Posted on June 23, 2022 in Car Accident

Intoxicated drivers are famous for causing truly terrible car accidents like head-on collisions and even rollover accidents. When a drunk driver caused your accident, it is very likely that either you or a bystander called the police and they responded to the scene. Most of the time, an intoxicated driver who has caused a crash will be arrested promptly and charged with a DUI. If that is the case, proving your case against them in civil court is likely to be fairly easy. However, if the driver was not criminally charged, this does not mean that you will not be able to prove in civil court that they were intoxicated for the purposes of winning your case against them. If you were hit by a drunk or high driver who escaped criminal liability, it is important that you work with an experienced personal injury lawyer to file a claim against them. 

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 Posted on June 13, 2022 in Car Accident

After some car accidents, it is very clear whose fault it was. For example, if one driver was going the wrong way down a one-way street, the blame is very clearly on the wrong-way driver. In other accidents, the fault may be shared between two or more drivers. This is often the case with pile-ups, which are rarely caused by one single individual. However, there is usually one driver who is more responsible than others involved. If you were injured in a car accident caused by a careless driver, you may be able to recover compensation even if you were partially at fault. If you believe that your own actions may have contributed to the accident in any way, it is critically important that you speak to an attorney as soon as possible after the accident, and definitely before you speak to an insurance agency. Car insurance companies are notorious for misusing admissions of partial fault in order to deny a valid claim. 

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 Posted on May 25, 2022 in Car Accident

In Illinois, you are required by law to file a police report after most traffic accidents. Aside from being the law, it is generally a very good idea to file a report anyway. Ideally, the police should respond to the scene and conduct their own independent investigation. The results of a police investigation can make or break a car accident claim.

Courts and insurance companies alike tend to take the word of police officers at face value. A report showing that you were not at fault and the other driver was can streamline the process of recovering compensation. If you are able to wait at the scene to give a statement, you should. If your injuries dictate that you must be transported to the hospital right away, do not worry. The police will be able to take your statement later. Your next phone call should be to an attorney.

3 Reasons the Police Report is Critically Important to Your Claim

While some people are understandably hesitant to interact with the police, doing so is a necessity after a motor vehicle crash. A few reasons you really do need to contact the police after a car accident include:

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 Posted on May 13, 2022 in Slip & Fall

There are more moving parts to a slip and fall claim than you might think. It seems like it should be simple - you were walking through a store or restaurant, there was liquid on the floor, and you slipped on it and got hurt, so the person or entity charged with maintaining the premises pays. In real life, it is not always quite that simple. Slip and fall cases can be a bit more complex than they initially appear. The simple fact that you did slip in something and fall down is not generally enough to show that the premises owner or manager was somehow negligent in causing your injuries. Your attorney will want to conduct a more thorough investigation, which is why calling one as soon as possible after the accident is so important. The faster you get an attorney on your case, the more evidence is likely to be available.

What Legal Rules Apply to Slip and Fall Accidents?

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 Posted on April 26, 2022 in Car Accident

Even at the slow speeds typically involved in parking lot collisions, getting hit by a car while you are walking can be incredibly harmful. A car does not need to be moving very fast at all to seriously injure a pedestrian who does not have the benefit of a car protecting them. Pedestrian accidents are very common in parking lots because vehicles and people on foot are expected to share space. There are no sidewalks in parking lots, so people have to walk through the same areas cars are driving in. Drivers should be well aware that there are people walking around and must take care to avoid them. If you were hit by a car in a parking lot, you should speak to an attorney to find out what rights you may have. You could be entitled to compensation.

What Do I Need to Prove in Order to Recover Damages?

One of the things you will need to demonstrate is that the driver who hit you was negligent. It is fairly rare for a driver who was using the appropriate level of caution to hit a pedestrian, but this is sometimes shown to be the case. Some common types of careless conduct that cause drivers to hit pedestrians in parking lots include:

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 Posted on April 08, 2022 in Construction Accidents

People go to work every day without ever thinking about the risks they face when they walk in the company door. Employees hardly consider if they are developing a long-term injury or serious illness from the tasks they are completing while on the clock. Because workplace injuries are much more common than any of us would like to think, all members of the workforce should be aware of the common causes behind those injuries and the steps to take in the event they experience one.

