A wide variety of physical injuries might fall under the legal umbrella of “personal injuries.” Determining whether you have a strong case or just an accident is not always easy. We can help you determine if you have a valid legal claim.
Personal injury cases encompass a broad spectrum of injuries and claims, and our team has experience with cases involving auto accidents, animal attacks, medical malpractice, product liability, and more. To back up your claims, you need evidence, and the evidence you need will vary based on the nature of your claims. Your damages might be significant, especially if your injuries are severe. You deserve fair compensation for all the pain and trauma you have endured. Since personal injury cases tend to vary greatly, the people who might be held responsible also tend to vary. While individuals are often held liable, you might also sue organizations, businesses, or even the government for your injuries.
Speak to our personal injury attorneys by calling (312) 964-8342 to set up a confidential case evaluation free of charge with our team at the Rhatigan Law Offices.
Personal Injury Cases Our Schaumburg, IL Personal Injury Lawyers Have Handled
Personal injury law is vast, and numerous accidents, incidents, and injuries might fall under the category of personal injuries. Generally, a personal injury claim involves some kind of bodily harm experienced by the plaintiff. Accidents leading to things like broken bones, cuts, bruises, and other injuries are common in injury cases. You can also file a claim for personal injuries for more serious injuries that leave you with long-term or permanent complications. Brain damage, paralysis, and chronic pain conditions might also be implicated.
Since personal injury law covers a vast array of cases and claims, it is best to hire an attorney with experience with claims similar to yours. Our personal injury attorneys have experience with the following types of personal injury claims and others:
Auto Accident
A very large portion of personal injury claims are the result of motor vehicle accidents. Cars, buses, and trucks of all sorts get into accidents every day. Many motor vehicle accidents are caused by driver negligence. Drunk driving, speeding, failure to use turn signals, and other traffic violations are all considered negligent acts behind the wheel, and you can file a claim against a driver who injured you for those reasons and more.
Some drivers may have more obligations besides following traffic laws that all motorists must heed. For example, truck drivers have extra rules published by the FMCSA regarding how long they can stay behind the wheel at one time. This is because tired driving is extremely dangerous, and that danger is exponentially greater when the driver in question is behind a large, heavy vehicle.
Bike Collisions
Many people riding bikes suffer serious injuries every day. Although there are dedicated cycling lanes on most roads, not all will have these places, and sometimes drivers do not heed these boundaries. Cyclists who are injured in accidents can get badly injured because they often only have a helmet and elbow/kneepads to protect themselves.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists are in a similar position to people riding regular bikes in that they are more exposed to danger on the road. Although motorcycle protective gear is very effective, it only works up to a certain point, so injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident can be quite severe.
There is also the problem of how motorcyclists are sometimes perceived. A defense attorney may try and characterize a victim in a motorcycle accident as careless and contributing to their own injuries. Our lawyers know that most motorcycle riders are very responsible, and we will make sure you are characterized fairly.
Uber and Lyft Accidents
Rideshare companies like Uber, Lyft, and others have largely supplanted taxi cabs as a convenient mode of transportation. Unfortunately, rideshare drivers are no less prone to getting into accidents than anyone else on the road.
If you are involved in an accident involving a rideshare vehicle, it is very important that you take note of the company they are driving for. If you were the passenger, this can be done by taking a screenshot of your ride information in the relevant phone app.
Animal Attacks
Bites from dogs, cats, and other animals can easily put someone in the hospital because of tissue damage and the risk of infection. Accordingly, you can file a claim against an animal’s owner if their pet injures you.
In Maryland, injuries caused by dogs and other animals fall under “strict liability,” where it does not matter how careful the owner is. In those cases, all you need to prove is that you were injured by the animal. While this mainly concerns dogs, it also applies to cats and more exotic pets, such as pigs.
Medical Malpractice
A medical malpractice lawsuit is when you file a claim against a medical professional who you alleged injured you through their negligence. Medical negligence includes things like incorrectly prescribed medication, mistakes during surgery like leaving foreign objects in the body, or failure to diagnose an illness that should have been identified.
Medical malpractice lawsuits heavily rely on expert witness testimony. An expert witness is someone with special knowledge about something related to a lawsuit who can give an opinion as to whether a defendant’s conduct was negligent. Other requirements for expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases include having recent experience in the relevant medical field.
Expert witnesses and other things can make medical malpractice cases tricky, but our personal injury lawyers know how to handle them effectively.
Product Liability
When you are hurt by a defective product, that falls under an area of law called “product liability.” A product is considered “defective” when, in its ordinary, responsible use, it hurts the end-user or someone else. For example, if someone takes a handgun to a shooting range and it blows up in their hands after they fire a round, that handgun – the product – can be considered defective.
Defects can be either design defects or manufacturing defects. Design defects are problems that arise when the product is made to specifications. Essentially, there is something inherently wrong with the product, and even one that is made “correctly” will still hurt someone in its ordinary use. For example, a circular saw that is designed without a plastic handguard can be considered defective because it would be very likely to hurt someone in its ordinary use of sawing through things. Moreover, there are other designs of circular saw with handguards, so it is not impossible to fix the defective product.
