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Common Lawsuit Questions In Illinois

Open book titled "Personal Injury Law" with a gavel and glasses on a gray surface, symbolizing legal representation and personal injury claims.

If, through no fault of your own, you are walking along a sidewalk and you trip on two uneven sidewalk slabs, who should be responsible for those injuries?

The uneven sidewalk issue is very common among lawsuit questions in Illinois. The first inquiry is, who is the person or entity in control or owns the sidewalk? If It is a city, county, municipality, or state, it is a much more difficult case than if it is a private owner that controls or owns the sidewalk. If it is a city sidewalk, they generally have something known in the law as tort immunity. Tort immunity recognizes that cities have a lot of responsibilities throughout their regular operations.

Looking out at every inch of road, pavement, and sidewalk is too difficult a chore. To overcome tort immunity, the city needs to have had notice of the defect in the sidewalk. If you are injured on a city sidewalk, you want to show that they had notice of the defect.  When it comes to an uneven sidewalk, it all depends on how uneven the sidewalk is. If the sidewalk is uneven by an inch or two inches, the law may not agree that is so uneven as to create liability – even with notice.

If it was over two inches, then you have a better chance to succeed in making a claim for your injuries against the city – again if the city had notice. Now, it is easier to succeed in a claim versus a private owner.  A private owner has a more heightened responsibility to maintain their property than a city, and the private owner does not have the defense of tort immunity. So, in private ownership, it needs to be shown that the private owner failed to either properly warn people of the uneven sidewalk, or failed to take remedial measures to correct the problem. Then you could make the private owner liable in this particular example.

If someone signs a gym waiver, can they still file a claim for injuries they sustain at a gym?

Gym waivers are tough. The first level of inquiry is, what is the language of the waiver that was signed? Let’s assume it’s the best-drafted waiver in favor of the gym facility. You need to work to see if the injury that occurred could have been prevented. If you have a person that’s injured using a particular machine and let’s say that person’s a new member, and the gym failed to train or demonstrate to that person how to properly use the machine, then the fact that they signed a waiver might help the injured member prove liability for the injury.

Or you have situations where the machine may be maintained poorly. A person goes over to the machine, sticks a pin in the weight rack, and the cable breaks, and they are seriously injured. One of the levels of inquiry would be the maintenance records. If we can establish that a member had reported the machine as defective to the front desk, and a day goes by and the front desk didn’t notify management, or management didn’t take any action to correct the problem, then you can possibly get around the waiver.

Those are the two easy examples to discuss. There are some other examples like if someone signs a waiver for their family, a mom signs yet her kid comes into the gym and is injured, it’s difficult to establish liability. 

When staying at a hotel, does the hotel have any liability for monitoring the use of their on-site gym or their sauna?

In a hotel environment, the document you sign when you check in generally wouldn’t include a specific release for the workout room, but certain rules do apply. If the machine was not properly maintained, and you obtain maintenance logs to show that a month has passed since maintenance was done on the equipment, then the hotel certainly didn’t maintain their level of responsibility to the guest – business invitee – to keep their premises safe.

The weight room scenario at a hotel would be similar to any other company. If someone is in the banquet room at a hotel, and their chair breaks and causes an injury, the chair was not maintained or inspected properly, and you could certainly maintain a case against the hotel. So whether it’s a gym or a hotel I think the person would have the ability to make a successful point.

Can a customer file a claim if they receive laser burns during hair removal or another cosmetic procedure?

It depends, it would most likely fall under professional liability. If you can establish that the physician administering that laser treatment wasn’t using the standard of care typically expected by professionals who use that type of machinery. One could make a claim and likely sustain a claim against that physician and the facility’s owner. 

That answer assumes that there is an actual injury, though. If you just have some pain during the procedure, and the pain goes away – no case. To be successful with the claim there would have to be some substantial injuries, caused by the alleged breach of the standard of care in the medical office.

What is your advice when it comes to a client posting pictures of their injuries or commenting on social media about what had happened to them?

Sometimes it makes my job easy. If I’m able to point and say look, this person was injured, and they’re telling the whole world they’re injured, that’s confirmation that they were injured. Whereas on the other hand, you could have a person who’s claiming injury, saying that their back or legs are hurting and they are not able to do a normal daily activity, but their Facebook page shows them bungee jumping off a bridge.

You have to be careful about what you post on social media because it’s discoverable in litigation. It wouldn’t be the first time that the insurance company argues the claim of injury is not supported by the facts, because here’s the client on social media acting as if he or she didn’t have an injury.

Can you be sued for something you post on social media?

Sure, if you post something defamatory, you could be sued for it. It could fall under defamation. It could be harassment. It could be false light, where you author something about another person, and what you say about the other person holds them in a false light, so that other people in the community think differently about them. Sure, you can certainly make a claim that way. I encourage people to do that, the First Amendment applies to a lot of things, but it wouldn’t apply to that.

Can you sue someone for being rude to you? If not, when does language escalate into doing something a person can sue for? 

If what you’re doing is to harass a person and makes that person feel that they’re in imminent danger of receiving a battery – unauthorized physical touching or conduct, then that is how they would be able to support a claim. They are claiming that they felt they were going to be injured by what the person was saying to them. Or what they’re saying is so egregious, it could rise to the level of defamation.

Contact Our Schaumburg Personal Injury Lawyers

If you’ve suffered an injury due to the negligence of another call the Schaumburg personal injury lawyers at Claim Your Justice and let us get you the compensation you deserve.

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Personal Injury And Workers’ Comp Questions Answered

Schaumburg Car Accidents

Not every injury means you can file a lawsuit, you have to have legal grounds to hold someone else accountable. What are those grounds?

You first need to have a duty of care owed by one person to the injured person to qualify as a personal injury in legal terms. The duty of care can be described very simply.  A person who is driving a car has a duty of care to operate that car safely. So, when the driver of a car strikes another car, and someone is injured, then the duty has been breached. Once Claim Your Justice™establishes there was a duty of care, we then need to establish a breach of the duty of care.   

Say the person who’s driving the car rear-ends the other person, of course, that person has breached the duty of being safe. Let’s say that person who breached the duty of care says  “Hey, I’m injured, and your car that I rear-ended shouldn’t have been there. ”Well, you can see that is a crazy theory of liability and it’s not going to be actionable because there was no duty of care for the car that was in front to not be there.

The next thing is that the person who is injured has to show that their injuries were the proximate cause of the accident. For example, if you have a person who’s rear-ended, and they claim that their crown fell out in their mouth because of the accident, and they want to sue the driver that rear-ended them. If it’s established that the crown didn’t fall out because of the accident, the proximate cause for that injury isn’t connected. 

So far, we have 1) the duty of care; 2) the breach of duty – the duty of care; and 3) the proximate cause. This is how you get to liability. 

You need all three elements to establish a personal injury case. Sometimes you can have all three elements, but the actual personal injury onset is delayed.  A person may not know that they’re injured. This happens sometimes in medical malpractice cases. A doctor performs a medical procedure and the client/patient feels fine for a few days or weeks.  But then the client passes out and finds the procedure was not performed correctly.

