Dog Bite Cases 101

I recently settled a dog bite case. Unlike most personal injury cases in Illinois, dog bite cases are often “strict liability,” meaning that the owner or controller of the dog is liable without the bitten victim having to prove negligence.
Does this mean a person bitten by a dog is just handed a check right away?
If you read my blog regularly, you know nothing is ever that easy in law-land. I’ll explain some of the reasons for that below.
Dog Bite Law
Without getting too wonky on the statute and the common law, suffice it to say that the Animal Control Act (510 ILCS 5/1 et.seq.), says that if you own or control a dog or other domestic animal, and it bites or causes other damage, you are responsible, unless you (the person injured) provoked the dog or controlled the dog.
If you walk your neighbor’s dog while she’s out of town and it bites you, arguably you are in control of it so you would not be able to recover. Similarly, if you harass the neighbor’s dog by throwing rocks at it and it bites you, tough luck, since you provoked it. But if you mind your own business and get bitten by a dog, you can pursue the owner or person in control of the dog for money damages to compensate you for your injuries.
There is also common law (case law) that allows one to recover under a negligence theory of liability. While you would have to prove the animal owner did something wrong (left a fence open, didn’t have the dog on a leash or in control), it would work similar to the ACA in that you could pursue the owner/controller for damages.
Now, you are wondering, if it’s “strict liability,” why isn’t recovery automatic, prompt, and easy?
Things are a lot more complicated than they might seem.
Who Owns? What’s the Harm?
The first question is who owns the dog. If the person injured knows the dog and the owner, that is ideal. When a person is bitten or attacked, they may not know, or be in a position to find out, who owns the dog. If the dog’s owner is known or discovered, the next step for an attorney is to assess whether that owner maintains homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, since that is where the monetary recovery will likely come from .
As I’ve written previously, pursuing someone for damages when there is no available insurance is usually a waste of time. If I know the name and address of the dog owner, I send a letter to them putting them on notice and urging them to turn it over to their insurance company.
The second question is what the injuries are and what the likely prognosis and recovery will be. Obviously, there is a huge difference between a small bite on an adult man’s leg that heals without a scar, and a horrific bite on a woman’s face that leaves permanent scars and obvious signs of injury.
While scarring is difficult to predict, the initial injury can provide clues about how the recovery will go. A bad bite that requires surgery to debride (clean out) or one that causes bone, tendon, ligament, or nerve damage is usually a serious one that will linger, possibly forever.
The Bite, The Injury, The Settlement
In my client C’s case, the dog bit her on the hand. The injury initially appeared to be grisly looking, with a good portion of skin on the hand missing. Obviously, it hurt. But what it would do to hand function and whether the pain would last was unknown.
I began by sending a letter to the dog’s owner, and shortly after received an acknowledgement from their homeowner’s insurance company. A good sign.
My next step was to informally ask the adjuster what the policy limits of liability were. Some adjusters will not provide this information without forcing me to jump through lots of hoops. However, this particular adjuster gladly provided me the parameters, meaning that I could estimate how bad C’s injury appeared to be, guesstimate how her recovery would go, look at her medical bills, and have some general idea of what the case might be worth.
As time passed, the injury was not healing, with lots of pain, the inability to engage in favorite activities that all involved hand use, like fitness, writing, and music. Despite the injured hand being C’s non-dominant hand, it was apparent that this injury had affected her ability to close the hand, perform basic human functions, sleep, and yes, walk her dog.
I continued to monitor her recovery following a second surgery to graft skin onto the bite area, along with several injections. While her recovery will never be complete, it progressed exponentially after the surgery (that her initial doctors did not think she needed!), and we quickly obtained her medical records and bills and submitted a demand for settlement to the adjuster.
While obviously I believed the case was worth the policy limits of $300,000, the adjuster obviously did not. We usually see things from different viewpoints, since it’s our job to do so. But I did establish a great relationship with this particular adjuster and we agreed on the seriousness of C’s injury, the value of her medical treatment, and how the injury had affected her ability to perform work and recreational activities. The initial offer was reasonable, to say the least.
After discussing the pros and cons of negotiating versus filing a lawsuit and preparing for trial with C, we agreed to continue negotiations. She gave me parameters of what she would be happy walking away with and I aimed for those. After a few weeks of back and forth with the adjuster, we arrived at what all agreed was a very satisfactory settlement, slightly discounted from the policy limits, but very fair under the circumstances.
After I negotiated down the reimbursement amount to C’s health insurance company, I had a solid net amount and broke it down for her.
Nothing, no amount of money, will ever make C whole again. She may never get back to all her pre-bite activities or get back to them at the level she would like. That said, civil cases like this one are all about finding the amount of money that fairly compensates the injured person for their medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of a normal life, and lost wages. All in all, a successful settlement does not have to be all the money available; it just has to be more than enough. Not having the stress of litigation and the time lag in getting a recovery that it entails is also a consideration.
Takeaways
- Dog bite cases are governed by both statute (Animal Control Act—strict liability) and case law (negligence)
- If you own or control a dog or domestic animal, you’re responsible for any damage caused unless the other person provoked your dog
- Evaluating dog bite case involves a number of factors, including: who owns the animal, the circumstances of the bite, the apparent injury, the expected recovery and impact on the individual, whether there is insurance available, and, if so, the limits of liability
- As with any personal injury case, all dog bite cases are much more complicated than they might appear initially, so it helps immensely to have a personal injury attorney working for your benefit
Contact Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Hoffman
As in all cases involving injury, animal attacks, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, or other injury and potential liability, if you have been bitten by a dog, immediately get medical treatment, report the crash to police and your own insurance company, and contact a lawyer with expertise in your type of case, such as dog bites.
If you've been hurt and have questions, contact Chicago personal injury attorney Stephen L. Hoffman for a free consultation at (773) 944-9737. Stephen has over 30 years of legal experience and has collected millions of dollars for his clients. He is listed as a SuperLawyer, has a 10.0 rating on Avvo, and is BBB A+ accredited. He is also an Executive Level Member of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce.
Stephen handles personal injury claims on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay anything up front, and he only gets paid if you do. Don’t wait another day; contact Stephen now.