No one plans for an accident. When you’re seriously injured, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. You might not be able to work, and your bills and expenses will be piling up. If you were hurt by someone’s negligence, you could be entitled to a settlement. Illinois is an at-fault state, which means the liable party responsible for your losses can be held accountable. You shouldn’t have to face the stress of recovering damages alone as you’re healing.
Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C., are prepared to hear your case and pursue maximum compensation after you’re hurt. You might have been hurt in a car accident on North Crawford Avenue, or you could have been hurt by a city crew in Madison Park. We can discuss how you were injured and guide you toward the best path to settling your case. We offer free consultations. Call (312) 236-2900 to schedule yours.
Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Skokie
Personal injury law covers many different kinds of accidents. State law says you are entitled to compensation from the negligent party if they caused you physical or financial losses. Car accidents are some of the most well-known personal injury cases. You could also be injured by a slip-and-fall accident on private property, or you could be injured in a medical malpractice incident.
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What Injuries Can These Accidents Cause?
Your accident will determine how you were injured. It’s not uncommon for victims to experience more than one injury in an incident. It’s critical to talk to a personal injury lawyer to ensure every injury is covered in your insurance claim.
If you’re injured in a Skokie personal injury accident, you might experience:
- Paralysis
- Broken or Fractured Bones
- Head and Brain Injuries
- Neck and Back Injuries
- Knee Injuries
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Burns
What Should I Know About Illinois Personal Injury Laws?
When you’re injured in an accident or your property is damaged because of someone’s reckless acts, you could be entitled to a personal injury claim. Under tort law, there could be several ways you can file a claim and determine how much compensation is available to you in each claim. Our Illinois personal injury lawyers can examine your case to help you get the most compensation available.
What is Negligence in Personal Injury Cases?
To win compensation in any personal injury case, the claimant has to prove the defendant caused their injuries or damages. Your case depends on your lawyer’s ability to prove the at-fault party was negligence. Legally speaking, negligence means someone was expected to uphold a duty of care, and when they didn’t, someone got hurt.
Put simply, whenever someone is expected to act reasonably and they don’t and someone’s hurt, they are negligent. Your attorney must demonstrate the elements of negligence to successfully prove your claim.
Elements of Negligence
There are four parts to prove in a negligence claim. You need to show there was a duty of care, a breach of duty, causation, and then subsequent damages. To win your claim, your lawyer will need to show that the defendant:
- Had a duty of care to uphold
- They failed to follow that duty
- They contributed to the accident that hurt you
- Those damages cost you
For instance, a property owner has a duty to clear up hazards that could hurt visitors. If they knew about a hazard like a leaking pipe and puddle and didn’t clean it up before anyone got hurt, they could be liable in your slip-and-fall injury. That’s an example of premises liability. You’ll have to show the property owner knew about the hazard and the potential for someone to get hurt in order to secure a settlement.
What Kind of Compensation is Available in Skokie Personal Injury Claims?
The settlements available for personal injury claims will differ based on each cases’ details. You are able to pursue economic and non-economic losses under state law.
Your economic losses, also called monetary damages, are your out-of-pocket expenses caused by an accident. Things like your medical bills or costs to repair your property could be covered in your personal injury claim. You can document these losses with receipts for your treatments, prescriptions, or damage reports.
Your non-economic losses can be included in your claim, but they are generally more difficult to calculate. These damages are conceptual, and they are products of your monetary damages. You can seek compensation for any pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, or post-traumatic stress disorder. A personal injury attorney can evaluate your case and calculate your losses.
What Factors Can Affect My Illinois Insurance Claim?
You should know about anything that might reduce your claim or hinder your efforts of collecting compensation. There’s a two-year statute of limitations in Illinois for personal injury claims. That means you have two years after your accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. There can be exceptions, but for most cases if you pass the deadline without properly filing, you could lose any chance for compensation.
The defendant may argue you were partially at-fault for the accident, so they shouldn’t have to pay for your injuries. Illinois uses a “comparative negligence” doctrine. If the defendant can show you share some blame for the accident that hurt you, any settlement you receive could be reduced.
Say you were using your phone while you walked through the store in our earlier scenario. If the defense can show you weren’t paying attention to your environment before you slipped and fell, they may show that you were partially responsible for your injuries. Any potential settlement will be reduced proportionally by the amount of shared fault.
If you were awarded $1 million for your slip and fall damages, but you were 20% to blame for the accident, you won’t receive the full amount. You’d still get a settlement, but it’d be reduced to $800,000 to reflect the amount of blame you share for the accident.
You can pursue compensation if you share less than 50% of the blame for your accident. State law says that any blame beyond 50% means you aren’t entitled to compensation from anyone else involved in the accident.
What Should I Do After an Accident in Skokie?
Knowing how to react to an accident can give you an advantage in recovering full compensation. The accident’s aftermath can be confusing, but do your best to remember these key steps.
- Get medical attention — you need to be evaluated for your injuries with a trained medical provider. It’s important to your health, and it will support your claim. If you aren’t taken from the accident immediately, schedule an appointment ASAP.
- Notify Your Insurance — you need to inform your insurer and the defendant’s insurer of your intent to file a claim. This begins the claims process.
- Contact an Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer — when you’ve been hurt in Skokie, you need help from an experienced personal injury attorney. They will know how to handle your case and can get you started on the road to recovering from your losses.
Do I Prove My Claim?
Even if your case seems cut and dry, you still must prove that the at-fault party caused your damages. You need evidence to build a cohesive argument. You should start working on your case immediately after the accident.
You can use police reports, incident reports, photographs, videos, or expert testimony. Your attorneys can uncover possible leads, find anything that might dispute your claim, and examine the defense’s case for weaknesses. Some cases have more documentation than others, so it’s critical to work with an attorney who can help you find every thread possible.
Is a Personal Injury Lawyer Necessary?
You might be able to file a claim on your own after an injury accident. But you stand a better chance of getting full compensation by working with an Illinois injury attorney.
Depending on how severe your injuries, you might not be able to return to work. Your expenses will continue to pile up. You can focus on getting better if you hire representation in your insurance claim.
Your lawyer will handle the negotiations and communications with the defendant’s insurer and the court. Your attorney can review your case to find every possible available compensation and ensure you don’t accept an insurance company’s lowball settlement offer. Your lawyer should treat you like more than a case, they should treat you like a person.
Call Our Skokie Personal Injury Lawyers Today
If you’ve been hurt in a Skokie injury accident, we are here to help you find the relief you deserve. Whenever someone’s negligence causes suffering, you are entitled to use the full extent of the law to hold them accountable. The Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C., are prepared to hear your case and service you to regain your life.
Insurance companies are for-profit entities. They want what’s best for their stockholders, not what will help you. We can fight for your compensation. We know how the system works and we’re ready to use our experience to build a strong case for you. We use a no-win, no-fee policy: you don’t owe us money unless you win any compensation.
We’re ready to hear your case. Call (312) 236-2900 or use our contact form to schedule your free consultation.