What happens if a victim is partially at fault? Can they still pursue a personal injury claim? And if they can, how does that work?

If a person is partially at fault, but less than 50 percent, at fault, they could still pursue a claim, if they’re more than 50 percent at fault, they will lose their claim. That percentage is often negotiated between the attorneys at Claim Your Justice and the insurance company or the defense attorney. Other times, it is decided by a jury when they hear all the facts and they determine who was at fault for a particular accident and whether the person was more than or less than 50% at fault.

Sometimes the jury could find the person is at fault 10%.  Other times, the jury can find the person at fault 90 percent. In the 10 percent case, the person will still recover the value of their injuries minus 10 percent. In the 90 percent at fault case, they don’t collect anything.

personal injury

Most work injuries could be covered through workman’s compensation. However, can you talk a little bit about scenarios where the employer is responsible for the compensation of these injuries?

In Illinois, there’s a statute that says if an employee is injured while on the job, and the source of the injury is not based on any third party responsibility, the exclusive remedy is against the employer. That exclusive remedy is required under the Workers Compensation Act. You can have a situation where an employee who is driving for work is injured in a car accident, it’s a one-car accident where the employee hits a tree.  Even though the employee is responsible for the accident, they can still pursue a claim against the employer. 

If on the other hand, the employee who is driving during work and hits a tree, and Claim Your Justice finds out that the car was recently repaired, and the mechanical shop failed to properly install the brakes or some other type of mechanical defect in the repairs, and that defect causes the car to veer off into a tree, the injured person will pursue a claim for injuries under the Workers’ Compensation Act against the employer.

We would also pursue a separate claim against the mechanical shop for negligence. The mechanical shop must do its job right. When they don’t do it right, that’s a breach of duty, and that breach of duty was the proximate cause of the person’s injuries. In this  case, the injured person has two separate claims

What happens when employees are injured while taking a break, can they still receive compensation?

If they’re on the clock, there’s an argument that the accident did not happen within the scope of their employment. So, let’s say the employee is a delivery driver, and he takes a break. While he takes the break, he goes to his girlfriend’s house, and while he is at his girlfriend’s house, he injures himself there.

He wants to make a claim against the employer for his injuries, but that claim will be denied because the injury at his girlfriend’s house did not happen in the scope of employment. If the employee was in a break room and injured himself, he did not deviate from what his regular job duties are, so there he would still be covered under workers’ compensation.  

Does what you just previously discussed, also apply to temp workers, or do their injuries fall under different criteria?

Temp workers can pursue a claim against their employer and their employer is the temporary agency. You can have a scenario where you could sue the place where the employee was temporarily working, for negligence. If you find perhaps a machine that the employee was working on was defective, the employee could pursue a workers compensation claim against the temporary agency, and pursue a possible negligence claim against the company where they were temporarily placed

When it comes to factory work, employees are sometimes subjected to loud and prolonged noise. How is hearing loss compensated in these instances?

If you could make the connection between the type of employment, and the hearing loss, then you would be able to pursue a claim for workers comp. There’s a schedule provided in the Illinois Workers Compensation Act as to how those claims are compensated. It depends on the degree of hearing loss and whether there were any complaints of hearing loss as it was before.

Contact our Schaumburg Personal Injury Lawyers

If you think you may have a workers’ compensation claim from a personal injury suffered at work or any other personal injury, call the experts at Claim Your Justice™ and let us get you the compensation you deserve.

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7 Common Illinois Personal Injury Questions

Schaumburg Personal Injury Attorney

Who pays for the court costs and expenses associated with a personal injury case? At what point in the case does payment of court costs and expenses happen?

Pursuing a personal injury case may require expenses and some time spending money on court costs.  These expenses and court costs are advanced by Claim Your Justice™.   There are no upfront expenses paid by our injured clients.  Court costs are incurred when a case goes to court. 

The fact is that because we aggressively pursue our clients’ injury claims we are able to settle many of our personal injury cases without having to go to court.  In these situations, there are no court costs. However, we are not shy about filing a lawsuit when doing that is necessary to recover the most amount of money for our clients!  

When we do have to file a lawsuit to fight the insurance company, we advance the court costs and upon successful recovery of the case, we take our court costs back. There are no out-of-pocket expenses for our clients when it comes to filing a personal injury lawsuit.     

Claim Your Justice™advances expenses to obtain our client’s medical records. We recover those costs upon a successful recovery.  

There’s also another expense when we would want to obtain a report from a medical specialist. For instance, in a dog bite case where a client has a scar on their face, or an auto accident case where the client is not able to walk again, we would hire an expert witness to give us an opinion letter about the permanency of the injury and the future medical bills that may be incurred to correct the scaring.

At every turn, Claim Your Justice™is working hard for our client.  We advance the expenses and court costs when necessary to maximize the amount of money our client receives.    

If the attorney and the client disagree on accepting a settlement being offered, how is that handled?

The attorneys at Claim Your Justice™always tell our clients they are the final decision makers as to whether to accept a settlement or not. If the client does not want to accept a settlement, the case will be filed in court. Once a case is filed in court, the case goes through the process of written discovery, depositions, and then ultimately a trial and let the jury decide as to the value of the injuries. In many cases, the jury verdict is an amount that is more than what was being offered in the settlement, and other times, the jury verdict may be less than the settlement that was being offered.  

The court system is a way the client can advocate for themselves when they want to reject a settlement. There is always a risk that when electing to go to court and a jury trial.  The risk is that you cannot predict what a jury is going to award. There are times when jurors have been in car accidents themselves and were not injured and let personal experiences influence the true value of a case.  Whereas a settlement is a guaranteed amount.

Claim Your Justice™prides itself in explaining to our clients what we believe the value of the case is and whether a settlement is close to the value of the case.  We may recommend filing a lawsuit and going to court as our goal is always to get the most amount of money for our clients.   

What ways to improve the chances of a successful recovery in an injury case?

After an injury, you should follow the hospital’s and doctor’s instructions as to how to care for and treat your injury.  This is the best way a client can make sure the value of their case value isn’t jeopardized. In a real-life example, we had a client that has a doctor’s order to go for therapy but could not follow through as it conflicted with their work schedule. This is completely understandable, but if an injury victim has a doctor’s prescription to go for therapy and the client doesn’t follow their recommendations, when it comes time to evaluate the case there can be a conflict and the value of the injury will be negatively affected.

The insurance company and defense attorneys will question if the client was seriously injured, why would they not have gone to therapy? This can often be an obstacle to recovery and simply following a doctor’s recommendations is a great way to improve the chances of maximizing the value of your case after you have been injured.  

On average, how much time is devoted by a client to an injury case?

