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Individual and Family Services
Personal Injury
Personal injury involves the injury of people caused by the negligent (and sometimes willful or intentional) acts of another. While it is true that accidents happen, negligence should not. Our society has borrowed heavily from the laws of our mother country, Great Britain, to create a system where people are expected to behave reasonably. In general, we have duties to act reasonably and when we breach those duties we can be held liable for money damages to the person injured by our negligence.
For the most part, this system works fine and we all understand that we should not drive when our brakes do not work and that it is not a good idea to leave a giant hole in our front yard into which people can trip and fall.
Unfortunately, humans being are fallible and occasionally they make mistakes; either by not doing things that a reasonable person should have done or failing to do things that a reasonable person should have done. Sometimes in these cases people get hurt.
There is also a line of law that holds that the performer of certain actions is always liable to the party harmed. This is known as strict liability. For example, if a demolition company is using explosives near a school and they unintentionally blow up the school, it stands to reason that this “inherently dangerous” activity should be punished in some way without having to prove that the demolition company did anything negligent.
Personal injury law encompasses a broad range of areas, including some with which you are probably familiar: motor vehicle collisions, slip and fall/premises liability, medical malpractice, and product liability. There are also rather rarified areas of the law dealing with nursing home abuse, airplane and boating accidents, and dangerous products. Additionally, there are areas of the law that cover things as seemingly mundane as dog bites and as potentially catastrophic as injuries caused by people who have been over-served at a tavern or bar (dram shop).
One area of personal injury law that we hear about all the time is medical malpractice. The law in Illinois filters out any questionable cases in this area. Unless the medical professional made a major error there simply is no case. That said, while the vast majority of medical professionals are superb at what they do, occasionally mistakes occur. These mistakes, although rare, can often result in catastrophic injuries or death. In a perfect world, all medical procedures would be 100% safe and nothing bad would ever happen. Unfortunately, mistakes are made and injuries do occur. A lawyer familiar with this area of the law is indispensable in the event you or someone you love has been harmed by medical negligence.
Not every injury is worthy of legal action. I believe that if you are injured you need to understand your rights before deciding whether or not to “do something about it.” Knowing what your options are and whether or not you have a case are both factors that should go into your decision as to whether to seek legal redress. An experienced lawyer who is well-versed in the specifics of this area of the law can help evaluate these factors and determine to what possible compensation you may be entitled. Compensation can be for the medical bills incurred medical expenses that reasonably may be incurred in the future, lost income, disfigurement, disability, and loss of a normal life, among other things.
If you are injured and believe it was the result of someone’s negligence, contact an experienced attorney to discuss this. Most definitely, even if you are not sure if you “have a case,” contact a lawyer before doing anything else. People will often commit various errors that can end their eligibility for compensation simply by talking about their injury to the wrong people. A statement to an insurance company should never be given before you have spoken with a lawyer. A lawyer can also evaluate any specific time limitations on when a case must be filed in court in order to recover. In short, if you get hurt, contact a lawyer as soon as possible to evaluate your rights and responsibilities.
This area of the law is almost always governed by contingency fee arrangements, where the lawyer is only paid a percentage of the recovery in the event of a settlement or a verdict. In other words, everyone has access to the court system and there is no fee unless money is recovered for you.
Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer
What You Need to Know About Your Auto Insurance Policy
Personal Injury Case Results
CTA Notice Requirements
Operating an Uninsured Motor Vehicle that Causes Bodily Harm to Another Person is Now a Class A Misdemeanor
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Workers’ Compensation
Work-related injuries occur. They don’t always happen the way we assume they must, with the great traumatic force of a roofer falling off a roof, or a factory worker getting his hand caught in a machine. Sometimes, people carrying samples from their car to a sales office injure their back. Other typical cases involve people who perform the same repetitive motion daily, such as typing. Still other work injuries can be caused by the normal slips, trips, and falls that unfortunately do happen. Finally, many people do not even realize that if they are driving for work purposes and are injured in an automobile collision, they can collect under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act is essentially a “no fault” law, and differs from the need to prove negligence as in personal injury law. In essence, when you are injured while working doing what you are supposed to be doing, you can recover against your employer or his or her workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Your recovery is based upon your wages, your injury, and other factors. While the law is imperfect, it surely beats the state of the world for the worker of one hundred years ago where an injury on the job often led to dire consequences.
