Louisville Injury Lawyers

Personal and wrongful death representation in Louisville, Jefferson County, and the surrounding Kentucky metropolitan area.

We are referral based. Attorneys send us cases. Former clients send us cases. Judges who have watched us try cases send us cases. What we do not do is compete for attention with billboards, daytime television, or bus stop advertising. If you have found this page, it is either because another lawyer told you about us, because a former client spoke our name, or because the results speak for themselves when someone searches for serious Louisville injury representation. All three are fine starting points.

Hance & Srinivasan, PLLC is a Louisville personal injury law firm representing people who have been seriously injured or killed as a result of someone else’s negligence. Our office is located at 8700 Westport Road in Louisville, Kentucky 40242, and we handle injury and wrongful death cases throughout Jefferson County and the surrounding Louisville metropolitan area.

WHAT A LOUISVILLE INJURY LAWYER DOES

A Louisville injury lawyer represents people who have been harmed by the negligence of another person, company, or institution. In Kentucky, these cases are civil matters filed under the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure, governed by Kentucky substantive law, and heard in Jefferson Circuit Court when the case is filed in Louisville.

The job of a personal injury lawyer is to prove four things. That the defendant owed the injured person a duty of care. That the defendant breached that duty. That the breach caused the injury. And that the injury resulted in damages the law recognizes as compensable. Every personal injury case, from the simplest rear end collision to the most complex medical negligence matter, comes down to these four elements. The evidence changes. The experts change. The legal framework does not.

TYPES OF CASES WE HANDLE IN LOUISVILLE

Motor vehicle collisions

Louisville sees tens of thousands of motor vehicle crashes every year, concentrated along the I-264 Watterson Expressway, I-265 Gene Snyder Freeway, I-65, I-64, and I-71 corridors, along with the surface arterials that connect downtown to the suburbs. Kentucky is a choice no fault state, which means Personal Injury Protection benefits under KRS 304.39-020 cover the first layer of medical and wage loss costs regardless of fault. When the injury crosses the tort threshold established in KRS 304.39-060, a full liability claim becomes available against the at fault driver.

Commercial trucking and tractor trailer cases

The Louisville region sits at the intersection of three interstates and the UPS Worldport global hub. Commercial truck traffic moves through the metro in volume, and truck crashes produce injuries on a different scale than passenger vehicle crashes. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations apply alongside Kentucky negligence law, and the investigation requires preservation of electronic logging device data, driver qualification files, and maintenance records within days of the crash.

Medical malpractice

Louisville is home to major medical institutions including UofL Health, Norton Healthcare, Baptist Health, and Jewish Hospital. Medical negligence cases require Kentucky’s certificate of merit under KRS 411.167, which the Kentucky Supreme Court confirmed in 2024 must be strictly complied with at the time the complaint is filed. A medical malpractice case filed without a proper certificate of merit can be dismissed outright, regardless of the underlying facts. These cases benefit enormously from counsel with substantive medical background, which is a capability this firm brings to the table.

Pharmaceutical and medical device injury

Drug injury and medical device cases frequently intersect with Louisville area hospitals and pharmacies as the point where the injury occurred. Partner Chandrika Srinivasan holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology alongside her J.D., and the firm has substantial experience in pharmaceutical injury litigation.

Wrongful death

A wrongful death claim in Kentucky must be brought by the personal representative of the decedent’s estate under KRS 411.130. The claim must be filed within one year of the personal representative’s appointment, and never more than two years from the date of death, under KRS 413.180. For Louisville families, probate is handled through Jefferson District Court, which adds a procedural layer that must be cleared before the wrongful death case can proceed.

Workplace injury and third party claims

Louisville’s industrial, logistics, and construction sectors produce workplace injuries that often involve parties beyond the employer. A defective machine, a negligent subcontractor, or a driver who caused a crash while the employee was on the clock all create the possibility of a third party claim under KRS 342.700 that runs alongside the workers compensation claim. Third party claims frequently recover damages that workers compensation alone does not reach.

