Indianapolis & Indiana
A crash caused by an intoxicated driver can support punitive damages and, in some cases, a claim against the bar or host who served the driver. Kavanagh Injury Law handles drunk-driver injury claims in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana at 20%, not the 33-40% most firms charge.
Licensed in Indiana. If your case arose outside Indiana, ask us. We may be able to arrange co-counsel licensed in that state at the same 20% fee.
The injury claim looks like any crash claim at first. Three things can change it.
The State prosecutes the driver for operating while intoxicated. That case can punish the driver, but it does not pay your medical bills or lost wages. Your injury claim is a separate civil case, and it does not have to wait for the criminal case to end.
In most crashes, the law pays for what you lost. When a driver chose to drive drunk, Indiana law can also allow punitive damages, meant to punish the conduct. They are not automatic: the facts have to be proved by clear and convincing evidence.
Indiana's dram shop law allows a claim against whoever served or gave the driver alcohol, including a bar, a restaurant, or a private party host, but only if they actually knew the driver was visibly intoxicated at the time they served the driver, and the intoxication caused the crash.
Ordinary damages are proved by the greater weight of the evidence. Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence of every fact they rest on. A driver's earlier alcohol-related offenses can be relevant to that question.
A punitive award cannot be more than three times the compensatory damages or $50,000, whichever is greater.
When a punitive award is paid, 75% goes to Indiana's violent crime victims compensation fund and 25% to the person injured. Punitive damages matter, but the compensatory claim is still the center of the case.
The drunk driver's liability insurance is the first source. Some drivers carry only Indiana's minimum limits, which a serious injury can exhaust quickly.
If the driver had no insurance or not enough, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may make up the difference.
When the dram shop requirements are met, the business or person who served the driver, and their insurer, can be another source of recovery.
Evidence about where the driver was drinking disappears fast.
Get the crash report
The report and any arrest records identify the driver, the officers, and sometimes where the driver had been.
Do not give a recorded statement
The driver's insurer may call quickly. You do not have to give them a recorded statement.
Write down what you saw
Smell of alcohol, open containers, slurred speech, anything the driver said. Details fade within days.
Ask us about receipts and video
Bar receipts and security video may be kept only for a short time and can be lost unless someone asks early.
A drunk-driver claim is a crash claim with more places to look for recovery.
We follow the night backward
Where the driver was, what they were served, and whether anyone who served them saw the intoxication. That decides whether there is a dram shop claim.
Every source of recovery
The driver's policy, your own UM/UIM coverage, and any dram shop claim, pursued in the right order.
Flat 20%: always
Our contingency fee is 20% whether your case settles pre-suit, goes through trial, or reaches appeal. It never escalates to 33% or 40% like most Indiana firms. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Lien reduction: 100% to you
We negotiate medical liens aggressively. Every dollar we reduce from a lien goes to you. We keep none of the savings and charge no additional fee for lien work.
No. Your injury claim is a separate civil case. The criminal case can produce useful evidence, but your claim does not have to wait for it.
Indiana law can allow punitive damages, but they are not automatic: the facts have to be proved by clear and convincing evidence. They are capped at the greater of three times the compensatory damages or $50,000, and 75% of a paid punitive award goes to the State's violent crime victims compensation fund.
Sometimes, and the same rule covers a private party host. Indiana law requires proof that whoever served the driver actually knew the driver was visibly intoxicated at the time, and that the intoxication caused the crash.
A personal injury claim in Indiana generally must be filed within two years. Receipts and video that show where the driver was drinking can be lost much sooner.
Nothing upfront. We work on contingency at a flat 20% of any recovery. If we do not win, you owe no attorney fee.
Get a free case review. No obligation. No upfront cost. Evidence of where the driver was drinking is easiest to find right away.