When a client can settle a case, there is much less time that needs to be put into that case by the client. When a case such as an auto accident injury goes through the court process, the client will be required to give a deposition and will be required to come to court for arbitration and/or a trial. So, the number of hours needed on the client side varies significantly between when a case is settled and when there is court action, and it is for the client to decide. At Claim Your Justice™, we see it as an investment as the client is investing their time in the process to achieve maximum recovery, just as we are investing our time in litigating the case. 

What happens when a case is not successful?  Who is responsible for any case-related costs or out-of-pocket expenses?

Claim Your Justice™works on acontingency-fee-basis, meaning we only collect a fee when our client recovers money. If we lose the case, we will generally waive those costs and the client will not be personally responsible for them. As a personal injury law firm, we must assess each case individually because we do not want to invest court costs and our time in a case that we don’t think has an avenue for a successful recovery. There is a balancing act that occurs when we assess a new potential client’s personal injury case.  

We are not going to go through the process unless we are confident the case will result in a successful recovery. With more than 30 years of experience, we can evaluate your case very quickly and very accurately, so conversations with prospective clients are productive and allow us to get to the heart of the issues quickly and intelligently. 

How do you prove liability in an injury case that takes place at a business?

We have worked on many cases where clients have been injured at grocery stores, big-box retailers, and other types of stores. It is especially important that the client contacts Claim Your Justice™early enough.  The reason this is so important is because proving liability is the first prong of any personal case.  This is how we prove liability.  Then we will evaluate the value of the injury.  

It is essential that we secure a video whenever possible, and when a client calls us if it happened in a parking lot or inside a store, we will do our best to get pictures of the are areas where the incident occurred.  This goes a long way toward proving liability. Also, when the client contacts Claim Your Justice™, we encourage them to take as much time as necessary to give us detail by detail as to what led up to what preceded the actual injury. 

Whether it was some material falling off a high shelf and hitting the client on the head, or if they slipped and fell on the floor, causing a skull fracture, or whatever the case may be.  There are a variety of ways someone can get injured at a retailer, but the most important part is the client getting to Claim Your Justice™quickly and us doing our investigation thoroughly.     

What are other typical injuries sustained at businesses?

There are accidents that occur at amusement parks by equipment either caused by defective maintenance or a defect in the operation. We’ve also had a case where there was a guard dog at a facility who wasn’t properly restrained and bit a client. There are many ways where someone be injured at a place of business, but generally, we see injures as a result of a slip and fall or defective maintenance or equipment at retail establishments.

If you have been injured due to the fault of another contact the Illinois personal injury lawyers at Claim Your Justice™ and let us help you get the compensation you deserve for your personal injury.

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How Long Do I Have to File a Claim After an Auto Accident?

Auto Accident

In the blink of an eye, a car accident that you never saw coming can change your life. When it does, having a Claim Your Justice attorney on your side will help you to understand what rights you have, how to pursue damages, and what compensation you’re entitled to. At Claim Your Justice, our experienced Schaumburg, IL car accident attorneys are here to support you every step of the way.

As you navigate the personal injury claims process, there’s a lot to think about — evidence, how to prove fault, how to maximize your compensation, and the statute of limitations. The following will focus on the statute of limitations and how much time you have to file a claim after an Illinois or Wisconsin auto accident. To learn more how we can help you with your personal injury case, call our law firm directly or send us a message at your convenience.

What Is a Statute of Limitations?

In its simplest sense, a statute of limitations is a limit on the amount of time that you have to file a lawsuit against another party or take some other sort of legal action. It’s easiest to think of a statute of limitations as a clock; once the time on the clock is up, the right to bring forth a claim is over. Because statutes of limitations are critical, it’s smart to work with an attorney who can help you to understand and protect which time limit applies in your case.

Is the Statute of Limitations the Same for All Types of Cases?

The statute of limitations is not the same for all case types. Even within the category of civil claims, the statute of limitations varies by type of action. While this will be discussed more below as it pertains to a car accident, it’s important to know that the amount of time you have to bring forth a civil suit will look differently depending on if you’re injured in a car accident or just filing a claim for property damages; have been injured due to a doctor’s medical malpractice; etc.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for an Illinois or Schaumburg Car Accident Case?

Depending on the details of your case, there may be three different statutes of limitation that apply. Again, it’s important to not delay in talking to an attorney who can explain the statutes of limitation and which one(s) may be relevant for your case.

  • Wrongful death. A wrongful death lawsuit exists when the wrongful or neglectful acts of one party lead to the death of another. As tragic as it is to think about, the truth is that car accidents frequently cause of death in Illinois. If a loved one has been in a fatal car accident, then the statute of limitations that your family needs to be aware of is the wrongful death statute of limitations. As found in 735 ILCS 5/13-209, the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim is:
    • Sec. 13-209. Death of party.
      • (a) If a person entitled to bring an action dies before the expiration of the time limited for the commencement thereof, and the cause of action survives:
        • (1) an action may be commenced by his or her representative before the expiration of that time, or within one year from his or her death whichever date is the later;

    In other words, if your loved one has died from injuries sustained in a car accident, you either have two years from the date of the accident or one year from the date of your loved one’s death, whichever is later, to file a wrongful death claim.

  • Personal injury. Most car accident claims are a form of personal injury claim, where the injured party seeks compensation for personal injury damages caused by the at-fault party. In a personal injury case in Illinois, the statute of limitations is two years from the date the cause of action accrues, as found in 735 ILCS 5/13-202. This means that if you are pursuing damages for economic and non-economic damages related to your injuries, such as compensation for medical bills, lost wages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering, you have two years from the date of your crush to initiate a lawsuit.
  • Medical Malpractice. A medical malpractice claim is serious and exists when a medical mistake results in injury or death. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a medical or hospital mistake, then the statute of limitations that your family needs to be aware of found in 735 ILCS 5/13-2122, the statute of limitations for a medical mistake is
    • Sec. 13-212. Physician or hospital.
      • (a) Except as provided in Section 13-215 of this Act, no action for damages for injury or death against any physician, dentist, registered nurse or hospital duly licensed under the laws of this State, whether based upon tort, or breach of contract, or otherwise, arising out of patient care shall be brought more than 2 years after the date on which the claimant knew, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have known, or received notice in writing of the existence of the injury or death for which damages are sought in the action, whichever of such date occurs first, but in no event shall such action be brought more than 4 years after the date on which occurred the act or omission or occurrence alleged in such action to have been the cause of such injury or death.
  • Property damage. Finally, the statute of limitations in Illinois for property damage is five years. If you are bringing forth a claim for personal injury damages, however, you will most likely roll your property damage claim into that and won’t need to worry about the five-year statute of limitations.

Claims Against the Government

One other thing to know about the statute of limitations in Illinois is that there are important different rules for individuals who are bringing a claim against a government entity. For example, if your car accident occurred due to the negligence of a state, county, school employee, or a CTA bus driver, you can still bring a claim for personal injuries, but there is a significant Statute of Limitations.

You must file a lawsuit within one year of the date of the accident. Note that claims against the government are complex due to the rules of sovereign immunity and if you have been in a car accident with a government employee or vehicle, you should prioritize seeking legal counsel.

