If you have been hurt in an accident or because of the negligent or careless actions of another, you might have a personal injury claim on your hands. Talk to our legal team about how you can get compensation for your injuries, costs, and more.
Personal injury law is known for being incredibly broad. All sorts of accidents, injuries, and claims may be considered grounds for personal injury cases. As such, working with a lawyer who knows how to handle a claim like yours is necessary. Once we know what kind of case you have, the next step is figuring out how to prove your claims in court. Many personal injury cases are based on the defendant’s negligent behavior. We need evidence of the defendant’s negligence and how it caused your accident. We also need evidence of damages, including, but not limited to, monetary costs and emotional distress.
Call (312) 578-8502 and get a free, private case evaluation from our personal injury lawyers at the Rhatigan Law Offices.
Types of Personal Injury Claims Our Team Can Help You with in Orland Park, IL
It can be hard to fully wrap your head around exactly what a personal injury case is. The field is very broad, and a vast range of cases may be considered personal injury cases. Generally, personal injury cases involve physical injuries. Below are just a few types of cases our personal injury lawyers have handled and can help you with.
Slip and Falls
One of the most common personal injury claims is a slip and fall accident. These kinds of cases might involve an accident as minor as a slip in the grocery store to something as severe as falling down a flight of stairs, or worse. Even so, a minor fall might cause major injuries.
Slip and fall accidents tend to be brushed off or even scoffed at. People often underestimate just how serious a slip and fall accident can be. People have broken bones, hurt their backs, or even suffered brain damage because of a slip and fall.
Automobile Collisions
Another very common personal injury claim is for car crashes. Vehicle accidents happen almost daily, and people are often hurt. Between paying for hospital bills and vehicle repairs, the costs of an accident can quickly add up. Many people cannot afford to be in a car accident.
A lawyer can help you navigate the complex process of filing an insurance claim or a lawsuit. Both the defendant and the insurance company are likely to push back on your claims, and your lawyer can stand up for you, so you get fair compensation.
Wrongful Death
Unfortunately, not everyone survives the accident that caused their injuries. If you lost a family member to an accident that would otherwise be considered a personal injury case, you might have a strong claim for wrongful death.
Damages in wrongful death cases tend to be high, as the plaintiff’s losses are quite serious. A lawyer can make sure you and your family get justice.
Filing Deadlines for Personal Injury Claims in Orland Park, IL
One thing many of these claims have in common is the statute of limitations. According to 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/13-202, a plaintiff has only two years from the date of their injuries to file a personal injury case. However, certain types of cases might adhere to different rules.
For instance, surviving family members typically have two years from the date of a loved one’s passing to file a wrongful death claim under 740 I.L.C.S. § 180/2(d), which might differ from the date of the accident. However, you might have as long as five years if the death was the result of an intentional violent act, according to § 180/2(e).
The time limit for filing a claim can also be paused if the victim is a minor. A child victim will have until they turn 20 to file a lawsuit under 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/13-211(a).
If someone has a legal disability that makes it hard for them to file a claim or understand their rights, the time limit is also put on hold until the disability is lifted. However, no claim can be filed after 10 years have passed, regardless of the disability under § 5/13-211(b).
Proving Your Personal Injury Claims in Orland Park, IL
Many personal injury cases are based on the defendant’s negligence. If the defendant did not mean to hurt you and claims it was “only an accident,” you are likely going to have to prove negligence.
Proving negligence requires proving the following four legal elements:
Duty of Care
Duty is the legal obligation the defendant owes you.
For example, in a car accident, the defendant owes a duty to all other drivers to drive with reasonable safety under the circumstances and to obey the traffic laws. Property owners have a duty to keep their premises safe. Manufacturers have a duty to make products free from defects. We can determine what the legal duty was under the circumstances.
Breach of Duty
Next, we must prove how the defendant breached their duty. The breach might be an action or failure to act when they should have.
Continuing with the example of a car accident, a breach might involve running a stop sign or drinking and driving. A business that does not clean a spill it knows about breaches its duty to keep the location safe. A manufacturer would be in breach for making a medication with known dangerous ingredients.
Causation
Causation is the element that connects the breach to the accident. In short, we must prove that the defendant’s breach of duty is the direct cause of the accident.
We will use evidence to show that your injuries would not have occurred but for the defendant’s negligence.
Damages
Finally, we need to prove the extent of your injuries, known as “damages.” Legal damages usually include medical costs, bodily harm, and other non-monetary damages, like pain and suffering.