Common Causes of Workplace Injuries

There are certain jobs that come to mind when discussing workplace injuries. This list may include construction workers, steelworkers, and roofers. Realistically, however, some of the most common job-related injuries can happen in just about any setting, including an office cubical.

Examples of some of the most common causes of workplace injuries include:

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 Posted on March 18, 2022 in Medical Malpractice

We tend to trust that when we go to the pharmacy to pick up our prescription medication, we will be given the correct prescription that is safe for us to take. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Pharmacists can make errors just like doctors and nurses can. Medication errors can have serious repercussions. Taking the wrong medication or the wrong combination of medications can cause serious reactions. People can become seriously ill or even die as a result of a pharmacy error. If your pharmacist made a mistake and you were harmed by it, you may be able to hold them liable for medical malpractice. If you believe that you have been harmed by a pharmacy mix-up, your first step should be to speak to a lawyer.

What Types of Pharmacy Errors Can Cause Harm?

It can sometimes be difficult to identify a pharmaceutical error as the source of a medical problem. More serious errors can cause sudden illness that requires emergency care, in which case it may be somewhat obvious what happened. Other errors are more insidious and can cause gradual harm over time that is not discovered until much later. Common harmful pharmacy errors include: 

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 Posted on March 04, 2022 in Uncategorized

Premises liability lawsuits can happen when a person gets hurt on property someone else owns or manages. However, not all injuries that occur on someone else’s property are grounds for a lawsuit. There are some specific rules that help courts determine whether the owner or manager of a property is liable to the injured person. Whether you can recover compensation for your injuries depends on a number of facts and circumstances, including whether you had permission to be on the property and how the accident happened. If you were injured on another person’s property and want to know whether you can bring a premises liability suit, you will need to consult an attorney.

Who Can Bring a Premises Liability Case?

The type of duty a property owner or manager has to keep others on his premises safe largely depends on whether the injured person was supposed to be there. “Invitees” have a business purpose for entering, like a repairman you invite into your home. “Licensees” are social guests, like neighbors you invite over for a barbeque. For these visitors, a property owner must either fix any dangerous conditions or warn visitors about the danger. A retail manager, for example, must either dry a wet floor or use a “wet floor” sign.

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 Posted on February 21, 2022 in Car Accident

Anyone who has experienced a Chicago winter can tell you how bad our weather can get. When our city gets a winter storm, the roads can become dangerous very quickly. Even careful drivers can sometimes hit a patch of ice and skid, but most accidents are preventable. During the winter, careful drivers take certain steps to reduce the likelihood of getting into a crash. Negligent drivers may act as if they have not noticed how bad the road conditions are. If you get hurt during a wintertime car accident, contact an attorney. Snow can quickly cover up critical evidence like tire tracks or even pieces of damaged vehicles very quickly. 

What Careless Mistakes Lead to Winter Motor Vehicle Accidents in the Chicago Area?

The first thing our attorneys try to do - after making sure that you are safe and getting any needed medical care - is identify the negligent behavior that caused the at-fault driver to crash into you. Some common examples of negligence we see during the winter include: 

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 Posted on February 04, 2022 in Car Accident

 Car accidents in which a vehicle tips or rolls over are among the deadliest types of crashes. Many vehicles are not designed to handle being flipped over, which can result in very serious injuries for the occupants. Rollover accidents are often preventable. It often requires quite significant carelessness on the part of the at-fault driver to cause another vehicle to roll. If you are injured in one of these very dangerous accidents, you will likely need emergency medical care. 

As soon as you are able to, it is important to call an attorney. Evidence at these crash scenes is often disturbed very quickly, sometimes by first responders attempting to rescue victims trapped in an overturned car. The sooner your attorney is able to begin their own investigation, the more likely it is that they will find critical evidence at the accident site. 

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