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Personal Injury Lawyer Keith Schindler On Dog Bite Injuries

dog bite injury


Dog Bite Injuries

Good afternoon. This is Keith Shindler. Coming to talk to you today regarding injuries that are caused by dog bites. Thank you for listening to Claim Your Justice. Our goal is to provide information on how to help you deal with personal injury cases and claims that you, a family member, a friend, or a loved one may have.

The topic today is going to be dog bites. The weather is getting nice outside. We talked last week about motorcycles coming out when the weather gets nice. Well, everyone walks their dog, more people walk their dogs in the summer and springtime, and more people run with their dogs.

Throughout my career, I’ve handled several dog bite cases. I want to give some general information about dog bites, how to protect your rights, and how to make the best recovery for yourself if you are injured by a dog bite.

We all love dogs, right? We all think our dogs are gentle and so cute. However, we see dogs sometimes that we know are not so gentle. Dog bites can happen in many situations. It could happen when you’re walking your dog, it could happen while you’re visiting a friend who has a dog, you could get bitten by a dog while you are minding your own business at the beach, plus a number of other situations.

Dog Bite Attacks Happen All Over

I had a client that was bitten by a dog while trick or treating. Postal workers, of course, those civil servants who deliver our mail each day, and who we care about, sometimes get bitten by dogs. There was a study by the US postal worker service, that Chicago had the fourth-highest number of dog bites for postal workers. Not such an interesting statistic for Chicago, but they’re very common.

The damage that you could suffer as a result of a dog bite ranges vastly. I had a client that was a postal worker, she was bitten on the back of her leg and she had some scarring. I had a young child bitten while trick or treating on Halloween, they were left with a vicious scar. I had another client who suffered a dog bite while hanging out at her boyfriend’s house. He had a German shepherd, and it didn’t like the interaction between its owner and the visitor. She suffered a vicious dog bite to her face, requiring many stitches and having residual scarring.

We all know dangerous dogs, right? I think we’ve all seen dangerous dogs, whether it be a pit bull or a mastiff, etc. You have to be concerned about what happens in the awful situation where you do get a dog bite. Illinois is interesting because it has what is called a strict liability statute.

Illinois Strict Liability Statute

The strict liability statute means there are not too many defenses for the owner or caretaker of the dog being responsible for the injuries suffered by a victim. So, with this strict liability, if your dog gets out, or a dog you’re babysitting for gets out and bites somebody, you’re responsible, you’re strictly liable for the injuries suffered by the victim.

Of course, there are certain defenses to strict liability. If a victim was doing something to antagonize the dog, let’s say the victim was smacking the dog in the face. Let’s say the victim was pulling the dog’s tail. Let’s say the victim was kicking the dog, and the dog was responding to that type of agitation. That’s certainly a defense you will have to deal with. However, if you are just going about your business, and a dog bites you, strict liability is on the dog’s owner.

Insurance Often Doesn’t Cover Enough of the Damages

We talked about the type of injuries, and everyone may know someone who’s been bitten by a dog. The problem is sometimes the insurance is not sufficient. So, if you get bitten by a dog, and let’s say the owner of the dog lives in an apartment, generally the tenant would have what’s called tenant insurance and that would provide some level of liability coverage to the victim. It could be only $50,000. Which, I know, may seem like a lot of money. But it’s not.

Because you could have a permanent disfigurement that needs to be corrected by a plastic surgeon, you could have a fracture to your bone when you’re bitten by a dog, that can prevent you from moving your fingers, or moving your wrist, or your knee. The insurance, in my experience, is generally not enough to fully compensate the client for the value of the injury.

For your protection, if you’re a dog owner, and you’re concerned about protecting your assets, you should discuss with your insurance agent how much liability coverage you have in the event of a dog bite.

Intentional Attack Or Negligence

Now, certainly, if a person were to sick their dog on a person intentionally, there could be criminal liability, where the police come in and arrest the owner.

Or let’s say the owner doesn’t properly take care of their fence and allows the dogs to get out and roam, and a pack of animals attacks a little girl, G-d forbid. Then it’s possible the victim’s family could seek criminal charges. The homeowner may have had an incident previously. Or the homeowner may have had warnings that they need to properly contain their dogs, and didn’t. So, there can be criminal liability for that as well.

Sadly, sometimes a victim is bitten by a dog that is owned by a friend of theirs. The reaction we see frequently in those situations is “I don’t want to make a claim, I don’t want to call the police because then the dog is going to be put down”.

