Des Moines is a two-hour drive from my Omaha office and a national center of the insurance industry. Both facts shape how I approach a Polk County case.
Two Years. Not Four.
Iowa Code § 614.1(2) gives you two years to bring a personal injury claim. Nebraska allows four. If you have read general advice about injury deadlines — much of which is written for other states — the number in your head may be wrong by half.
Two years moves faster than it sounds when you are recovering from a serious injury. Treatment has to progress far enough for anyone to know what the permanent effects are, records have to be gathered, and liability has to be investigated. A case that is not started until month twenty is a case being built under pressure, and that pressure shows up in the settlement value.
Claims against governmental entities in Iowa carry their own separate and shorter notice requirements, which is a distinct trap from the general statute of limitations.
Litigating in an Insurance Town
Des Moines is home to a large concentration of the American insurance industry. That is worth naming plainly, because it has practical consequences for an injured person here.
The people who evaluate your claim are sophisticated, well resourced, and doing this professionally and constantly. They are not making a mistake when they call quickly, sound sympathetic, and offer a number early — that is a considered strategy, and it works because it arrives when you are frightened about money and have not yet learned what your injury will actually cost you over a lifetime.
The specific thing to avoid: giving a recorded statement before you have advice, and signing a broad medical authorization that lets an insurer comb your entire history for something to blame your injury on. Both requests will be framed as routine. Neither is required of you.
The other thing worth understanding is that the future is usually the largest number in a serious case — the surgery your doctor says is likely in ten years, the career you can no longer do, the care you will need. An early offer is priced before any of that is knowable, which is precisely why it comes early.
I-80, I-35 and the Metro Interchanges
Des Moines sits at the junction of two major interstates, and I-80, I-35 and I-235 carry freight and commuter traffic through the same metro interchanges. That produces a high proportion of commercial vehicle collisions and high-speed merge and lane-change crashes.
Where a semi is involved, the case has to be worked differently from the first week: electronic control module data, electronic logging records and telematics have short retention windows and need a preservation letter immediately, federal motor carrier regulations supply the standard of care, and there are usually multiple defendants — driver, carrier, broker, shipper, maintenance contractor. Iowa’s two-year deadline compresses all of that. See the semi-truck page.
Polk County District Court
Des Moines is the Polk County seat and Iowa’s largest court venue. Polk County belongs to Iowa’s 5th Judicial District, and as the state’s biggest metro it carries the busiest civil docket in Iowa.
I am candid about the geography: Des Moines has many capable local injury firms, and I am two hours west. What I offer is a lawyer who tries cases and handles them personally rather than passing them to staff, and who practices in both Iowa and Nebraska — which matters if your injury, your residence and your employment are not all in the same state. If a Des Moines case is better served by someone down the street, I will say so.
Related Practice Areas
This page covers what is specific to Des Moines. The pages below cover how the claims themselves work.
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
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file an injury claim in Des Moines?
Two years under Iowa Code § 614.1(2). Claims against governmental entities carry separate and shorter notice requirements on top of that.
The insurance company called and offered me money already. Should I take it?
Not before you know what your injury will actually cost over a lifetime. Early offers arrive early on purpose — they are priced before future surgery, future care and lost earning capacity are knowable, and those are usually the largest numbers in a serious case.
They want a recorded statement and a medical authorization. Do I have to?
No. Both will be presented as routine paperwork. A recorded statement given before you have advice becomes a permanent part of their file, and a broad authorization lets an insurer search your entire medical history for an alternative explanation for your injury.
Why would I hire a lawyer from Omaha?
Sometimes you should not, and I will tell you so. What I bring is personal handling rather than a case manager, a record of trying cases, and licensure in both Iowa and Nebraska — which matters when your residence, injury and employment are not all in one state.
Which court hears a Des Moines case?
Polk County District Court in Des Moines, in Iowa’s 5th Judicial District — the busiest civil docket in the state.
A semi hit me on I-80 near Des Moines. What is urgent?
A preservation letter to the carrier before the electronic data cycles out. Iowa’s two-year deadline makes the compressed early investigation more important, not less.
Free Consultation for Des Moines Injury Victims
Tell me what happened. The consultation is free and confidential, and if I take your case there is no fee unless I win it.
Call (402) 378-9208