DELVENTHAL LAW
SUFFERED A WORKPLACE HAND INJURY
Any injury to the hand can keep most employees out of work for a considerable amount of time. At Delventhal Law Office, our team has helped many workers get compensation after a workplace injury. Please contact us if you have a question.
TYPES OF HAND INJURIES
Hand injuries are fairly common at workplaces. A person can injure their hand when it gets caught in equipment or is crushed by falling debris. Someone who falls on their hand can also damage bone and soft tissue. Even extensive repetitive use can lead to debilitating pain that keeps someone out of work for a long time.
Our Fort Wayne hand injury lawyers have helped clients with the following types of injuries:
- Finger dislocations. Damage to the ligaments can lead a finger or thumb to dislocate. Depending on the severity, some of our clients need surgery.
- Gamekeeper’s thumb. This injury involves the rupturing of a ligament on the side of the thumb near the palm. Surgery might be required for repair.
- Amputated fingers or thumbs. Workers can lose a thumb or finger when using power tools, circular saws, and other equipment.
- Fractures. Any bone in the hand can fracture due to trauma. Some broken bones will be more disabling than others and can lead to a hand being put in a cast.
- Burns. A person can burn their hand when gloves fail to work or when a fire breaks out unexpectedly.
- Degloving injury.[1] This horrific injury involves the peeling back of the skin and other layers of soft tissue, often exposing the bones. Degloving injuries are very difficult to treat.
- Amputation. The entire hand can be amputated in an accident, such as when it is caught in a machine.
The above are some of the more common injuries. If you hurt your hand in a different way, please contact us. We have extensive experience with all sorts of hand injuries.
DETERMINING HOW MUCH A HAND INJURY IS WORTH
This can open be a difficult question and that is why you need to speak with our experienced Fort Wayne Hand Injury Lawyer. Our clients receive an amount in compensation that varies depending on certain factors, such as:
- Whether the injury is permanent or temporary.
- How much the employee made each week before the injury.
- The cost of medical care. Surgery is much more expensive than if an injury can be treated conservatively. Also, rehabilitation can be expensive.
- Whether our clients are in permanent pain.
Another key consideration is whether our clients suffered injuries to other body parts at the same time. Many workplace accidents involve wrenching or injuring the wrist, elbow, arm, or shoulder. Injuries to additional body parts increase the settlement value of a claim.
Generally, a worker whose injury is temporary can qualify for temporary wage replacement benefits. However, if the worker lost a hand (such as an amputation), then they might receive an amount specified for that type of injury.
SPEAK WITH OUR FORT WAYNE HAND INJURY LAWYER TODAY
Whether they happen inside or outside of work, hand injuries are serious. Our clients deserve fair compensation, including money for permanent disfigurement or disability. Please contact Delventhal Law today. One of our attorneys can walk you through your legal remedies during a free consultation.
The Indiana law that applies to your hand injury case
Indiana's two-year personal-injury statute of limitations at IC 34-11-2-4[2] controls almost every Fort Wayne hand-injury claim — crush trauma, lacerations, tendon ruptures, fractures, and amputation. The 51% modified comparative-fault rule at IC 34-51-2-6[3] bars recovery if the injured worker is found more than half at fault. Workers' compensation hand claims, the most common category in this region's manufacturing economy, run under Indiana Workers' Compensation Board rules, and the great majority of serious hand injuries also support a third-party suit against a machine guard manufacturer or equipment supplier.
How insurance carriers fight Fort Wayne hand injury claims
Hand-injury claims in Allen, Whitley, and DeKalb County run into a focused carrier defense. First is the operator-error argument — the adjuster claims the worker reached into a running machine or bypassed a guard, blaming the loss on the injured person rather than a missing interlock. Second is the prior-laceration argument: the carrier mines old urgent-care records for any finger laceration, trigger finger, or carpal tunnel diagnosis to portray the hand as chronically compromised. Third is the function-restoration argument — once the surgeon achieves cosmetic closure, the carrier insists the hand is essentially repaired and discounts permanent grip-strength loss. Fourth is the impairment-rating argument, where defense IMEs assign minimal AMA Guides ratings despite documented sensory loss and cold intolerance. We counter with formal grip and pinch testing, two-point discrimination, and the published OSHA machine-guarding standards at OSHA laws and regulations[4].