Exceptions to the Statute of Limitations & the Discovery Rule 

It is very rare for the statute of limitations to be extended, but sometimes it is possible. A court in Illinois may recognize the “discovery rule,” which holds that the clock on the statute of limitations doesn’t start ticking until the injured person knows or should have known that they had a cause of action for injuries. While a delay in the knowledge of one’s injuries is common in medical malpractice claims, it is rare in car accident cases. That being said, if you didn’t discover your injuries until well after the date of the car accident and have good evidence as to why you may be able to have the statute of limitations extended.

What is The Statute of Limitations When a Minor is Injured?

The other time that the statute of limitations will be extended in a personal injury case is when a minor is the injured person. In these cases that statute of limitations is two years after the minor turns 18. .

What Happens if You Miss the Statute of Limitations?

If you have been injured in a car accident, suffered property damage in a car accident, or lost a loved one in a car accident, you do not want to miss the statute of limitations. If you miss the statute of limitations, you will be permanently barred from recovery.

It’s important to note that initiating a claim with an insurance company and filing a lawsuit is not the same thing. The statute of limitations refers to your right to bring a lawsuit in court. As such, if your claim isn’t settled within the statute of limitations, then you won’t be able to file a lawsuit For this reason, it’s important to start the claims process as early as possible; this way, if a settlement can’t be reached, you’ll still have plenty of time to think about filing a civil action in court.

Tips to Ensure the Statute of Limitations Isn’t Breached

Following a car accident, you should contact Claim your Justice and initiate your case as soon as possible to ensure that a) you maximize the recovery of damages that you are entitled to as soon as possible and b) you don’t risk breaching the statute of limitations. Tips to help you act in a timely manner include:

  • Seek medical care immediately
  • Call your insurance company within 24-48 hours of the accident to report the crash
  • File a police report immediately
  • Call the attorneys at Claim Your Justice Schaumburg attorney with experience working on car accident claims as soon as possible

Once you call Claim Your Justice our attorneys can take over handling the details of your case — including ensuring that you don’t breach the statute of limitations — so that you can focus on your recovery.

Call Our Claim Your Justice Schaumburg, IL Car Accident Lawyers Today

If you have been in a car accident, working with a Schaumburg, IL car accident lawyer is essential. To learn more about how we can help and what you should know about the statute of limitations, call our law firm directly at 847-434-3555 or send us a message online to request a free case consultation.

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My Spouse or Parent Died from COVID-19 in Nursing Home – Can I Sue?

Nursing Home Abuse

There is nothing worse than losing a spouse or a parent and many people have lost a loved one from COVID-19 in a nursing home. Losing a spouse or a parent can feel like losing a part of ones’ self and may be the most challenging thing that a person ever experiences. One thing that can add to grief is wondering whether or not the death could have been prevented had the deceased individual received better care. While nursing homes throughout Schaumburg and the surrounding areas of Illinois have a duty to treat their patients with a high level of care, sometimes, this duty is not maintained and the health consequences are significant or even fatal.

COVID-19 In Nursing Home

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some nursing homes were ravaged and many residents died as a result of complications from the virus. So, there are questions of whether or not a nursing home can be held liable for the death of their residents from COVID-19.

If your spouse or parent died from COVID-19 while a resident of a nursing home and you are wondering whether or not you can sue, here’s an overview of what you should know about nursing home liability for a coronavirus-related death. If you think that you might have a case, please call our nursing home abuse and wrongful death lawyers at Claim Your Justice for a free consultation where we can learn more about your case and provide you with information that is specific to your situation.

What Is a Nursing Home’s Duty of Care?

When thinking about a nursing home’s liability, which means legal responsibility, for a nursing home resident’s harm or death, one must first understand a nursing home’s duty of care. It is only when the duty of care to a resident is breached that a claim for monetary damages exists.

A nursing home owes an elevated duty of care to the patients and residents it treats, and the healthcare professionals within a nursing home, such as the doctors and nurses, are bound by the legal standard of care.

Typically, the standard of care is described as the same degree of care that another professional of similar background or training would exercise in the same situation.

In the case of a nursing home, a nursing home may be found liable if a staff member fails to exercise their professional duty of care by treating a nursing home patient with the same level of care that another professional would have exercised. The nursing home can be held liable if it fails to implement reasonable practices and protocols, and this failure leads to a nursing home resident’s harm or death. A nursing home can also be held liable when a law or regulation is violated and this violation leads to residents’ harm or death.

What Is Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?

When a nursing home or its staff members engages in abuse or neglect, the duty of care owed to a resident has been breached.

Nursing home abuse refers to abusive actions that are committed with intent. Abuse falls into four categories:

  • Physical abuse
  • Sexual abuse
  • Emotional and psychological abuse
  • Financial exploitation

Nursing home neglect, on the other hand, does not involve intent. Nursing home neglect is often a result of understaffing, poor nursing home staff training, cost-cutting measures, or an inadequate staff-to-patient ratio. Nursing home neglect may include things like failing to ensure that residents are properly bathed and groomed, failing to regularly move residents who are bedridden to prevent bedsores, failing to assist residents during mealtimes to ensure they get the nutrition and hydration they need, and more.

Negligence, the failure to exercise the required degree of care, in regards to this blog, was the cause of the spread of coronavirus in nursing homes. If a nursing home resident contracted the coronavirus because of nursing home negligence, the nursing home could be held liable.

Wrongful Death Claims From COVID-19 In Nursing Home

Similar to a personal injury claim, a wrongful death claim exists when the wrongful or neglectful act of one party leads to the death of another. In order to bring forth a wrongful death claim against a nursing home, you will need to prove that the nursing home breached the duty of care owed to the nursing home resident by acting wrongfully or negligently and that the breach of the duty of care was the proximate cause of death.

Actions that Could Lead to the Spread of COVID-19 In Nursing Home

There are a handful of actions that could lead to the spread of COVID-19 within a nursing home, some of which breach common sense and best practices; others of which may breach recommendations or even laws set by the state and various agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Examples of these include:

  • Failing to provide staff and residents with masks
  • Failing to properly sanitize patients’ rooms
  • Failing to check the temperatures of staff members before allowing them to treat patients
  • Failing to require infected staff members to remain at home
  • Failing to properly wash hands and change masks between patients
  • Failing to require staff to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) or undergo COVID-19 test to prevent transmission of the virus between staff and patients
  • Failing to train staff on best practices for limiting the spread of the disease
  • Failing to provide adequate care to patients who became infected with COVID-19
  • Failing to quarantine infected patients to prevent the spread of the disease to other residents
  • Failing to maintain proper ventilation within the nursing home

If you think that one of the above actions, or another negligee action not listed, may have been the cause of your loved one contracting the disease, call Claim Your Justice.