Comparative Negligence for Personal Injuries in Orland Park, IL
In some cases, defendants argue that plaintiffs also contributed to the accident, so they should not be held liable, or their liability should be reduced. While contributing to your injuries can reduce your compensation, it will not prevent you from filing a lawsuit in the first place.
Injury victims can still recover compensation under 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/2-1116, Illinois’s modified comparative negligence rule, as long as they are found 50% or less the cause of their damages.
When your share of fault is 50% or less, your damages will be reduced in proportion to your responsibility. If your percent of liability is more than 50%, you will be barred from recovery.
Economic Damages in Orland Park, IL Personal Injury Cases
Economic damages should account for the financial losses you have endured because of your accident and the defendant’s actions. A lawyer can review your case to help you evaluate the true extent of your damages and help you make the most of your compensation.
Current Economic Damages
Monetary losses tend to be significant in many accidents. Hospital bills, the value of destroyed property or personal belongings, and missed time at work all come with hefty price tags.
Fortunately, you can claim these current financial losses and other economic damages stemming from the accident.
Besides medical bills and lost wages, you might have out-of-pockets costs, like gas expenses from driving to appointments or childcare costs for babysitters. Keep records and receipts of any services you received to help deal with your case.
Future Economic Damages
Many injury victims require ongoing medical treatments after their case settles, such as physical therapy and surgeries. Our team will work with your doctors and other medical experts to identify your long-term needs and include them in your claim.
You can also claim lost earning potential if you lose the ability to earn money in the future. Your injuries might be bad enough to keep you from working for a long time. If your injuries cost you professional chances, like bonuses and promotions, or if you have to take a job that pays less than before, we can include those losses in your claim for economic damages.
Claiming Non-Economic Damages for Personal Injuries in Orland Park, IL
On top of that, an accident might be very traumatic, especially if it involves severe injuries or fatalities. You can claim non-economic damages for emotional distress, trauma, depression, and more.
Types of Non-Economic Damages
Pain and suffering can be intense, and many victims suffer chronic pain in the accident and because of their injuries. These damages can feel different for each individual but are often measured by how much they disrupt daily life.
Many accident victims develop mental health issues from the emotional harm that they can be compensated for, like PTSD and anxiety.
Numerous other victims suffer depression, shame, and various other non-monetary damages, particularly if they have noticeable scars, disfigurements, or physical limitations that affect the quality of life they had prior to their injuries.
Calculating Non-Economic Damages
While challenging to evaluate subjective feelings, attorneys and insurance companies use a few methods to help estimate victims’ non-economic damages.
The per diem method is one approach, where a daily value is assigned to the victim’s non-economic losses and multiplied by the number of days they are estimated to suffer from them.
Under the “multiplier” method, a number is assigned to the victim’s injuries, with 1 representing the least severe to 5 representing the most serious conditions. The victim’s economic damages are multiplied by this number to determine the non-economic damages.
Evidence of Non-Economic Damages
In addition to using the techniques above, our team will often work with various expert witnesses to prove your non-economic damages. Medical experts can describe the severity of your injuries, the reality of treatment, and how they will affect your life in the future. Mental health professionals can testify about the psychological impact since the accident.
Additionally, you and your family can testify about the direct effects on your lives.
When Punitive Damages Might Be Awarded in an Orland Park, IL Personal Injury Claim
Though punitive damages are seldom granted by the court, you might be able to recover them based on whether the defendant’s conduct in causing the accident was egregious.
Claiming Punitive Damages
You cannot request punitive damages upfront in a lawsuit like in other states. Instead, you must request them after both sides have shared their evidence during discovery under § 5/2-604.1.
Once discovery ends, we can file a motion to amend your complaint to include punitive damages, but this must be done within 30 days. The court will hold a hearing at some point in the future, where we must demonstrate that the defendant’s actions warrant punitive damages.
Proving Punishable Conduct
Under § 5/2-1115.05(b), victims must show “clear and convincing evidence” that the defendant acted with extreme carelessness and a serious disregard for a significant risk of harm to others. This means the defendant recklessly or intentionally ignored the safety and rights of others.
“Clear and convincing evidence” requires a higher standard of proof than the “preponderance of the evidence” needed to recover economic and non-economic damages. Clear and convincing evidence demands strong certainty from the judge or jury that the defendant acted as alleged, such as a DUI conviction.
Caps on Punitive Damages
If awarded, punitive damages cannot exceed three times the victim’s economic damages under § 5/2-1115.05(a). However, this cap will not apply if the defendant was charged and convicted of a crime for the incident, and the sentence includes the possibility of incarceration.
How to Begin a Personal Injury Case in Orland Park, IL
Call the Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502 and get a free, private case evaluation from our personal injury lawyers to begin your case.
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