Most lawsuits in Illinois are filed because someone negligently injured another person. However, there are different levels of negligence, and our lawyers can help prove whether the defendant’s gross negligence caused your injuries.
While a legal definition of gross negligence is hard to pin down, you can still recover compensation when someone acts in a way that cannot be adequately described by ordinary negligence. Car accidents are a common reason for filing a lawsuit, but if the driver’s behavior is reckless or exhibits total indifference to the consequences of their actions, gross negligence might apply, such as in drunk driving cases. You might also have grounds to sue for gross negligence if your doctor deviated from their standard of care so much that the mistake is egregious. If a product injured you, we can determine if the manufacturer knew it was dangerous but put it on the market anyway.
Call our Illinois personal injury lawyers at the Rhatigan Law Offices today at (312) 578-8502 to schedule a free case review.
How is Gross Negligence Defined in Illinois?
Unlike other states, Illinois does not have a standard definition of gross negligence. As the Supreme Court of Illinois pointed out in Ziarko v. Soo Line Railroad, gross negligence and wanton and willful behavior tend to be used interchangeably in personal injury cases. However, willful misconduct implies a certain level of intentionality to the deed, whereas gross negligence is typically characterized by reckless indifference to the dangerous behavior one is engaging in and the consequences it could cause. Someone who is grossly negligent might not intend to injure someone, but they know that what they are doing could end disastrously.
As you can tell, negligence is a matter of degree. At one end of the spectrum is ordinary negligence, which is when a person fails to use the same level of care that reasonable people would in similar circumstances. After all, accidents happen. If someone is going a few miles over the speed limit and gets in a crash, they are definitely negligent, but the law would not consider them reckless. At the other end of the spectrum is intentional misconduct, such as committing assault and battery. Gross negligence lies somewhere in the middle.
Despite the confusion, our Evanston, IL personal injury attorneys can help you hold a person responsible for grossly negligent behavior in a personal injury lawsuit. Our team has the experience to determine if the defendant’s conduct in your case went beyond mere negligence. If so, we can help recover your economic and non-economic losses and argue for punitive damages to punish the other party for being grossly negligent.
What Are Common Situations Where Gross Negligence is the Cause of Injuries in Illinois?
It is easier to describe gross negligence by discussing situations that exemplify it. Various types of reckless driving are common examples of gross negligence. Medical malpractice can also rise above ordinary negligence when healthcare providers do something virtually no one with their training and experience would do. Manufacturers or designers who knowingly allow a dangerous product onto the market or whose standards are so lacking that gross negligence can reasonably be argued.
Driving Recklessly
The difference between ordinary and gross negligence will turn on the specific facts of your case. Our team will review your car accident to determine if the defendant’s conduct was grossly negligent.
For example, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and causing an accident is one of the most common reasons to sue for gross negligence. Drunk driving is also a crime, so you will have a good argument that an intoxicated driver acted with reckless indifference and knew or should have known that their actions could very likely result in serious or deadly injuries.
Other drivers could be found grossly negligent depending on how fast they were going and where the accident occurred. For instance, going five to 10 mph over the speed limit on a highway would likely be considered standard negligence, but going that fast over the limit in a parking lot or through a school zone could be construed as gross negligence. Or, perhaps the driver was excessively speed and did not see a pedestrian walking through a zebra-stripped crosswalk. We would also argue gross negligence is this instance.
Medical Malpractice
Another common scenario where gross negligence occurs is in medical malpractice cases. Healthcare providers have a duty to their patients to provide the same level of care that another healthcare professional with similar education, training, and experience would normally provide. Deviating from that standard is the basis of a negligence claim. The further a doctor or nurse moves from that standard of care, the more likely they are to be grossly negligent.
For instance, if a surgeon did not bother to check a patient’s chart or did and still amputated the wrong limb, they should be held liable for gross negligence because that is a mistake that almost no other surgeon would make. Leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient only for them to discover it later after developing new injuries would also likely be considered grounds for a gross negligence lawsuit.
Perhaps a doctor failed to diagnose a serious condition because they did not perform basic tests that most other doctors would conduct based on the patient’s symptoms. Or, an emergency room doctor might have ignored a patient’s condition, leading to serious injuries or death. Our team can gather medical records and expert testimony to show how they grossly deviated from their duty of care.
Dangerous Products
Some manufacturers do not want to spend the extra time or money to make a product safe or recall one that they know has dangerous issues. Perhaps they knew or should have known that the materials they were using to manufacture the product were dangerous and would likely cause harm, such as asbestos. Our team can gather evidence of their manufacturing process to determine grossly negligent conduct.
Contact Our Illinois Personal Injury Attorneys Today for Help Getting Compensation for Your Injuries
For a free case assessment with our Chicago personal injury attorneys at the Rhatigan Law Offices, contact us at (312) 578-8502.
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