Evidence we preserve in the first 48 hours
Hand-injury cases turn on micro-anatomical documentation, surgical reports, and quantified functional loss. From the moment we open the file we secure:
- Initial ER photographs of the wound, lacerations, and avulsion before debridement — once the surgeon closes, the original injury pattern is gone forever.
- Operative reports detailing tendon zones, nerve transections, vascular repair, and any K-wire, plate, or microvascular hardware placed during the index surgery.
- Quantitative grip and pinch dynamometry, Semmes-Weinstein monofilament testing, and two-point discrimination measurements at multiple intervals during therapy.
- Machine guarding records, lockout-tagout logs, OSHA incident reports, and photographs of the unguarded pinch point or rotating element that caused the injury.
- Pre-incident hand-therapy or orthopedic records for the prior five years so the carrier cannot ambush the case with surprise pre-existing exhibits.
Damages categories in an Indiana hand injury case
Hand-injury recovery breaks into substantial economic and non-economic categories. Economic damages cover ER, microvascular surgery, multiple staged tendon and nerve reconstructions, occupational hand therapy that frequently stretches six to twelve months, custom splinting, and lost wages during return-to-work restrictions. Future damages include tendon adhesion releases, scar revisions, and the documented arthritic progression captured in American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons[5] outcome data. Non-economic damages capture chronic neuropathic pain, cold intolerance, loss of dexterity, scarring, and the profound life-impact of dominant-hand impairment in manual trades.
What our hand injury clients ask most
How much is a Fort Wayne hand-injury case worth?
Case value depends on the structures injured, surgical complexity, residual function, and impairment rating. A clean dominant-hand digital amputation with neuroma formation, cold intolerance, and a documented twenty-percent upper-extremity impairment regularly supports a mid-six-figure recovery. A repaired tendon laceration with full functional return resolves much lower. Imaging, surgical narrative, and quantified testing drive the number.
My hand injury happened on a press at work — can I sue the manufacturer?
Workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer, but a third-party product-liability claim against the press or machine-guard manufacturer often runs in parallel. Missing interlocks, defective light curtains, removed point-of-operation guards, and inadequate warnings are recurring liability theories. A third-party recovery does not eliminate ongoing workers' compensation benefits under Indiana law.
What if the surgeon says my hand looks great but I still have pain and numbness?
Cosmetic closure is not functional recovery. Neuromas, cold intolerance, chronic regional pain syndrome, tendon adhesions, and permanent two-point discrimination loss are common after even technically successful hand surgery. Quantitative dynamometry, monofilament testing, and a formal AMA Guides impairment rating document objective deficits the carrier cannot wave away.
How long do I have to file a hand-injury claim in Indiana?
Indiana's general two-year personal-injury statute at IC 34-11-2-4[2] applies to third-party negligence and product-liability claims. Workers' compensation requires employer notice within thirty days. Government-defendant cases trigger Indiana Tort Claims Act notice deadlines as short as 180 days for political subdivisions. Product-liability claims also face a ten-year statute of repose under IC 34-20-3-1[6].
Can my dominant hand affect the value of the case?
Dominant-hand injuries drive higher case value because every functional task — writing, driving, using tools, dressing — relies on the dominant side. The AMA Guides impairment rating is the same, but the day-to-day life-impact testimony and lost-earning-capacity analysis are substantially stronger when the injured hand is the one the client has used for every task since childhood.
What happens after you hire us
From the day we open the hand-injury file we preserve operative reports, secure pre-debridement wound photography, and place hospital and hand-therapy records on litigation hold. We coordinate with the hand surgeon and occupational therapist, schedule formal dynamometry and sensory testing at intervals, and send a settlement demand once you reach maximum medical improvement after staged reconstructions. If the carrier's number falls short of documented damages, suit is filed in Allen Superior Court or proper venue. Every step is contingency-fee — no fee unless we recover.
