Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer in a Free Consultation
A free consultation is not just an opportunity to hear what a lawyer thinks about your case; it is your opportunity to evaluate the lawyer. Most people arrive focused on getting information and leave without learning what they needed to know about the attorney, the firm's approach, or how Indiana law will actually shape their claim. At Sarkisian Law, our personal injury attorneys offer free consultations throughout Northwest Indiana precisely because we want that conversation to go in both directions.
These are the questions that make the difference between choosing the right representation and choosing the wrong one.
Who Will Actually Handle Your Case
This is the first question to ask and the one most people skip. At some firms, the attorney you meet during the consultation is not the attorney who will work on your file. Cases get assigned to associates, or the day-to-day handling gets delegated to paralegals and staff with minimal attorney oversight. Ask directly: will you personally be handling my case, or will it be passed to someone else? If it will be shared, ask who that person is and what their background looks like.
Follow that with a question about caseload. An attorney with hundreds of active files at once has less time per case than one managing a more focused docket. You are not just hiring a firm, but you are hiring the person who will prepare your case, respond to the insurer, and advocate for you at deposition or trial if it comes to that. Getting a clear answer about who that person is matters more than it might seem at first.
How Indiana Law Applies to Your Specific Claim
Two questions here tend to be the most important.
The first is about timing. Ask the attorney what the deadline is to file your case. Under Indiana Code § 34-11-2-4, most personal injury claims must be filed within two years of the date of injury. Missing this deadline almost always means losing the right to recover compensation entirely, regardless of how strong the underlying claim is. There are exceptions involving minors, incapacitated individuals, and claims against government entities, and a good attorney will know which of those, if any, apply to your situation.
The second is about fault. Ask whether Indiana's comparative fault rule applies to your case. Under Indiana Code § 34-51-2, fault is assigned as a percentage, and if your share exceeds 50%, you are barred from recovering anything. If you were partially at fault for what happened or if the other side is likely to argue that you were, that potentially changes the value of your claim and the strategy for pursuing it. An attorney who can speak to this specifically, based on the facts you have described, is demonstrating genuine familiarity with how Indiana law works.
What Your Claim Is Actually Worth
Ask what categories of damages you can claim. In most Indiana personal injury cases, recoverable damages include medical expenses (past and anticipated future costs), lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Ask whether your situation might support any additional categories, such as permanent disability or wrongful death damages if a family member was killed.
Then ask what factors could reduce that value. This is not a negative question; it is a practical one. An attorney who only tells you the best-case outcome is not giving you the information you need to make a decision. Ask what the defense will likely argue, what evidence might work against you, and how your own conduct before or during the incident might factor into a jury's assessment of fault. A realistic range, explained with reference to the actual facts of your case, is more useful than an optimistic number with no basis.
How Contingency Fees and Case Costs Work
Most personal injury attorneys in Indiana work on contingency, meaning their fee is a percentage of any recovery. Make sure you understand how the fee is calculated; whether it is applied before or after litigation costs are subtracted makes a significant difference in what you take home.
Case costs are separate from attorney fees. Costs include things like court filing fees, expert witness fees, accident reconstruction costs, and deposition expenses. Ask who pays those costs during the case, and what happens to them if the case does not result in a recovery. Some firms advance costs on the client's behalf and absorb them if the case is lost; others expect reimbursement regardless of outcome. The difference matters, and you should have a clear answer before signing any agreement.
What Are the Weaknesses in Your Case
Ask directly: what are the biggest obstacles you see? An honest attorney will tell you. A weak witness account, a gap in your medical treatment, a prior injury to the same body part, or a fact pattern where comparative fault will be vigorously contested. These are things you should know going in, not discover later when the insurer uses them against you.
Asking about weaknesses also tells you something about the attorney. One who only discusses the strengths of your case and avoids the difficult questions is either being optimistic to win your business or is not analyzing your claim thoroughly. Either outcome is a problem. What you want is an attorney who can tell you why this case will be hard and what the plan is to address that.
What You Should Say to the Other Driver's Insurance Company
If you have not already given a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer, ask the attorney directly whether you should. The answer from a qualified personal injury attorney will almost always be no, at least not without representation. Insurance adjusters use recorded statements to establish facts that limit your claim, and what sounds like a routine conversation can produce statements that are later used to argue that your injuries were minor or pre-existing.
Ask what you should and should not say in any communications with the insurer before your case is formally in an attorney's hands. The guidance you get here has immediate practical value that extends beyond the consultation itself.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Sarkisian Law
Sarkisian Law has represented injured people throughout Lake County, Porter County, and Northwest Indiana since 1981. Contact us to schedule a free consultation and come ready to ask the questions that matter; we will give you straight answers.
