Injury Lawyer Near Me

Injury Lawyer Near Me

 

A serious injury can completely change your life and your family’s future. Injuries require costly medical care. They prevent you from working and earning an income. They can cause pain and disability and can keep you from engaging with others, making you feel depressed and isolated. 

When you or a loved one is seriously hurt in a negligent accident, you may be entitled to compensation and it’s important to discuss this with our injury lawyer near you. At Theodoros & Rooth, P.C., our injury lawyer near me law firm has been fighting for Northwest Indiana’s injury victims since 1988. Our personal injury lawyers are seasoned trial attorneys with extensive experience helping victims navigate their injury claims. 

Filing an Injury Claim in Indiana

Indiana gives some victims the right to seek damages for the losses incurred by their injuries. To be eligible, you must be less than 51% to blame for the accident leading to the injury, per Indiana Code (IC) 34-51-2-6. Those who qualify can see a reduction in compensation based on the smaller percentage of fault they hold. This system, called comparative fault, makes it especially important to have a lawyer who will fight to protect you from false accusations of blame and ensure that your compensation is not unfairly reduced.

A second element of eligibility has to do with filing your claim on time. The deadline for most personal injury claims is set as two years under IC 34-11-2-4, though there are specific deadline factors for cases of medical malpractice, as established in IC 34-18-7. 

Connecting with an injury lawyer near you as soon as possible after your accident is best. Prompt partnership with our team gives us time to investigate the accident to determine the negligent party and file long before the statute of limitations ends.

Potential Damages Available in Injury Claims

The amount of damages available to victims varies from case to case. Amounts are affected by the extent of the injury and related consequences, the degrees of negligence held by involved parties, the strength of evidence, and other factors. You can trust Theodoros & Rooth, P.C. to fight for the highest amount possible to cover your economic and non-economic losses.

Economic losses are those affecting your finances. They include accident-related:

  • Medical bills
  • Future care costs
  • Missed wages
  • Future earnings and benefits if you cannot work again
  • Property damage
  • Costs for hiring others to fulfill responsibilities you cannot manage any longer

Non-economic losses are those affecting your overall well-being. These damages offer financial justice for your physical suffering, emotional pain, disfigurement, disability, and reduced enjoyment of life. Though more difficult to monetize, these losses carry immense value. Your injury attorney will exercise great care and compassion when calculating their dollar amount.

Our team has experience handling a variety of injury cases, and we are prepared to represent you throughout yours. Injuries can affect so many areas of your life, and we will account for every aspect of those consequences when determining a settlement demand.

Serious and Catastrophic Injuries Our Personal Injury Firm Frequently Represents

Theodoros & Rooth, P.C. has extensive experience representing clients with catastrophic injuries. These injuries often result in significant life changes, requiring long-term medical care, rehabilitation, and lifestyle adjustments. Our firm is dedicated to fighting for maximum compensation to help victims and their families navigate these challenges and secure a more stable future.

Amputation or Loss of Limb 

Limb amputations can result from accidents or infections. In some cases, a limb may be so severely damaged as to require surgical amputation. In others, the violence of the incident itself causes the amputation. Losing a limb causes some obvious changes and challenges. Victims look different. They feel different. Then they have to learn to perform basic tasks and move through daily life with this permanent disability.

For most recovering from amputation, rehabilitation includes physical and occupational therapy, and psychotherapy. Many amputees experience depression and anxiety because of their changed bodies and limitations. While some benefit from prosthetics, adapting to these devices also requires extensive treatment.

Additional challenges can take the form of residual limb pain. The remaining portion, or “stump” of the amputated limb, can be hurt from nerve damage or from irritation from a prosthetic. Some victims also experience “phantom limb pain.” Though their limb is gone, nerves continue to send signals to the brain, making victims feel pain where the limb used to be.