Nursing Home Immunity & COVID-19 in Illinois

On May 13, 2020, the state of Illinois issued an order providing immunity for medical facilities, such as nursing homes, from liability for residents’ deaths related to COVID-19. Specifically, the Executive Order found that all healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities are “immune from civil liability for any injury or death relating to the diagnosis, transmission, or treatment of COVID-19….” This does not mean that the surviving loved ones of those who died as a result of a coronavirus-related infection in a nursing home do not have any claim for damages against the nursing home, but it does mean that for as long as the Executive Order stands, claims can only be brought forth if plaintiffs are able to prove gross negligence or willful misconduct. Specifically, the Executive Order states “this section is inapplicable if it is established that such injury or death was caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct of such Hospital or Health Care Professional if 20 ILCS 3305/15 is applicable, or by willful misconduct if 20 ILCS 3305/21 is applicable.

Gross negligence is a lack of care that demonstrates a reckless disregard for the safety of others, which may be so great that it appears to even be a conscious disregard for others’ wellbeing; willful misconduct means that the party knew that it was acting negligently but decided to do so anyway — in other words, there was intent. While it is more difficult to prove gross negligence or/and willful misconduct, it is not impossible, and you should still consult with a Claim Your Justice attorney if you think that you have a case.

Why You Should Consult with a Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect or Wrongful Death Attorney Today

Whenever nursing home abuse or neglect occurs, and whenever the negligence of a party leads to the death of another, it is essential to consult with an attorney. Because of the protection from liability in Illinois, consulting with a lawyer is even more critical than before. Our attorneys will provide you with a free consultation and provide you with their professional assessment and analysis, and then advise you on how to proceed. If our nursing home abuse and neglect attorney thinks that you have a case, we can represent you on a contingency fee basis. This means that there is no fee unless we recover money for the injured person or their family.

Call the Law Office of Claim Your Justice Today

At the law office of Claim Your Justice, our Schaumburg, IL wrongful death and nursing home abuse lawyers understand the pain you’re experiencing after losing your spouse to COVID-19 in a nursing home. When you call our firm, we can review your case at no cost to you and help you to understand your options. Call us today at 847-434-3555 or send us a message online to learn more about how we can help.

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Personal Injury Questions Answered By Schaumburg Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal Injury Questions

Will a personal injury lawyer talk directly to a client’s physician while their case is pending?

Generally, the attorney will not talk directly to the client’s physicians while the client is undergoing treatment.  I would not want there to be a note in the client’s medical records that an attorney was trying to guide the doctor towards a specific treatment for our client.  However, an attorney can reach out to the physician for clarification in the medical records or to discuss the need for future medical treatment.  

There are conversations sometimes between my law office and the doctor – when preparing the doctor for deposition or a trial.

In regard to treatment, what happens in instances where a doctor is not communicating well with a client?

If we hear this from our clients, we encourage two things. First, we encourage the client to continue discussions with their doctor about their symptoms, how they are feeling and what their complaints are. In an extreme instance – we would suggest the client write a letter/note to the doctor, letting them know specifics. 

For example, their arm, shoulder, or back continues to hurt after surgery or therapy. This way, the letter/note is recorded into the medical record, which may vital to our case.

When it comes to expressing to your doctor how you feel, we stress to be honest about your aches and pains and don’t be brave or worry that you’re complaining to your doctor. Your aches and pains are important and need to be included in the doctor’s medical record.

Should you gather your own evidence after an accident?

If you can, you should start taking photos of the accident scene. However, if vehicles are moved from the road to a parking lot or to the shoulder of the road, you’re going to lose the juxtaposition of the cars. We certainly don’t want the other driver, who may have caused the accident, to now say they weren’t driving in a particular lane; which photos wouldn’t show if vehicles were moved.  Pictures of the damage to your vehicle and the at-fault driver’s vehicle are important to have. 

In slip and fall cases, it’s critical to photograph the area where you fell, so you can show the condition of the exact area where you fell. If you have to be transported to the hospital by an ambulance, encourage a friend or relative you may have been with to take pictures of exactly where the injury happened.  If you cannot take a picture at the time of the slip and fall, make sure to return to the scene as soon as possible to take the pictures.  

I had a call recently from a woman who is a home health care phlebotomist. She went to a client’s house to take a blood test, left the client’s house, and fell. It was later determined her foot was broken. These slip and fall cases are tough to begin with, but I asked her for a picture of where it happened – and she got a picture. There is an old saying that “A picture is worth a thousand words”  I say “pictures say a could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.”

What are a client’s rights when it comes to repairing their vehicle? Can they take it to their preferred repair facility? 

The client has the right to take the car to wherever they want the repairs to be completed. However, different insurance companies have different approved labor rates. If the body shop the client takes their car to has labor rates that are different, which normally would be the case – because the insurance labor rates are negotiated reduced rates, then the client will be exposed to paying the amount of the additional labor rates and sometimes there could be 60 to 70 hours of labor and a client could be on the hook for more than $1,000 out of their own pocket.

When a person is self-employed, how is loss income calculated for them?

It first starts with the doctor’s authorization to not work. In a client’s medical records, there will be notification that advises a client to not work for a set period of time – let’s say two weeks. To compute lost wages, our client would tell us how much they make on an hourly basis or a daily basis and our law firm will have them sign a wage loss authorization. If the insurance company asks for verification – which they frequently do, we can give a copy of our client’s tax returns for the previous business year.

In some cases, an individual may try to “goose up” their actual earnings and say they make $1,000 a day, yet their tax returns show they lost $20,000 in the business last year, obviously we’re not going to be able to verify that component of the accident. However, it doesn’t kill the case, because a client will still have medical bills, injuries, and pain and suffering.

We frequently see this situation with cab drivers or Uber or Lyft drivers. Due to COVID, a self-employed driver is not going to be able to prove their lost wages in 2020, when people weren’t taking Ubers and getting out as much because of COVID, but we can review their 2019 tax returns, or we can compare it to other Uber drivers for reference.

Can a landlord be held responsible for a dog bite on the property of their apartment complex?

It’s rare for a landlord to be held liable. Generally, a landlord is not in charge of maintaining other people’s property, and a dog is someone else’s property. An example of an instance where a landlord might be liable is if the landlord has a no dog policy and has given warnings to the tenant who owns the dog and the dog bites somebody – maybeyou could connect and hook in the landlord to the case.

Another instance where the landlord maybe held liable is if they ask the tenant with a dog to have the dog work as security on the property. In this instance, the landlord uses the dog for their own purposes, and we may be able to connect the landlord to the injury.

Contact Our Personal Injury Attorneys Now

If you have more personal injury questions or wonder whether or not you have a case, call our Schaumburg personal injury attorneys today at 847-434-3555.

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What Kind Of Cases Do Personal Injury Lawyers Handle?

Open book titled "Personal Injury Law" with a gavel and glasses on a gray surface, symbolizing legal representation and personal injury claims.

What Kind Of Cases Do Personal Injury Lawyers Handle?

