Representing Injured Workers and Their Families in Merrillville
A serious workplace injury can affect nearly every part of your life. Medical treatment may begin immediately. Time away from work can reduce the income your family depends on. An injury that initially seemed temporary may eventually affect your ability to return to the same job, perform physical work, or continue in the career you spent years building.
At Allen Law Group, we represent workers in Merrillville and throughout Indiana who have suffered serious injuries on the job. We work to understand how the accident happened, how the injury has changed our client's life, which companies may be responsible, and what will be needed to protect that client and their family moving forward.
When you are dealing with medical care and recovery, you should not also have to investigate a complicated workplace accident on your own.
Serious Work Injuries Can Affect an Entire Family
When a worker is hurt, the effects rarely stop with that individual. A family may suddenly be dealing with medical appointments, surgeries, rehabilitation, reduced income, transportation needs, and uncertainty about when or whether the injured person will be able to return to work.
For workers in physically demanding occupations, the concern can be even greater. A serious back injury, damaged shoulder, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, burn, amputation, or other permanent condition may prevent someone from returning to the type of work they performed before the accident.
Allen Law Group represents clients with an understanding that an injury claim is about more than medical bills. We want to understand how the injury affects your work, your family responsibilities, your independence, and the activities that were part of your everyday life before the accident. That information helps us evaluate the full impact of the injury rather than looking only at what has happened so far.
Workplace Accidents Can Lead to Life-Changing Injuries
Merrillville and Northwest Indiana are home to workers in construction, manufacturing, steel, transportation, warehouses, utilities, the trades, commercial businesses, and many other industries.
Our work accident attorneys represent clients injured in many types of workplace accidents, including:
- Construction and jobsite accidents
- Falls from ladders, scaffolding, platforms, and elevated work areas
- Equipment and machinery accidents
- Forklift and heavy-equipment injuries
- Crane and rigging accidents
- Steel mill and industrial accidents
- Electrical injuries and electrocution
- Fires and explosions
- Crushing and caught-between accidents
- Falling materials and struck-by accidents
- Work vehicle accidents
- Defective equipment and tools
- Dangerous conditions created by outside contractors
- Other serious workplace injuries
Different accidents require different investigations. A construction accident may involve several subcontractors. A factory injury may require an examination of machinery and maintenance records. A steel mill accident may involve complicated equipment, industrial procedures, and companies working alongside each other. Our attorneys look at the circumstances surrounding the accident rather than assuming the initial explanation tells the entire story.
Your Claim May Involve More Than Worker's Compensation
Workers injured in the course and scope of their employment may be entitled to worker's compensation benefits. Those benefits can be important, particularly when an injury prevents someone from working or requires extensive medical treatment. Worker's compensation, however, is not always the only source of recovery after a workplace accident.
Many worksites involve companies other than the worker's direct employer. A general contractor, subcontractor, property owner, equipment manufacturer, maintenance company, delivery company, equipment rental business, or another outside company may have caused or contributed to the personal injury.
When someone other than your employer or a coworker caused the injury, there may also be a third-party liability claim. A third-party claim is separate from worker's compensation and may allow an injured worker to pursue compensation for losses that worker's compensation does not cover.
Allen Law Group investigates workplace accidents to determine whether additional companies or individuals may have liability warranting a third-party claim. We do not want our clients to assume their legal options end with worker's compensation when the facts may support another claim.
Investigating How a Workplace Accident Happened
An accident investigation should go beyond simply documenting that someone was injured at work. The circumstances leading to the accident matter. Depending on the case, our attorneys may examine incident reports, photographs, video, witness statements, equipment records, maintenance information, safety procedures, training records, contracts between companies, inspection documents, and other evidence related to the accident.
We may also work with engineers, medical professionals, economists, vocational specialists, accident reconstruction professionals, and other retained experts when their knowledge can help establish liability or explain the long-term consequences of an injury.
Preserving evidence can be particularly important after a jobsite accident. Worksites change. Machinery is repaired or returned to service. Temporary structures are removed. Contractors complete their work and leave. Materials are moved. Surveillance footage may be deleted. Beginning an investigation early can help preserve crucial evidence.
Construction and Jobsite Injuries
Construction projects often involve several companies working in the same location. A worker may be employed by one subcontractor while working beside employees of a general contractor, equipment operator, electrical contractor, steel erector, trucking company, or another trade. When one company creates an unsafe condition, workers employed by another company may suffer the consequences.
Allen Law Group's construction injury attorneys investigate accidents involving falls, scaffolding, ladders, cranes, heavy equipment, falling objects, electrical hazards, excavation work, defective equipment, and other dangerous jobsite conditions. Determining which company controlled the work, equipment, or area where the accident occurred can be an important part of establishing liability.