Vision Loss or Hearing Loss

Victims of head trauma can sustain vision or hearing loss. A blow to the head from an accident or fall can directly disrupt the brain’s ability to process visual or auditory stimuli. If the hit itself does not immediately cause the response, the resulting swelling or bleeding of the brain can.

Chemicals are another source of injury and can directly damage the eyes. If a chemical product is improperly packaged, the contents can splash or spray into the user’s eyes, causing immediate and likely irreparable damage. Those exposed to continuous loud noises can experience hearing loss. 

Vision and hearing loss can also come from birth injuries or untreated infections. Since seeing and hearing are involved in how children learn, damage to either sense can have long-term effects on their education. Adult-onset losses are no less traumatic, often rendering victims unable to stay on their career paths and move through life independently.

Traumatic Brain Injury

There are several types of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Regardless of the type, victims are often left with lasting physical, cognitive, and emotional effects. According to Hopkins Medicine, cognitive effects include but are not limited to problems with memory, learning, problem-solving, and judgment, shortened attention spans, confusion, and loss of awareness of time, space, self, and others.

Physical and emotional effects include:

  • Paralysis and weakness
  • Loss of motor control
  • Decreased balance and coordination
  • Tremors and spasticity
  • Communication deficits
  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty maintaining relationships
  • Personality changes
  • Anxiety and depression

While car accidents can lead to different kinds of head injuries, so can sports injuries, falls, medical errors, and intentional acts of violence. Our Merrillville, IN injury lawyers are prepared to manage your case no matter the cause of your accident.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Damage to the spinal cord is one of the common injuries from motorcycle accidents, but there are many additional possible causes. Spinal cord injuries prevent the brain from communicating with nerves throughout the body. This lack of communication can result in paralysis. Among the most serious effects of spinal cord injuries are paraplegia and quadriplegia. Victims with paraplegia are paralyzed from the waist down. Those with quadriplegia (also called tetraplegia) are paralyzed from the neck down. 

Victims of spinal cord injuries face a possible lifetime of motor and sensory symptoms, such as muscle weakness, spasticity, loss of sensation, pain, numbness, or tingling. They can also experience disruption of autonomic symptoms–functioning that happens automatically in uninjured bodies. These symptoms include:

  • Problems with heart rate and blood pressure
  • Urinary and bowel  incontinence
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Body temperature dysregulation

Spinal cord injuries bring drastic and unwanted changes to victims and their loved ones. Our injury attorneys in Valparaiso, IN will fight to restore justice to these families and relieve the financial strain inflicted by the injury.

Nerve Damage

Like spinal cord damage, nerve damage also disrupts communication between the brain and nerves. The damage just may be more localized or specific. Nerve damage is one of the most common birth injuries. In these cases, the use of forceps or “vacuums” during birth may cause the injury. Infants can suffer from Brachial Palsy or Erb’s Palsy as a result.

Accidents and other forms of negligence can lead to nerve damage, too. Effects include chronic pain or tingling, loss of sensation, weakness in the affected area, problems with physiological functioning, and other problems. 

Damage to Internal Organs

Internal organs can undergo tearing, bruising, and other damage when subjected to harm, such as from an accident, contact sports, exposure to toxins, or untreated or undiagnosed conditions. When an organ is unable to do its job, the entire body can feel the effects.

For example, the liver filters toxins from the whole body. The heart pumps blood, and the lungs deliver oxygen throughout the body. Sometimes, organ damage can be reversed or at least slowed down and treated. Other times, the damage is fatal.

An injury lawyer near you will look into the cause of your organ damage. If it resulted from an accident, act of medical malpractice, intentional violence, or any other act of negligence, our team may be able to secure much-deserved compensation. 

Burn Injuries

Serious burn injuries are categorized by the depth and extent of the burn. First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of skin, causing redness and pain. However, second-degree burns involve deeper skin layers and can cause blisters and serious pain. Third-degree burns are the most severe. 