Suffering an injury can be a traumatic experience, especially if the injury is serious and leaves you temporarily or permanently disabled. Something that can be even more disheartening is knowing your injuries would not have been suffered but for the negligence of another party. If this feels familiar to you, you probably have a personal injury claim. The following information will review the basics of personal injury cases, what constitutes a personal injury claim, what types of cases personal injury lawyers handle, and offer the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions that we hear from our clients about personal injury claims. If you have any additional questions, want more information, or are ready to schedule your free consultation with our personal injury law firm, please call us today or send us a message directly.

Types of Personal Injury Claims

At the firm of Claim Your Justice, our personal injury attorneys are prepared to work on even the most complex personal injury case types. Our practice areas include, but are not limited to:

  • Motor vehicle accidents.If you’ve been in a car crash, you can make a claim for personal injuries. We work on motor vehicle crashes, multi-vehicle collisions, bus accidents, large truck accidents, and more.
  • Bicycle, pedestrian, and motorcycle accidents. In addition to working on accidents that involve two or more motor vehicles, we also work on accident claims where a bicyclist, pedestrian, or motorcyclist is a victim. These cases often involve very serious injuries and significant damages.
  • Premises liability accidents. When someone is injured on the property of another because of a property owner’s failure to properly maintain the property or remedy a hazard on the property, the property owner can be held liable for damages. Slip and falls, construction accidents, swimming pool accidents, and more are common types of premises liability claim types.
  • Negligent security accidents Another type of premises liability case is a negligent security case. In a negligent security claim, the owner of a property can be held liable if their failure to provide an appropriate amount of security led to a crime that resulted in injuries.
  • Product liability claims. When a consumer buys a product, they expect that product to be safe for use. If the product has a manufacturing, design, or labeling defect, though, it could cause the consumer harm. When this happens, the manufacturer–or another responsible party along the distribution chain–could be held liable.
  • Defective pharmaceuticals. Like using various consumer products, taking an over-the-counter or prescription drug is a choice a person makes because they believe it will serve them well; we never expect legal drugs to cause a significant amount of harm. If a drug is defective and a person suffers adverse effects as a result, the drug manufacturer could be held liable.
  • Nursing home abuse and medical malpractice. Doctors and nursing home professionals have a duty to treat their patients with a high level of care; when this level of care is breached, the harm to patients can be tragic. When a breach of the duty of care occurs, doctors, hospitals, or nursing homes can be held liable.
  • Wrongful death claims. Finally, another type of personal injury claim is a wrongful death claim. When the wrongful act or neglect of one party leads to the death of another, a wrongful death claim for damages can be pursued by the surviving family members.

Elements of a Personal Injury Case

In order for a personal injury claim to be successful, the injured person must be able to prove four elements. Note that the burden of proof is on the injured person; the defendant isn’t responsible for disproving things. The elements of a personal injury claim are:

  • Duty of care. The first element to establish is that a duty of care existed between the defendant and the injured person. In most cases, this is implied, although in some cases, such as premises liability claims, it must be established.
  • Breach of duty of care. The second thing to prove is that the duty of care owed to the injured person was breached by the defendant. Usually, the breach is a result of negligence – the failure to exercise a reasonable degree of care for the situation. However, some personal injury claims, such as defective product claims, are based on strict liability.
  • Causation. Third, an injured person must prove that their injuries would not have occurred but for the defendant’s breach of the duty of care.
  • Damages. Finally, the injured person will need to prove that they suffered actual damages as a result of the accident. In a personal injury claim, both economic and non-economic damages are recoverable. Types of recoverable damages include compensation for medical bills and future medical expenses related to the injury, lost wages, and lost earning capacity, property damage costs, pain, suffering, and emotional distress.

Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Injury Claims

As personal injury lawyers in Schaumburg, IL, we get a lot of questions about the personal injury claims process, what constitutes a personal injury claim, how our lawyers charge, and more. Here are a few answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we receive.

What Qualifies as a Personal Injury Case?  

Unfortunately, you can’t bring forth a personal injury claim just because you got injured; instead, you’ll need to prove that another party was responsible for your injuries, and you’ll need to satisfy the four elements of a personal injury claim listed above. If you’re not sure whether or not you have a personal injury claim, it’s smart to set up a free consultation with one of our attorneys to discuss your options.

What Are the Three Types of Injury?

There are myriad types of injuries that a person may suffer that may result from an accident caused by the negligence of another. Rather than thinking about the three types of injury, it makes more sense to think about the three categories of damages, which are:

  • Economic damages. Economic damages are damages for the actual monetary losses associated with an accident or injury, such as the costs of repairing a vehicle after a crash, or the costs of healthcare and medical bills, or the costs of lost wages if injuries render a person disabled and unable to return to work.
  • Noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages are damages for intangible losses, such as the value of a person’s diminished quality of life, physical pain, and suffering, emotional distress, psychological injury, damage to relationships, etc.
  • Punitive damages. Punitive damages are less common in personal injury claims, but they are awarded in some instances. Punitive damages are used to punish a wrongdoer for the egregious action they took that led to the victim’s harm; they are not intended to compensate the victim.Punitive damages are capped at three times the amount of economic damages awarded to a plaintiff, and are only available if the plaintiff can prove that the defendant’s actions were “with evil motive or with a reckless and outrageous indifference to a highly unreasonable risk of harm…”

What Is Included in a Bodily Injury Claim?

A bodily injury claim is exactly what it sounds like: a claim for damages to a person’s body. This terminology is most commonly used in car accident claims and refers to damages for injuries sustained to the victim.

Does Personal Injury Include Emotional Distress?

Yes! As stated above, a person can seek both economic and non-economic damages, including damages for emotional distress, in a personal injury claim.

How Can I Prove My Pain and Suffering?

Proving pain, suffering, emotional distress, and other non-economic losses can be more difficult than proving economic losses but this how Claim Your Justice attorneys help. The best way to prove that you have suffered these types of losses is to gather evidence to support your claim, such as testimony from your friends and family, a personal journal, medical evidence, and expert testimony from doctors and mental health professionals. When you choose Claim Your Justice, we can help you to find experts, and also advance the costs of hiring those experts to work on your claim.

What Percentage Do Personal Injury Attorneys Get? 

One common question we hear is about to how much our lawyers get paid. First, it’s important to know we work on a 100 percent contingency fee basis, which means that there will never be any upfront or hourly costs associated with our law firm. A contingent fee means that our fee is contingent on us winning for you; if you do not win, we don’t get paid. If your case is successful, our fee is based on a percentage of your winnings. How much of a percentage varies. For example, if your case goes to litigation, then the percentage could increase. In any case, the most important thing to know about hiring our law firm is that you won’t have to pay if you don’t win, and you won’t have to pay out of pocket.

Call Our Schaumberg, IL Personal Injury Lawyers Today

If you’ve been involved in an accident and have suffered a personal injury, our Schaumberg, IL personal injury lawyers want to help you. For a free consultation with our law firm, please call us directly today. We are here to serve you.

