Seven ways it happens. One kind of firm.
Cooke Law Firm handles personal injury cases of all types and no cases of any other type. The categories below are not a menu assembled to look comprehensive - they are the situations that actually walk through the door of an office that has done nothing else since 1974.
Most of what goes wrong is evidence nobody thought to keep.
The petrol station camera pointed at the intersection overwrites on a loop. The spill gets mopped inside the hour. A truck’s electronic logs cycle out on a schedule measured in weeks, and a construction site gets tidied before anyone photographs it. None of that is anybody being sinister; it is what businesses do with storage and with sites. Every area below rewards getting a written request out early, and a perfectly good reason to call is simply that you are not sure which one you are in.
On the road
The largest group by volume, and the one where evidence disappears fastest. Drivers, passengers, riders, cyclists and pedestrians, from an ordinary rear-end on South Street to a tractor-trailer on the interstate.
Motor vehicle accidents
Collisions are the most common reason people call this office, and the ones involving trucks, tractor-trailers or motorcycles are the ones most likely to leave something permanent behind.
Brain & spinal cord injuries
These are the cases where the settlement has to be right the first time, because the consequences keep arriving for decades after the file closes.
On somebody's property
Injuries in a space someone else was responsible for keeping reasonably safe. Ice, water, stairs, lighting, security that was not there, and animals that were not restrained.
Premises liability
Property holders are meant to keep their premises reasonably safe. When they do not, the argument is rarely about whether you fell - it is about whether they should have seen it coming.
Dog bites
Indiana does not simply make dog owners pay. Which rule applies to you depends on why you were there, and most people are surprised by the answer.
At work, and the heaviest of all
Construction and workplace injuries, which are quite often two claims wearing one coat. And wrongful death, which moves slowly and deserves to.
Construction accidents
OSHA puts construction among the highest accident rates of any industry in the country, and the consequences on a site are rarely mild.
Wrongful death
There is no sufficient remedy for a life taken by somebody's mistake. What is available is an answer about what happened, and a recovery that stops the loss from also becoming a financial collapse.
The whole practice
The overview, for anyone who is not sure which of the above they are in, which is most people on the first call, and is not a problem.
The areas are not really separate
Somebody hurt on a construction site may have a workers’ compensation claim and, quite separately, a claim against a negligent contractor or equipment maker on that same site. A fall in a badly lit stairwell can be a premises case and a workplace one at once. A collision with a commercial vehicle can involve the driver, the carrier and the company whose freight was in the trailer, each with separate insurance. And a head injury can arise out of any of them.
People routinely bring one claim when they had two. That is the practical case for describing the whole situation to an attorney rather than the part of it you assumed was relevant. You can read about who would be handling it, look through the questions people actually ask, or just describe what happened.
Questions before you call
What does the firm not handle?
Anything that is not a personal injury or wrongful death matter. No criminal defence, no family law, no closings, no wills, no bankruptcy. You will be told that on the first call rather than in month three, and pointed somewhere more useful where that is possible.
Do these areas overlap?
Frequently, and missing the overlap is expensive. Somebody hurt on a construction site may have a workers' compensation claim and a separate claim against a negligent third party on that site. A fall caused by a dog is both a premises matter and an animal one.
Is the first conversation really free for all of these?
Yes, for all seven. It is a conversation about whether you need an attorney at all, and the firm's published position is that sometimes the honest answer to that is no.
How are fees set?
Personal injury matters are handled on a contingency basis, so the fee comes out of a recovery rather than from you up front, and there is no attorney fee unless the case is won. Ask for the specific terms in writing before you engage this firm, or anyone.
Which counties and courts?
The firm represents injury victims throughout Indiana, in all trial and appellate courts in the state. It names Tippecanoe, White and Benton counties among the areas it regularly serves, and both attorneys are admitted in Indiana; J. Aaron Cooke is also admitted in the Northern and Southern federal districts.
How quickly should I call?
Sooner is genuinely better, and not for sales reasons. Camera footage overwrites, hazards get cleaned up, and commercial vehicle records cycle out on schedules nobody controls. Indiana also sets deadlines that vary with the claim, which is a reason to ask early rather than a number this page will print.
Start with a clear conversation.
Describe what happened, in whatever order it comes out. You will get a straight read on whether there is something here, including when the answer is that you may not need a lawyer at all.
Contacting Cooke Law Firm or Cooke Law Firm does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing on this site is legal advice. Please do not send confidential information until a written engagement is in place. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.