Now, I have a little bit of personal experience with that from many, many years ago. I understand. The fact of the matter is that I’m here to help you Claim Your Justice. If you don’t make the call to the animal control in the neighborhood, for a possibly vicious dog, you should be concerned about that dog attacking someone else. I always tell my clients I know you like your friends, family members, whatever, who own the dog, but it’s your responsibility to the community to make sure that the governmental agencies around that neighborhood are made aware that there could be a dangerous dog living there.

Housesitting Someone’s Dog

We talked a little bit about if you’re babysitting for a dog. Someone says, hey, I’m going out of town for the weekend. Can you please house sit my dog? You go to the person’s house, you sit there very comfortably, you may get free food, they’re paying you to stay there, etc. If you’re not doing your best to maintain the control of that animal, and the animal gets out and bites a postal worker or anyone, you as the babysitter could be responsible. The problem is, that you may not have insurance coverage for that particular loss. So be careful. Know what kind of dog you’re babysitting for, and make sure you properly control that dog with a leash.

Statute Of Limitations

Time Limits are, if it’s a normal incident, you have two years in Illinois to make a claim. If you have a child involved, you sometimes have a longer period because you have two years from the time the child reaches the age of majority. However, there is no reason to wait.

I’m telling you the technical applications of the law, but my recommendation is always to make sure you don’t waste time. Evidence spoils, other things happen where we could lose the opportunity to get important pictures or get the animal inspected for rabies. There is no reason to wait that amount of time if you’re going to make a claim and if you’re injured.

Compensation can include medical bills, and lost wages if it’s an adult and they are forced to miss work because of the dog bite. We talked about permanent disfigurement. It could just be a scar, or it could be that the animal bites so hard, that a person loses a hand or fingers on a hand or part of their face. And, it may require reconstructive surgery. We may require some type of device to replace the finger. There’s a myriad of damages that can be added on, depending upon the severity of a dog bite.

Contact Our Experienced Illinois Dog Bite Lawyers

Thank you for listening. Remember when you, a family member, or a friend suffers any type of injury, dog bite, auto accident, or wrongful death. Let us show you how to Claim Your Justice. Visit ClaimYourJustice.com or call 847-434-3555, thank you for taking the time to listen.

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Who is Liable in a Car Accident Involving a Rideshare Driver?

rideshare

Rideshare services like Lyft or Uber are commonplace. Although these companies like to call themselves technology companies, the road rules still apply to their drivers the same as any business that puts cars on the roadway. Therefore, the rules still extend to rideshare services when involved in a car accident. However, there are certain things that you should know about the differences and complexities of a car accident involving a rideshare driver. 

How Common are Rideshare Driver Accidents?

It is not uncommon for rideshare accidents to happen. In a University of Chicago study it was found that fatalities increased by between 2% to 3% when rideshare was introduced. 

Studies have shown that traffic accidents and traffic deaths increase in areas where rideshare services began rolling out and where they became commonplace. Many critics contend that ridesharing decreases the use of public transportation and increases traffic congestion, all factors that tend to increase the number of traffic accidents.

Rideshare Accidents and Insurance

In some ways, insurance agencies treat rideshare accidents the same as any typical car accident. 

One similarity in some States, such as Michigan, is the availability of no-fault insurance, also called personal injury protection (PIP). This insurance pays for a limited amount of your medical bills when you are in an accident, regardless of the accident or who was at fault. Even if you were at fault for the accident, you would get these benefits. You do not have to sue anyone to get these benefits.  They are available immediately to help you pay for medical expenses or lost wages. 

PIP will generally pay for $10,000 of medical expenses, lost wages, or both.

In most cases, the rideshare vehicle driver will have their PIP coverage, and their PIP will pay the amounts that the law requires the insurer to pay. 

Of course, PIP doesn’t fully compensate you for all forms of damages you may suffer in an accident. For example, PIP won’t pay you for pain and suffering or future expected medical expenses. Therefore, you will need to tap into an additional source of insurance for most of the damages and injuries that you sustain.

In addition to PIP, the rideshare driver likely has liability insurance on their policy. Liability coverage is insurance that pays for injuries to anyone other than the driver that caused the accident.  Liability insurance pays the victim if the insured does something to cause an accident. Liability coverage is subject to state minimums.  In Illinois, that minimum amount is $25,000.  This coverage could be more, depending on the liability limits that the driver has.

Where Does Insurance for Accidents Come From in a Rideshare Accident?