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How Do I Get Compensation For Nursing Home Neglect?

Elderly woman with visible facial injuries and distress, representing the consequences of nursing home neglect and abuse, highlighting the need for legal support and justice.

Learning an elderly loved one has been neglected at a nursing home, leading to harm, is a terrible and depressing feeling; we all want to believe our loved ones are receiving the care that they both need and deserve.

Unfortunately, though, both nursing home neglect and abuse permeate the system and, sometimes, nursing home residents suffer physical or psychological harm, including early death, as a result.

If you believe nursing home neglect has led to a loved one’s harm, you should schedule a free consultation with a Claim Your Justice nursing home abuse attorney who can advise you about what steps to take and how to get maximum compensation. Here’s an overview of what you need to know about nursing home neglect cases and your right to seek damages.

What Constitutes Nursing Home Neglect?  

Nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Nursing home abuse usually refers to active instead of passive acts that involve intent, such as physically abusing a nursing home resident, sexually abusing a resident, financially exploiting a resident, or emotionally/psychologically abusing a resident.

Neglect, on the other hand, often does not involve intent and is more passive; neglect may be the result of poor nursing home staff training, understaffing and a poor staff-to-patient ratio, etc. Examples of neglect include:

  • Failing to properly assist and monitor nursing home residents during mealtime, resulting in dehydration or malnutrition
  • Failing to properly bathe, wash, or assist in grooming a nursing home resident
  • Failing to administer the proper medication or administer medication when needed/prescribed
  • Failing to move a bedridden nursing home resident, resulting in bedsores
  • Failing to respond to a nursing home resident’s request for help in moving, such as getting out of bed to use the bathroom, resulting in injuries like bedrail injuries, slip and falls, etc.

The above list is not inclusive, there are numerous injury types that can occur when a nursing home resident doesn’t receive the level of care that they deserve.

Is Nursing Home Neglect Illegal?

There are some actions that may be taken by nursing home staff that are certainly against the law. For example, sexually assaulting a nursing home resident is heinous and should be punished in the criminal system. In most cases, though, nursing home neglect will not result in any criminal liability. That does not mean, however, that it won’t result in civil liability.

While nursing home neglect may not be a crime, it is a breach of the standard of care owed to residents. Nursing homes are professional medical facilities staffed by medical professionals and other professionals and, as such, a medical or/and professional standard of care is owed to the residents/patients.

The medical or professional standard of care is the same degree of care that another medical person/ professional of similar background and training would demonstrate in the same situation. Nursing home residents (and their family members) have a reasonable expectation that the residents will not be neglected; when this expectation and duty of care is breached and harm results, the nursing home can be held liable for significant damages.

What to Do If You Suspect Nursing Home Neglect

If you suspect nursing home neglect, taking action sooner rather than later is strongly recommended and can help you to protect your elderly loved one and others within the nursing home.

  • Call the police. If you think that abuse or neglect is occurring that is putting residents at threat of imminent bodily injury, do not hesitate to call the police.
  • Collect evidence. If you think that nursing home neglect is occurring, you should try to collect evidence of the neglect – this will be important when you file a complaint or file a claim for damages. Photographs that indicate neglect (i.e. pictures of bedsores), medical records of your loved one, and more are all types of evidence that may be valuable.
  • Give notice to the nursing home. It’s always a good idea to have a conversation with the nursing home manager about your concerns before taking drastic action (unless, as mentioned, you believe imminent harm is a risk). Provide a nursing home manager with an overview of your concerns (in writing). In some cases, bringing awareness to the issue may be all the correction that’s needed.
  • File a complaint with the Illinois Department of Public Health. If the issue of neglect isn’t remedied immediately or if you believe that your loved one has suffered harm as a result of the neglect, you should file a complaint with theIllinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The IDPH will investigate the complaint and work to protect residents’ rights. You can file a complaint by phone or mail.
  • Talk to an attorney. Finally, do not hesitate to consult with a Claim Your Justice attorney if you believe that neglect is occurring and a loved one is being harmed. An attorney can advise you of your rights and help you to build your case.

Filing a Nursing Home Neglect Case

If you believe that nursing home neglect is occurring, you have the right to bring a claim or a civil action for damages. In order to win your case, you’ll need to prove that the nursing home breached the duty of care owed to the nursing home resident and that the breach of the duty of care resulted in actual harm/damages.

If you can prove this, you can recover compensation for the value of medical expenses incurred, pain and suffering damages, funeral and burial expenses (if the nursing home neglect resulted in death), and any other economic or noneconomic damages suffered. It is strongly recommended that you consult with a Claim Your Justice attorney who can guide you through the process of filing your claim.

Frequently Asked Questions About Nursing Home Neglect

Claim Your Justice attorneys know that you have multiple questions about nursing home neglect, the claims process, your rights, and what steps to take when you suspect that neglect is occurring. Consider the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we hear, and reach out to our lawyers directly for more information about your rights.

  1. How long do you have to file a lawsuit against a nursing home?

In general, you have two years from the date of the nursing home neglect to file a lawsuit against the nursing home. If you wait longer than two years, you can be barred from recovery. Note that this does not mean that you should wait up to two years; instead, it’s best to start the claims process as early as possible and, only if a settlement cannot be reached, file a lawsuit before the two-year limit is reached.

  1. What is the statute of limitations for nursing home abuse?

The statute of limitations is the legal time limit on how much time can pass between when the nursing home abuse occurs and when you file a lawsuit. As noted above, thestatute of limitations in most nursing home abuse or neglect cases is two years. Note that the two-year statute applies to both personal injury cases and wrongful death cases involving nursing home abuse/neglect.

  1. How do you prove nursing home neglect?

In order to recover compensation for nursing home neglect, you’ll need to prove that the nursing home owed a duty of care to the resident (implied), that the nursing home breached this duty of care, that the breach of the duty of care was the proximate cause of injuries, and that actual damages, either economic or noneconomic or both, were suffered. In order to prove these four elements, you’ll need compelling evidence.

Photographs, video footage (if it exists), the nursing home resident’s medical records, any complaints filed against the nursing home, and experts’ testimonies can all be useful in proving neglect. At the firm of Claim Your Justice, our lawyers can help you to understand the type of evidence that is most useful in a nursing home neglect claim, as well as how to win your case.

  1. What is passive neglect?

Passive neglect is nursing home neglect that doesn’t involve any intent; in fact, passive neglect is often the result of inaction rather than an intentional action. For example, if a nursing home is poorly staffed and there are not enough medical professionals, staff members, and nurses to ensure that all patients are receiving a high level of care, a nursing home resident may get neglected, resulting in malnutrition, bedsores, a slip and fall accident, etc.

While passive neglect may not be intentional or the fault of one specific nursing home staff member, it is still unacceptable and is a breach of the duty of care owed to a resident.

Call Our Nursing Home Neglect Attorneys Today

If you believe that nursing home neglect is occurring or if your elderly loved one has been harmed by nursing home neglect, call our Schaumberg, IL nursing home neglect attorneys directly today. We offer free consultations and there is no fee unless we win.