Third-degree burns damage all the layers of skin and sometimes the underlying tissue. They can appear white or charred. In many cases, these severe burns cause numbness due to burning through the nerves. It is critical to understand how severe burn injuries can lead to significant complications, including infection, scarring, and nerve damage, requiring extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation.

Severe burns can have a profound mental and emotional toll. Victims often experience emotional distress, anxiety, and depression due to disfigurement, pain, and the challenges of adjusting to their changed body image.

In addition, burn injuries can significantly impact a person’s ability to perform daily activities, including work tasks, leading to long-term emotional and financial strain. Comprehensive care for severe burn injuries includes not only medical treatment but also psychological support and rehabilitation to address the multifaceted impact of these injuries.

Theodoros & Rooth, P.C. Understand the Impact Serious and Catastrophic Injuries Can Have on Individuals and Families

When injured residents of Ross Township, Lake County, Porter County, and Northwest Indiana become our clients, we give them the T&R Pledge, promising exceptional service, dedicated support, and consistent communication. 

When you sustain a catastrophic injury, everyone in your life feels the effects. Relationships change as loved ones become caregivers and providers become dependent. Living environments may feel more like medical facilities if you need constant care or medical devices to support you. Those spaces may also need significant adjustments or restructuring to accommodate your needs. Your family’s entire financial outlook can change as well. 

Our team has over 110% of combined experience representing injured victims in Northwest Indiana. Let us put that skill and experience into your case. As your guardians of justice, we will fight aggressively to get you the compensation you deserve so you and your family can face a more secure future and the best quality of life possible. 

How Catastrophic Injuries Occur in Indiana

Catastrophic injuries take many forms, but all share a distinct before-and-after quality. Life is one way before the injury, and very different after it. Many times, the cause of the injury is a sudden event. For example:

  • Motor vehicle accidents resulted in 2.6 million emergency-room visits over a recent year, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • Slip and Fall accidents in winter or any time of year can cause severe back, neck, and head injuries
  • Swimming pool accidents can cause brain trauma if victims are deprived of oxygen
  • Contact sports often involve collisions that can result in concussions, spinal cord damage, nerve damage, or internal organ damage
  • Defective products can cause choking hazards that lead to brain injuries and chemical accidents that can cause serious burns, as demonstrated in a lawsuit against a maker of cooking spray
  • Construction and workplace accidents are not always the fault of the employer, but of a negligent third party–perhaps an equipment manufacturer, elevator company, or property owner

Our Northwest Indiana catastrophic injury lawyers are dedicated to helping you recover and rebuild your life after a devastating injury.

How an Injury Lawyer Near You Will Fight for Your Future Well-Being

The injury attorneys from our team will conduct a meticulous post-accident investigation to identify the cause of your injury and the party responsible for paying your compensation. We know what evidence to look for, how to find it, and how to present it, and we will leave no source of valuable information unexplored as we build your case. 

We will also compile evidence to prove the value of your claim. By speaking to your doctors, employers, caregivers, family, friends, and other relevant experts, we will account for every consequence your injury has inflicted on you and your family, and demand fair, full compensation. Your injury lawyer will take care of all case legalities, from filing your claim to acquiring and submitting all other documentation. Throughout the process, we will keep you informed of all developments and answer your questions.

Theodoros & Rooth, P.C. has a team of injury lawyers near you who will fight for maximum results. Our skilled negotiators will work to secure an out-of-court settlement, but will be ready to take your case to trial if the other side refuses to engage productively. We care about our clients and prove that by putting the full power of our collective energy, experience, legal insight, and our resources into each case, and by bringing cases to the most favorable resolution available as efficiently as possible.

Reach Out to our Injury Lawyer Near Me Law Firm Today

Theodoros & Rooth, P.C. takes a team approach to every case.  Our team is on your side, and we fight to win. We want the best for you and your family. We are available to answer your calls and messages 24/7, and we offer free case consultations, so there is no financial risk in reaching out. 

Do not settle for less than you deserve. Partner with us to get the exceptional, professional, and respectful representation you need.