Premises liability

Slip and fall cases, inadequate security claims, and other premises liability matters in Louisville are filed under the general personal injury statute of limitations of one year under KRS 413.140(1)(a). Louisville venues where these cases commonly arise include retail establishments, entertainment venues, hotels, apartment complexes, and parking facilities.

WHERE LOUISVILLE CASES ARE FILED

Personal injury cases in Louisville with damages claims exceeding five thousand dollars are filed in Jefferson Circuit Court at the Jefferson County Judicial Center, 700 West Jefferson Street. Jefferson Circuit Court is the busiest civil docket in Kentucky, operating with thirteen circuit divisions and dozens of elected trial judges. District Court matters and probate are handled at the Louis D. Brandeis Hall of Justice, 600 West Jefferson Street.

Federal claims arising in Louisville, including diversity cases involving out of state defendants, are filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, which sits at the Gene Snyder United States Courthouse on West Broadway.

The courthouse is eight miles from our office. The commitment is the same whether it is eight miles or eight hundred.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN LOUISVILLE

Kentucky law imposes some of the shortest personal injury deadlines in the country, and those deadlines apply identically in Louisville. General personal injury claims must be filed within one year of the injury under KRS 413.140(1)(a). Motor vehicle claims must be filed within two years of the crash or the last Personal Injury Protection payment, whichever is later, but never more than four years from the date of the crash under KRS 304.39-230. Medical malpractice claims must be filed within one year of discovery under KRS 413.140(1)(e). Workers compensation claims must be filed within two years under KRS 342.185. Wrongful death claims must be filed within one year of the personal representative’s appointment under KRS 413.180.

Missing the statute of limitations is almost always fatal to the case. Louisville judges do not grant extensions for bad luck, busy schedules, or insurance company delays. The earlier a lawyer gets involved, the more options remain available.

OUR APPROACH TO LOUISVILLE INJURY CASES

We are a small firm by design. Michael R. Hance has practiced law in Kentucky since 1980 and is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. He is a past president of the Kentucky Justice Association and received the Peter Perlman Service Award in 2011. Chandrika Srinivasan has been a partner since 2002 and brings a J.D. together with a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Every case we accept gets the direct attention of an attorney whose name appears on the door. We do not run an assembly line. We do not push cases through an intake department. We do not assign serious matters to junior associates and check in at the settlement conference. We handle our own cases personally because that is how cases are handled properly.

Most of our cases resolve through negotiation or mediation. The ones that do not resolve are tried. Our willingness to try cases is part of what makes the settlement process function. Insurance companies keep records of which firms try cases and which firms fold. So do we.

CONTACT A LOUISVILLE INJURY LAWYER

If you are a Louisville area resident injured in a motor vehicle crash, a medical setting, a workplace incident, or any other situation involving potential negligence, the sooner a lawyer evaluates the facts, the more options remain available. The statute of limitations does not pause while you decide.

Where Hance & Srinivasan, PLLC handles personal injury and wrongful death cases across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Hance & Srinivasan, PLLC is based in Louisville and represents injured people throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Our reach is statewide because Kentucky law does not stop at a county line.

This page explains where we accept cases, how venue works under Kentucky law, how we handle matters outside the Louisville metropolitan area, and what to expect when you live several hours from our office.

STATEWIDE PRACTICE

We accept personal injury and wrongful death cases from every one of Kentucky’s 120 counties. Serious injury cases are not defined by geography. A catastrophic crash on the Mountain Parkway in Powell County requires the same level of preparation, the same depth of expert investigation, and the same trial readiness as a crash on I-264 in Louisville. We bring the same approach to both.

Kentucky’s court system is unified under the Kentucky Court of Justice, which means the rules of civil procedure, the statutes of limitations, and the substantive law of negligence apply identically in Pikeville, Paducah, and Prospect. Local variations exist in scheduling, docketing practices, and the personalities of the bench and bar, but the law itself travels.

A serious injury in Hazard is not a smaller case because Hazard is a smaller town!