 

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Are Slip and Fall Cases Hard to Win?

Woman slipping and falling on icy sidewalk, winter setting, demonstrating dangers of slip and fall accidents.

Slip and fall accidents are common, especially in inclement weather. Everyone can recall a time that they slipped on a slick surface, tripped, or perhaps even fell. Fortunately, most of the slip and fall accidents are relatively minor, and those involved don’t suffer from serious injuries.

In many cases, however, slip and fall accidents can be serious – a victim falls on an especially hard surface or at a dangerous angle, or perhaps falls from a great height or lands on something and is injured.

These accidents are sometimes the fault of dangerous conditions. At Claim Your Justice, our experienced slip and fall attorneys in Schaumburg, IL can help you if you’ve been injured because of a slip and fall accident. To learn more about how we can serve you, call our law firm directly today or send us a message at your convenience.

Property Owner’s Duty of Care and Slip and Fall Accidents

When a slip and fall occurs and someone else is to blame, the victim has the right to bring a personal injury claim for damages. Typically, this claim is brought against the property owner where the accident occurred. However, merely slipping and falling on someone’s property doesn’t mean that the property owner will be liable; instead, a slip and fall victim will need to prove that the property owner breached the duty of care owed to the person.

The duty of care of a property owner is to maintain a property in a safe condition and to correct any known hazards within a reasonable amount of time. If this duty is breached and someone is injured as a result, the property owner can be held liable for their damages (assuming that the victim was on the property lawfully).

Common causes of slip and falls that are the result of a property owner’s failure to maintain a property in a reasonably safe condition include:

  • Broken stairs
  • Broken elevators and escalators
  • Debris in walkways
  • Lack of handrails or defective handrails
  • Falling objects
  • Spills of food, drink, or other substances
  • Torn carpet
  • Depressions or holes in walking areas
  • Many others

What Does a “Reasonable” Amount of Time Mean?

Property owners aren’t expected to be in a position where hazards never exist on the property; after all, spills and other types of accidents and damages happen. But they are expected to repair any known hazards (or hazards that should have been known) within a reasonable amount of time.

What is “reasonable” can vary from situation to situation. For example, if an elevator is broken, it’s probably reasonable for a property owner to put up a sign warning of the hazard of using the elevator nearly immediately upon learning of the problem, but it may be a few days before a property owner is able to get a repair person to come out. On the other hand, if there is a spill in the grocery store, there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be corrected immediately upon a staff member or manager being given notice.

Different Duties Owed to Different People

Another thing to think about in slip and fall (and general premises liability) claims is the duty of care that’s owed to a person on the property. As mentioned above, a property owner owes a duty to those who are on the property to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition; however, this duty only extends to those who own the property lawfully as invitees or licensees.

The only duty that a property owner owes to a trespasser is to refrain from causing the trespasser willful or wanton harm. This law is found in the Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 740 ILCS 130.

Frequently Asked Questions About Slip and Fall Claims 

We know that when you or a loved one has been harmed in a slip and fall accident, you want answers to the questions that you have about your rights and what to do. Consider some of the following answers to many of the frequently asked questions that we receive from clients, and feel free to reach out to us directly to schedule a free consultation if you are ready to learn more. 

  1. How do You Prove Negligence in a Slip and Fall?

To win a slip and fall claim against a property owner, you’ll need to prove the following:

  • A hazardous condition existed on a property
  • The hazardous condition was the proximate cause of your injuries (i.e. you slipped on unremoved ice, resulting in a tailbone fracture)
  • The property owner knew or should have known of the condition
  • The property owner failed to remedy the condition in a reasonable amount of time or post any notice or warning about the condition

To prove this, you’ll need to collect evidence that shows that the condition existed for a certain amount of time and the property owner knew of the condition. Maintenance request forms, complaint forms, and even statements from eyewitnesses may help you to prove this.

This is usually the most difficult element of a slip and fall claim – our lawyers will open an investigation on your behalf and be responsible for collecting all the evidence you need.

  1. Who is Responsible for a Slip and Fall Accident?

So far we have focused on the role of a property owner in a slip and fall claim, a property owner is not the only part who might be to blame. Other parties who may be responsible include.

  • The victim themselves. If the victim’s own negligence or clumsiness caused the slip and fall, then there is no one to blame but themselves. Sometimes, the victim may be partially to blame. For example, consider a slip and fall case in which the victim slips on ice. Surely, the accident would not have happened had the property owner removed the ice. Similarly, though, the property owner argues that the fall would not have happened had the victim not been wearing heels instead of boots or running when they should have been walking. If fault is shared, then a victim’s damages may be diminished in proportion to their degree of fault.
  • A product manufacturer. Some slip and fall accidents are the result of defective products. For example, consider an incident in which a shelf collapses in a grocery store, resulting in spilled produce that leads to guests falling. Had the shelf not been defectively manufactured or designed, perhaps the spill – and the subsequent injuries – would not have happened.
  • Another third party. Some slip and falls are the result of the actions of other third parties, such as a rowdy Black Friday shopper who pushes over another to rush the store. Again, our lawyers can investigate your case to determine who’s to blame.

  1. How Much Time do you Have to Sue After a Slip and Fall?

The statute of limitations in Illinois is two years and in Wisconsin, it is three years. This means that you have two years in Illinois and three years in Wisconsin from the date of your slip and fall to file a lawsuit for damages. However, while you have time to file a lawsuit, you should certainly initiate the claims process earlier than that. Not only do you want to make sure that any evidence relevant to your claim is preserved, but you also want to begin the claims process and settlement negotiations processes early so you have as much time as possible to reach a settlement before being forced to file a lawsuit to not breach the statute of limitations.

  1. How are Slip and Fall Settlements Calculated?

If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident and you can prove that someone else was to blame for the accident, then you can seek compensation for the full value of your damages. This includes compensation for your economic costs, such as medical expenses and lost wages; non-economic costs, such as pain and suffering damages and diminished quality of life; and even punitive damages if the slip and fall was the result of the reckless and outrageous actions of the defendant.

Punitive damages are possible in certain cases. Economic damages are calculated based on their actual value – i.e. if you suffer $100,000 in medical bills, you can seek $100,000 in compensation for your medical bills. Noneconomic damages are calculated based on the degree of your injuries, the amount of suffering you’re likely to experience, for how long the suffering is expected to continue, and other factors.

  1. What is a Typical Pain and Suffering Settlement?

The amount of damages a person will recover in a pain and suffering settlement varies dramatically from case-to-case. You should consult with an attorney who can give you a more accurate idea of how much you can expect after the attorney has thoroughly reviewed your case.

Call Our Schaumburg, IL and Milwaukee, WI Slip and Fall Lawyers Today

If you have been in a slip and fall accident in Schaumburg, IL, don’t hesitate to reach out to our experienced law firm today for your free consultation.