Specifically, the law in Illinois provides injured employees with payment for time lost from work, payment for medical expenses incurred as a result of the injury, and compensation based upon the severity and permanency of the injury. In select situations, the law also provides for people who are so severely injured that they cannot return to their job and must be retrained at the employer’s expense and/or paid a life-long stipend. Finally, the law provides for penalties and interest for the unreasonable delay in paying benefits determined to be due to the injured person.
Workers’ Compensation law in Illinois is extremely complicated and often arcane. Very few people are aware of what constitutes a compensable injury, what “damages” to which they may be entitled, or even how to file a workers’ comp. “case.” It is flat out confusing, perhaps intentionally so. In any event, if you do get hurt while working, you need to consult a lawyer immediately to determine what rights you may have under the Act.
Workers’ Compensation is governed by a statutorily limited contingent fee arrangement. In most cases, the attorney’s fees are capped at 20% of the recovery and there are no filing fees; again allowing access to the system to everyone.
About Workers' Compensation Risks
About Overtime
Workers' Compensation Case Results
Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission:
Prescribed Medication Causes Decreased Work Productivity
Table: State of Illinois Workers' Compensation Rates
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Estate Planning
Many people think wills and documents like them are unnecessary and needlessly expensive. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. When you consider the inordinate cost of navigating a loved one’s estate through probate court, it seems clear that simply planning by executing a will or a trust could have eliminated needless expense and preserved thousands of dollars (if not tens of thousands of dollars) in assets. Even on a relatively small estate with simple scenarios, the attorney fees can run well into the thousands of dollars.
A will can be as simple as stating that you wish to give everything you have to your spouse or domestic partner. It may take into account who should get custody of your children should both parents be deceased. It can spell out exactly how you wish your funeral, burial, or cremation to be handled. It also can eliminate the need for the executor of the will to pay for a bond, saving even more money. Typically, without such a provision in a will, the probate court will require the administrator of an estate (no will) or the executor of an estate (with a will) to take out a surety bond to ensure that they will not effectively run off with the money in the estate. The premium on these bonds costs money and simply having a will or trust that addresses this can eliminate the need for a bond, thus preserving assets of the estate.
Failure to provide for these events often causes needless dissipation of assets and hard feelings all around. Further, many people have specific ideas of how they should be treated when they are incapacitated. Many people wish that a specific event trigger that they be “taken off life support” or that a specific person be designated to make these decisions. These issues can be easily addressed via living wills and powers of attorney for healthcare and property. Let’s face it; most of us would rather avoid talking about, thinking about, or doing anything about this! The last thing any of us want to worry about now while we are younger and healthier is what will happen when we are older or ailing. Unfortunately, failing to deal with these issues now can cause problems later.
Trusts can eliminate the need to appear in probate court completely. Properly drafted trust documents can remove the court from the equation when someone dies.
Specific attention to your wishes in a legally recognized format eliminates the need for court involvement and limits disputes. If you want to control your own life; these documents are a good way to accomplish it. If you address these concerns the correct way now, you won’t have to worry about the “what ifs” later. Too many people have failed to take this step only to have their lives and futures determined by people they have never met such as lawyers, judges, and guardians. If you are old enough to have a job, own property, or drive a car, it is time to think about and plan for your future. Take your future into your own hands! There is simply no good reason not to at least ask about the benefits and costs of these services.
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Probate Practice
Probate deals with what happens when a person dies and how his or her property gets legally transferred. If a valid will exists (testate), the property will be distributed to the heirs as specified in the will. In the event no valid will exists (intestate), the probate court will determine who the legal heirs are and what distributions are to be made to the legal heirs. Probate determines any debts that must be paid out of the estate, as well. Finally, the probate court determines what taxes must be collected from the decedent’s estate (yet another reason to plan for your future, as good estate planning can avoid many of these taxes).
Again, planning in advance, in the form of a will and/or trust, can keep many, if not all, of your assets out of probate court, saving your family money in the process.
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Driving Offenses
About Drivers' License Reinstatement Hearings
About Driving and Handheld Electronic Devices
About Illinois DUI Laws
Online Payment of Traffic Fines in Cook County
About Videotaped Traffic Stops
Online Payment of Traffic Fines in Cook County
Operating an Uninsured Motor Vehicle that Causes Bodily Harm to Another Person is Now a Class A Misdemeanor
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Other Felonies and Misdemeanors
What is a Felony or Misdemeanor Offense in Illinois
Lab Technology Requires Live Testimony
The "Drew Peterson" Hearsay Exception Rule
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