Short answer: some are, some aren't, and the difference usually comes down to proof, not to how badly you were hurt. A rear-end crash with clear fault, prompt medical care and a doctor who ties your injuries to the crash is often very winnable. A case with disputed fault, months-long gaps in treatment, a prior injury to the same body part and a low insurance policy is harder. Most cases fall somewhere in between, and what you and your lawyer do early can move them a long way in your direction.
Here's what actually makes a case hard.
1. You carry the burden of proof
In a negligence case, the injured person has to prove the case; the other side doesn't have to disprove it. Nebraska courts describe it this way: the plaintiff has the burden of proving duty, breach, causation, and resultant harm (Kelly v. Cutch, Inc., 27 Neb. App. 921). In plain English: the other person owed you care, they failed to give it, that failure caused your injury, and the injury did real harm. Each of those has to be proved by the greater weight of the evidence, meaning the jury must find it more likely true than not. Miss any one of the four and the case fails.
2. Your own share of fault can end the case
Insurers almost always argue that you were partly to blame. That matters, because under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, your damages are reduced in proportion to your own negligence, and if your negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of everyone you're suing, you recover nothing. A case that is 50/50 in Nebraska is a loss.
Iowa's rule is slightly different. Under Iowa Code § 668.3, your fault doesn't bar recovery unless you bear a greater percentage of fault than the combined fault of the defendants; your damages are still reduced by your share. Where your crash happened can matter.
3. Causation: "may" and "possibly" lose cases
This is where many cases are really won or lost. It isn't enough that you were hurt after the crash; a medical expert has to connect the injury to it. In a 2023 medical case, the Nebraska Supreme Court restated that causation testimony based on possibility or speculation is insufficient; it must be at least "probable," in other words, more likely than not (Carson v. Steinke, 314 Neb. 140). The doctor doesn't have to use magic words, but an opinion that the crash "may possibly" have caused your herniated disc can sink an otherwise good claim. I explain how these opinions get built on my medical causation page.
4. Damages: proving how much, not just that you were hurt
Winning on fault and causation only gets you to the next question: what is this injury worth? Bills and missed paychecks are easy to document. The harder part is what a bill can't show, like the months you couldn't lift your kid or the sleep you still don't get.
Insurers call a soft-tissue injury "minor" because the bumper damage looks small (see my post on low-impact crash claims), call your therapy excessive, and dig hard into your medical history.
Pre-existing conditions
A bad knee or an old back injury doesn't make your case unwinnable, but it changes what has to be shown. The fight is usually over how much worse the crash made it, and for how long. The best evidence is a before-and-after picture: older records showing you were working, active and not treating, then newer records showing what changed. A doctor who saw you on both sides of the crash can be the most persuasive witness in the case. More on this on my pre-existing conditions page.
5. Coverage: a strong case still has to be collectable
This part quietly decides a lot of outcomes. A jury can put all the fault on the other driver, but if that driver carries a bare-minimum policy and owns little, the verdict may be worth not much more than the policy.
So early on I look for every source of payment: the at-fault driver's policy, any umbrella policy, a business whose vehicle or worker was involved, a property owner, and your own uninsured or underinsured coverage. Serious injuries with one thin policy behind them make a case "hard" in a way that has nothing to do with proof.
6. The practical obstacles insurers love
- Gaps in treatment. Weeks without care let the insurer argue you healed, or that something else hurt you.
- Prior injuries. An old back problem becomes "pre-existing," even when the crash made it far worse.
- Recorded statements. A friendly call from the adjuster in the first days can produce a quote used against you for years.
- Social media. One photo at a birthday party becomes "proof" you're fine (I've written about how insurers watch claimants online).
- Low policy limits. Winning on liability doesn't help if the at-fault driver's insurance can't cover the harm, which is why your own underinsured motorist coverage matters.
- The clock. Every claim has a filing deadline. See my Nebraska statute of limitations guide.
7. A claim against a city, county or school has its own trap
When a local government is on the other side, there's an extra step that catches people. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-919, a claim against a political subdivision is "forever barred" unless it is made in writing to the governing body within one year after it accrued, and the lawsuit itself generally must be started within two years. The definition in § 13-903 reaches villages, cities, counties, school districts, public power districts and "all other units of local government."
There's a second wrinkle. Under § 13-906, no suit is allowed until the governing body makes a final disposition of the claim, although if it hasn't done so within six months of filing, you can withdraw the claim in writing and go to court. So the written claim should be complete and filed well ahead of the one-year mark. A late claim letter can end a strong case before it begins.
Three hypothetical cases, from easy to hard
These are made-up examples, not real clients. They show how the pieces stack up.
Hypothetical A: the "easy" case. Maria is stopped at a red light on Dodge Street when a pickup hits her from behind. She goes to urgent care that evening for neck pain, finishes eight weeks of physical therapy and recovers. The driver admits he was on his phone and carries a solid policy. Fault, causation and coverage line up; the only real question is value.
Hypothetical B: the in-between case. Same crash, but Maria waited three weeks to see anyone because she assumed the soreness would pass, and she'd seen a chiropractor for her neck two years earlier. Still a good case, but now she must explain the delay, the old records need to show she'd been released pain-free, and a doctor has to say the crash more likely than not caused the new problem.