Falls and Serious Workplace Injuries
Falls at the workplace can leave someone with permanent injuries. A worker may fall from a ladder, scaffold, lift, roof, platform, stairway, piece of equipment, or another elevated surface. Other workers may be injured in falls caused by dangerous walking surfaces or unsafe workplace conditions.
Allen Law Group's work-related fall attorneys investigate the conditions surrounding the accident, including the equipment being used, available fall protection, worksite conditions, and the responsibilities of the companies involved.
Falls can result in spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, fractures, nerve damage, shoulder injuries, chronic pain, and other conditions that affect a person's ability to work and live independently. For clients facing permanent injuries, understanding future medical and financial needs is an important part of the case.
Equipment and Machinery Accidents
Workers in factories, construction sites, mills, warehouses, and industrial facilities regularly work around machinery capable of causing catastrophic injuries. Equipment accidents can involve crushing injuries, amputations, burns, fractures, head injuries, spinal cord damage, and fatalities. Our equipment and machinery accident attorneys investigate not only how a machine caused an injury, but also why the dangerous condition existed. The investigation may involve the employer, an outside contractor, equipment owner, maintenance company, rental business, manufacturer, or another company responsible for the equipment. Maintenance history, safety guards, operating procedures, equipment design, training, and previous problems with the machinery may all become relevant.
Representing Steel Mill and Industrial Workers
Northwest Indiana has generations of families connected to steel mills, manufacturing, construction, transportation, and the trades. Allen Law Group has experience representing workers injured in these vocations.
Our steel mill accident attorneys handle cases involving falls, burns, crushing injuries, equipment accidents, electrocution, falling materials, crane accidents, and other serious industrial incidents. These cases may require comprehensive investigation. Allen Law Group can work with engineers and other retained experts to determine how equipment, workplace conditions, procedures, or outside companies caused or contributed to an accident.
We understand that workers in physically demanding occupations often build their careers through years of experience and specialized skills. When a serious injury takes away the ability to perform that work, the loss can extend well beyond a temporary absence from the job.
Understanding the Long-Term Financial Impact of a Work Injury
The cost of a serious workplace injury may continue long after the initial hospitalization. Depending on the injury, a worker may require surgery, rehabilitation, physical therapy, additional procedures, medications, assistive devices, home modifications, or ongoing medical care.
Some workers eventually return to their previous position. Others return with permanent restrictions. Some are unable to return to the same occupation at all. The financial impact of a work injury may include medical expenses, lost wages, reduced future earning ability, rehabilitation expenses, and other long-term costs.
When a third-party personal injury claim is available, additional damages may include physical pain and suffering, permanent disability, disfigurement, and the ways the injury has affected normal activities and quality of life.
Every client is different. Our attorneys take the time to understand what the injury means for that particular individual and family.
Client-Focused Representation at Allen Law Group
Allen Law Group focuses its practice on personal injury and wrongful death cases, exclusively. That focus allows our attorneys and staff to concentrate their experience, resources, and attention on representing individuals and families who have suffered serious injuries.
The firm is also selective about the cases it handles. We believe serious injury cases require time and attention, particularly when a client's future health and financial security may depend on the outcome. Our approach can include attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, medical professionals, engineers, economists, and others working together to develop the case.
But the most important member of that team is still the client.
We want our clients to understand what is happening with their case. We listen to their concerns, explain the legal process, and work to understand how the injury has affected their lives. Our job is to deal with the legal issues, investigate responsibility, and pursue the claim while our clients focus as much as possible on their health and families.
Protecting Your Rights After a Workplace Accident
After a workplace injury, getting appropriate medical care should be the first priority. The accident should also be reported through the proper workplace procedures. Workers should keep copies of medical records, work restrictions, accident reports, correspondence, and other documentation related to the injury. When possible, photographs of the accident location, equipment, machinery, or dangerous conditions can also be helpful. The names of coworkers or others who witnessed the accident may become important later.
An injured worker should also remember that employers, contractors, and insurance companies may begin investigating an accident quickly. Having your own attorney means someone is investigating the accident with your interests and your family's future in mind.
A Merrillville Office Serving Northwest Indiana
Allen Law Group maintains its Justice Center at 3700 E. Lincoln Highway in Merrillville, providing local access for individuals and families throughout Merrillville, Lake County, and Northwest Indiana.
Our attorneys represent injured workers from Merrillville and surrounding communities who have been harmed in construction accidents, industrial incidents, equipment accidents, falls, steel mill accidents, and other serious workplace injuries.
Contact Allen Law Group After a Work Injury in Merrillville
A serious work injury can leave you dealing with medical treatment, time away from work, financial pressure, and uncertainty about what comes next. You do not have to investigate the accident or deal with the companies and insurance carriers involved yourself.
Allen Law Group can review the circumstances of your workplace injury, investigate whether other companies share responsibility, explain the legal options available to you, and pursue fair compensation on your behalf.
Contact Allen Law Group to speak with a work accident lawyer in Merrillville, Indiana. You pay nothing until we win!
