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Start the New Year right and make sure you, your family, and your assets are protected in the event of an accident, injury, or other "unplanned" event.  I would be happy to discuss any of these issues with you in person, on the telephone, or via email to guide you in the right direction.

1. Review Your Liability Limits

Take a look at the Declarations Page of your automobile insurance policy. It may say "$50,000.00 per person/$100,000.00 per incident. This amount could be higher or lower (many states have statutory limits).  In any event, review this information and discuss it with your insurance agent or with a personal injury lawyer to make certain you are covered completely in the event of an accident.  Get the highest limits you can afford!

2. Research Your Automobile Insurance Company

Nowadays, this information is readily available on the Internet so compare your company and its reputation for paying claims, disputing claims, and such.  In short, buy insurance from the company with the best reputation possible.

3. Make Sure you have adequate Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

This is something that kicks in if you are involved in an accident with a driver who has no coverage or inadequate coverage.  Don't take chances.  Much like your liability limits, make sure the UM/UIM limits are as high as possible.

4. Consider Other Coverage Options

Discuss with your insurance agent the possibility of a Personal Umbrella Policy, which would engage when all other coverage limits are exhausted.  Also, make sure you have enough coverage under the Medical Payments provision of your policy.

1. Be polite

Police don't like smart alecks.  Be polite without being officious or condescending. Remember, Mr. or Mrs. Police Officer is doing his or her job and is not trying to make your life difficult unless you make his or her life difficult.  You might not be let off free to go, but you will not add additional charges if you behave like a human being.  DO NOT ARGUE OR CHALLENGE THE "FACTS" OF WHICH THE OFFICER ADVISES YOU (i.e.--"Did you know you were going 20 miles over the speed limit?" "No way! I was just going with traffic!" is a very bad thing to say!).  Remain calm, polite, and quiet.

One of our recent clients was able to recover $650,000 following an automobile collision that left her with permanent pain and bodily injuries.  Some of the main reasons for our success in her case were that our client followed some of the basic guidelines that we recommend in any situation:

• Take photographs. Photograph any visible injuries to yourself, damage to the vehicles involved, or anything else important.  This preserves the scene of the incident in real time.
• Get immediate medical treatment. Make sure that your injuries are treated in a timely manner.  Any delay can be used to argue that you were not hurt, were not hurt as severely as you claim, or were hurt later.
• Do not give a statement. Anything you say WILL be used against you.
• Contact a lawyer immediately. Make sure that your rights are protected by an experienced professional.

Visit our Practice Areas page for more helpful tips and to learn more about what to do if you have been involved in a serious accident.

What you need to know if you are injured in the course of your employment:

1. Report The Injury

Report to your immediate supervisor either orally or in writing as soon as possible. You have a limited number of days under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act to report an accident, and you do not want to be out of luck. Even better advice is to contact a lawyer immediately.

Personal Injury

Who are the parties? What is the statute of limitations?

1. Two years exception for minors and other situations. Basically, you need to know when did it happen, to whom, and by whom.
2. Be careful for shorter limits for specific cases--this is why you need to call a lawyer immediately rather than give ittime to work itself out--waiting can kill any case you may have!
3. Insurance

A recent decision by the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court upheld the compensability of injuries suffered by a bartender at Coast Restaurant in Bucktown due to the increased danger to the worker in that particular area of the city.

Effective January 1, 2010, Public Act 96-143 went into effect.  This law creates a new offense, which is a class A misdemeanor, for an individual who operates a motor vehicle without insurance when that vehicle causes personal injury to another person.

Face it, most people don’t read each sentence in their auto insurance policy.  Even if they did, they would not necessarily understand all of the terms and language contained in the policy. When you buy car insurance, you probably believe that you are purchasing protection only in the event that you cause an auto accident and are responsible to pay damages.  This indeed is the main purpose for purchasing such insurance.

A recent decision by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (Ryjewski v. Humana, Inc., No. 03 WC 21947, 2008 WL 5538472, 08 I.W.C.C. 1404 (Dec. 22, 2008)) (IWCC, a/k/a “The Commission”) relied in part upon evidence that pain-killing prescription medication taken by an injured worker following back surgery led to decreased productivity at work and led the Commission to affirm the trial court’s decision that he was permanently and totally disabled.