Hypothetical C: the hard case. Two drivers enter an uncontrolled intersection at nearly the same moment, and each says the other should have yielded. There are no independent witnesses. Maria's injury is a herniated disc on top of a history of back treatment, and the other driver has a minimum-limits policy. Fault (could a jury put her at 50%?), causation and collectability are all contested. It may still be worth pursuing, especially if she has underinsured coverage or a business camera caught the collision, but it needs work right away.
What you can do to make your case stronger
Most of what helps is simple, and most of it happens in the first few weeks.
- Get checked out promptly, and tell the doctor everything that hurts. Symptoms that never make it into the chart are hard to prove later.
- Follow through with treatment. If you have to stop because of cost, childcare or work, make sure the reason gets written down.
- Be upfront about your history. Hiding an old injury does far more damage than the old injury itself once the records come out, and they nearly always come out.
- Save the evidence now. Photos, witness names, and nearby businesses that might have video, which can be recorded over quickly. My page on dashcam and phone-record evidence covers what to look for.
- Keep a short weekly journal of pain, missed events and things you couldn't do. It becomes the backbone of a pain-and-suffering claim.
Myths that make people quit too early (or hang on too long)
"The police report says I was partly at fault, so I've lost." Not necessarily. A crash report is one officer's quick take. Fault gets decided on all the evidence, and in Nebraska a share of fault smaller than the combined fault of those you're suing reduces your recovery instead of erasing it.
"Going to trial always gets more." Sometimes it does. Juries can also come back below the last offer, and trial adds months and expense. Trial is a tool, not a goal.
"The first offer shows what my case is worth." A first offer is usually an opening position. See should you accept the first settlement offer.
How the settle-or-try decision actually gets made
Whether to settle is your call, not mine. Nebraska's ethics rules say it plainly: a lawyer "shall abide by a client's decision whether to settle a matter" (Neb. Ct. R. of Prof. Cond. § 3-501.2(a)). My job is to give you an honest read, which usually comes down to five questions:
- What's the realistic range if a jury hears this? Not your best day in court; the likely range given the evidence.
- How strong is the other side's best argument? In a close fault fight, a 50% finding wipes out the recovery entirely in Nebraska, and that risk deserves real weight.
- What can actually be collected? A verdict above the available coverage may not put more money in your pocket.
- What will you net? Medical liens and health-plan reimbursement claims often have to be paid out of the recovery (see my page on medical liens and subrogation), and trial adds expert and court costs.
- What does more time cost you? Some people can wait for a trial date. Some can't.
When an offer captures most of the realistic value and removes real risk, taking it isn't "giving up." When it doesn't, trial is the right call. For a sense of how cases resolve, see my Nebraska settlement examples.
What a lawyer changes
A good injury lawyer doesn't make a weak case strong by magic. What I do is find the evidence before it disappears, get the medical opinions stated the way the law requires, push back on inflated fault arguments, find every source of insurance, and value pain and suffering properly (see my page on emotional distress damages). And when an insurer won't be reasonable, I'm prepared to try the case. My guide on how long a personal injury case takes explains what that path looks like.
Why people trust me with hard cases
Easy cases don't need much from a lawyer. Hard ones do. I'm a trial lawyer, and I build every case expecting the insurer to fight it. My clients have recovered more than $23 million, including a $5.4 million result. You can read what they say in many five-star reviews, and my firm was voted Best of Omaha for personal injury law in 2025 and 2026.
If you're wondering whether your case is "too hard," let me tell you honestly. Whether it began as a car crash or any other Nebraska injury, call me at (402) 378-9208 or contact me here. The consultation is free, and there's no fee unless I win.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it hard to win a personal injury case?
- Some are, some aren't, and the difference usually comes down to proof, not to how badly you were hurt. A rear-end crash with clear fault, prompt medical care and a doctor who ties your injuries to the crash is often very winnable. A case with disputed fault, months-long gaps in treatment, a prior injury to the same body part and a low insurance policy is harder.
- What do you have to prove to win a personal injury case in Nebraska?
- In a negligence case, the injured person has to prove the case; the other side doesn't have to disprove it. Nebraska courts describe it this way: the plaintiff has the burden of proving duty, breach, causation, and resultant harm (Kelly v. Cutch, Inc., 27 Neb. App. 921). In plain English: the other person owed you care, they failed to give it, that failure caused your injury, and the injury did real harm.
- Can my own share of fault end my case in Nebraska?
- Insurers almost always argue that you were partly to blame. That matters, because under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09, your damages are reduced in proportion to your own negligence, and if your negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of everyone you're suing, you recover nothing.
- Is there an extra deadline for a claim against a city, county or school?
- When a local government is on the other side, there's an extra step that catches people. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-919, a claim against a political subdivision is "forever barred" unless it is made in writing to the governing body within one year after it accrued, and the lawsuit itself generally must be started within two years.
Call Me Today at (402) 378-9208
The consultation is free, and there's no fee unless I win your case.
Call (402) 378-9208
Your Attorney
Frank Younes
Every page on this site is written by Frank Younes, a Nebraska trial attorney with a published record of verdicts and settlements, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a practice that covers every county in Nebraska and Iowa. No case is handed to an associate — the lawyer you read here is the lawyer who works your case.
More about Frank → · Free consultation: (402) 378-9208