for an unmarried adult without dependents. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage must be offered with every Indiana auto policy under Indiana Code 27-7-5-2.

The two-year statute of limitations in Indiana Code 34-11-2-4 runs from the injury, and a claim against the City of Marion, Grant County, or a county hospital requires a notice within 180 days under Indiana Code 34-13-3-8.

Most Dangerous Locations for Personal Injury Accidents in Marion

Marion’s crashes concentrate where I-69 traffic meets the local grid at the State Road 18 and State Road 22 interchanges, and the 2024 county profile counted 195 speed-related collisions and 37 alcohol-impaired collisions countywide, with drivers aged 15 to 20 crashing at the highest rate of any age group. The INDOT Fort Wayne District lists a U.S. 35 bridge replacement over the Mississinewa River in its 2026-2030 program, and that work zone sits east of State Road 15.

• Crash reports inside the city come from the Marion Police Department through the city’s records request office at 301 South Branson Street, and county road crashes from the Grant County Sheriff at 214 East 4th Street.
• Lawsuits are filed with the Grant County Clerk and heard in the Grant Circuit Court or one of the three Superior Courts at 101 East 4th Street.
• Marion General Hospital at 441 North Wabash Avenue has a dedicated emergency department, according to its state hospital report, and the nearest state-designated trauma centers are Level II in Fort Wayne and Level I in Indianapolis.
• The INDOT Fort Wayne District maintains I-69 and the state roads in Grant County, and the Grant County EMA at 401 South Adams Street coordinates transportation emergencies.

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

A personal injury attorney in Marion, IN can tell you after one conversation what the insurer’s fault assignment means and whether your own policy covers the difference. You pay nothing unless we recover, and the consultation is free. Contact us to set up a consultation.