Chicago Accident Injury Lawyer

In order to make a Personal Injury claim in the State of Illinois, you have a period of two years from the time of your accident to settle your claim or file a lawsuit. However, if the case involves a municipality such as a city, county, or state, the statute of limitations is one year. This means that you will generally want to begin preparing your case and getting in touch with a Personal Injury Lawyer, as soon as possible.

The research and investigation required to gather evidence for your case can sometimes be time-consuming. Therefore, it is better to have started early with time to spare than for your case to be dismissed because you decided to wait for too long and did not have time to prepare.

According to Illinois law, insurance companies have 15 working days to provide you with the forms that you will need to file a claim after you have requested them. After you have submitted the completed forms and they have received them, they then have 60 days to investigate your case and provide you with an explanation of why they have either approved or denied your claim.

By working with an experienced Personal Injury Lawyer from early on after discovering your injury, we can help you build a case that will be harder for insurance companies to deny, and take the issue to court to fight for your rightful compensation if needed.

Personal Injury cases can usually be broken down into one of these categories: Accidents, Intentional acts of harm, and Defective products.

The most common of these are Accidents, which are defined in this case as a situation where someone has caused harm to another person through negligence. Negligence occurs when someone has a duty to act in a certain way but breaches their duty. For example, a person has the duty to drive safely or to maintain the grounds of their property in a way that visitors are not exposed to unnecessary risk. This covers a variety of situations, from automobile accidents, or medical malpractice, to slip and fall injuries.

Sometimes it can be challenging to deal with an Insurance company during a difficult time. In order to avoid complications and keep your case running as smoothly as possible, it’s important to approach your claim in a methodical manner.

Getting in touch with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your injury can be helpful in helping you to understand your rights and what is important to focus on for your case. In general, knowing your insurance policy is the first step. Make sure to document every stage of your claim carefully, saving any records you might have such as a copy of the police accident report, your time lost from work, or your medical expenses.

In the State of Illinois, we follow a system called modified comparative fault. Depending on the percentage of fault for an accident, the amount of compensation for that accident is adjusted based on the percentage of fault, as long as you are no more than 50% fault for an accident. What this means is that if you are at 20% fault for an accident, you can receive up to 80% of the full compensation for an accident.

A fault is established through a process of four steps. As the details can sometimes be quite complex, it is generally a good idea to discuss your case with a personal injury lawyer early on, even if you do not believe that it will be necessary to take your case to court.

First, you must prove that the other party owed you a duty of reasonable care. For example, drivers have a responsibility to drive in a safe manner, without speeding or distractions. Secondly, you must prove that the other party did not fulfill their duty, leading to the accident. Third, you must prove that you have suffered injuries as a result of the other party’s actions. Finally, you must prove that the other party’s failure to fulfill their duty of reasonable care was the cause of your injuries.

When you have been in an accident where you have been injured, you have two immediate priorities.

The first is to get a proper medical examination and treatment as soon as possible. This is obviously important in order to treat your injuries and discover any other injuries that you might not have known of. In addition, you should inform your doctor about the origin of your injuries and ask if they are severe enough to prevent you from working or engaging in other activities. Loss of income from being unable to work is an important part of your case when you are filing a claim for compensation from insurance or if you are forced to take the issue to court.

Secondly, depending on the nature of your accident, you should document the circumstances of your accident to preserve evidence. This could include photographs of your vehicle, as well as the scene if you were in a car accident; any visible injuries you may have suffered; as well as the prescription and medication involved if your medicine was mislabeled or inappropriately prescribed.

Though individual damages will vary on a case-by-case basis, there are generally some specific categories that are applicable to Personal Injury claims as a whole. Some of the common damages that may be included in a personal injury case are:

• Medical expenses, including your future medical bills and care.
• Lost income, both from time away from work, loss of employment, or loss of future earning potential due to permanent injury.
• Your past and future pain and suffering and disability.
• Disfigurement, and the physical suffering and loss of quality of life that can often accompany it.

The percentages may differ depending on the individual lawyer; you should always discuss these details with your lawyer directly. The usual contingency fee for Personal Injuries is one-third of the final judgment or settlement for the case. This can sometimes range as high as 40% if a lawsuit is necessary due to the tremendous additional time required to prosecute a claim.

Because the fees for personal injury cases are dependent on winning your case, at Shuman Legal, you don’t have to pay anything unless you win. This means that if we take your case, we will want to fight to make sure that you get the full compensation you deserve.