By contrast, manufacturing defects are the result of a mistake being made when the product is being built. The issue is not with the design or specifications of the product but with how that particular unit was made. For example, if a car is built but a critical transmission component is left out, that car has a manufacturing defect because it will not work as expected under ordinary use, and it was meant to have that component in its design.
Wrongful Death
Sadly, many accidents involving serious injuries result in the victim succumbing to their wounds. When this happens, their loved ones can file what is called a wrongful death lawsuit. While technically under the purview of personal injury law, wrongful death lawsuits can have some quirks that make them different from other kinds of personal injury cases. Speak to our attorneys about your case if you feel this applies to you.
Evidence to Support Your Claims in an Oak Lawn, IL Personal Injury Claim
Backing up your claims is easier said than done. We need enough evidence to show that you have a valid injury claim and that the defendant is likely the person responsible. For many, evidence is difficult to come by and takes a lot of work. As such, you should discuss your case with an experienced lawyer to determine where you might find evidence.
Witness testimony is crucial in almost any case. While physical evidence, photos, and even videos are certainly important, witness testimony can be especially powerful. If we can find multiple eyewitnesses whose stories align with yours, we might be able to build a strong case.
Physical evidence is also important, especially in intentional tort cases where the defendant hurt the plaintiff intentionally. If they used a weapon or dangerous instrument, we need the weapon or instrument as evidence. Not only that, but we need evidence that connects the weapon to the plaintiff and shows how they used it to hurt you.
People often overlook records and documentary evidence, which can be extremely important in certain cases. For example, your medical records can help us establish the extent and cost of your injuries and medical treatment. This is important when the plaintiff’s injuries have healed by the time they get to court. If the defendant is a business, we might use certain business records to prove their negligence. For example, suppose you were hurt in a truck accident because the driver claimed they were overly tired and fell asleep. We might use business records of the trucker’s schedule and break times to prove that their employer did not allow them enough time to rest.
Damages and Injuries in Personal Injury Cases in Schaumburg, IL
Claims for personal injuries may encompass a vast assortment of injuries related to accidents, incidents, and even intentional harm. As such, plaintiffs might claim an equally vast assortment of damages. Damages are generally divided into two distinct categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Your economic damages come from the financial costs of personal injuries. Medical expenses are common in personal injury claims and may be considerable, especially for those badly hurt and in need of extensive medical care. Personal injuries involving things like car accidents often involve a great deal of property damage, which should also be evaluated and added to your total economic losses. You can even claim the income you might have lost because you were too injured to work.
Damages for non-economic injuries and losses are unrelated to money, making them harder to assign a dollar value to for purposes of awarding compensation. Your physical pain, emotional trauma and suffering, humiliation, damage to your reputation, and other painful experiences constitute your non-economic damages. Since these experiences do not come with bills or invoices, juries are usually tasked with deciding how much they are worth. We need strong evidence indicating that these damages are severe and that the jury should award significant compensation.
Who You Can Hold Responsible for Your Personal Injuries in Schaumburg, IL
Because personal injury claims involve many possible accidents, incidents, and people, numerous parties might be liable. It is crucial that you meet with an attorney to discuss how your accident happened and who was involved so that they can determine whom to hold responsible.
Drivers
In auto accidents and collisions on the road, other drivers are often held liable for personal injuries. If you were in your own vehicle, on a bike, or walking down the sidewalk when hit by a car, you can sue the driver for your personal injuries.
Assailants
If you were injured because someone attacked you, you can sue the assailants. The tricky thing about intentional torts and personal injuries is that the defendants are often charged with criminal offenses related to the incident. Generally, criminal proceedings are given priority over civil claims, and you might have to wait until a criminal trial is complete before your civil lawsuit may commence. The good news is that you can use a guilty verdict or guilty plea as evidence against the defendant.
Third-Parties
Sometimes, personal injuries are caused by third parties who are absent when the accident occurs. For example, a person might be injured because the brakes on their new car malfunctioned and failed. The manufacturer of the car and the brakes may be sued for damages even though they were not directly involved in the accident.
Employers of Other Defendants
In some circumstances, you can sue someone’s employer for injuries they cause. The law understands that businesses and companies are often in a better position to compensate plaintiffs for their injuries than employees, so they can be held accountable for some acts. To have an employer held accountable for something an employee did, you have to show that the employee was doing something sufficiently related to work. For example, if a window repair van hits you on the way to a job, you probably can sue their employer because driving to a work site is related to their job. However, if an office worker hits you on their way home, their employer will probably not be liable because that is not sufficiently related to their office job.
Contact Our Schaumburg, IL Personal Injury Attorneys About Your Claims
Speak to our personal injury attorneys by calling (312) 964-8342 to set up a confidential case evaluation free of charge with our team at the Rhatigan Law Offices.
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