The problem that arises for ridesharing drivers is that many insurances that those drivers have personally do not cover accidents that happen for commercial (business) reasons. So, a rideshare driver’s personal insurance policy may likely deny covering the driver for an accident while driving for a rideshare service.

The good news for victims is that many of these rideshare companies must legally provide insurance to drivers through the company. However, the policies usually only pay for accidents in certain circumstances. Many of the situations relate to the driver’s status. For instance, the insurance may pay one amount when the driver is off duty or another amount if the driver is in an accident while on the way to pick you up, and yet another amount once you get in the car.

Most major rideshare companies offer up to $1 million in coverage for accidents when the driver is at fault for the accident. Including but not limited to accidents as a passenger inside that car, or you are someone outside the vehicle that the driver injures while they are transporting a passenger.

That insurance total is large, but it isn’t guaranteed. Many insurance companies might refuse to cover their drivers if the driver did not sign into certain apps that drivers must log into while on duty. But since most drivers want to be covered by the insurance policy (and be paid for their ride), they usually are signed in while they are on work duty.

Insurance Disputes

Uber or Lyft drivers will not be signed into the app when they are not on duty. Think about when they are driving themselves home at night, or even if they are driving to pick up a passenger. There can be a dispute between the company’s insurance, and the driver’s insurance, as to who pays for the accident.

The Rideshare company’s insurance will contend they have no obligation to protect and insure the driver; your Schaumburg personal injury attorney will argue that its insurance should pay. When rideshare insurers deny coverage and say that they do not cover an accident, your attorney may work with the rideshare driver. You and the driver may have at least one similar interest: getting the driver’s insurance company to accept coverage for the accident and pay any damages to you.

The good news is that if the Lyft or Uber insurance does not pay, you and your attorney can possibly pursue an uninsured motorist claim or possibly pursue the driver’s personal liability policy to compensate you for your injuries or damages. 

Who Can Sue and For What?

Rideshare drivers, and the companies they drive for, can be liable for damages to several different people in many other circumstances. 

For example, an Uber or Lyft driver may injure a pedestrian, bicyclist, or someone in another car. Rideshare drivers may also be liable to passengers inside their vehicle if they get injured during the accident.

When a rideshare driver causes an accident, they can be liable to whoever they injure for damages such as:

  • Compensation for the victim’s pain and suffering
  • Compensation for the victim’s loss of enjoyment or quality of life
  • Compensation for anxiety, PTSD, or other trauma
  • Compensation for scarring, loss of limbs, or other disabilities caused by the accident
  • Compensation for the victim’s out-of-pocket expenses such as medical bills or lost wages, including incurred medical bills and loss of future earning capacity because of injuries caused in the accident

Like in a non-ridesharing accident, if someone were to pass away because of injuries sustained in the accident, the deceased’s estate or family could pursue a wrongful death case against the driver and the rideshare company.

Who Else is At Fault?

If you are in an accident while in a Lyft, Uber, or another rideshare service, your rideshare driver may not even be at fault. Sometimes, other drivers drive negligently and crash into your rideshare driver. As the passenger in the rideshare vehicle, you are entitled to sue the negligent driver. You do not lose any rights you would typically have just because you were in a Lyft and not driving your car.

It is not uncommon for rideshare drivers to be involved in accidents. That makes sense, given they drive so much throughout the day. They also may be more distracted, looking at phones, or driving quickly to get where they are going to carry more passengers and make more money. They may not alter their driving to account for bad weather conditions.

Rideshare drivers often drive around, waiting for customers or their next ride order. It is called “deadheading.” This somewhat aimless “driving to nowhere” activity is often long, tedious, and distracting, leading to carelessness behind the wheel. When drivers are involved in accidents while deadheading, many rideshare companies won’t report these accidents, thus leading to underreporting of Uber or Lyft accident statistics. 

When you are a passenger in a rideshare vehicle, you should take special note of things the driver may be doing that may be careless or reckless—for example, excessive speed or playing on the driver’s cellphone. If you suspect the driver may be drunk or impaired, you should immediately ask to get out of the vehicle.

While a passenger, you should also look around you so that if other drivers are driving carelessly, or if another driver causes an accident, you see what the other driver did, and you can tell the police.

After a Rideshare Accident

If you are in an accident, make sure that you tell the police about any unsafe behaviors you observed the driver engaging in. Get medical help, and if you can, take photos of the accident, including damages to all vehicles involved in the accident, just as you would after any car accident. 

Were you in a car accident while in a rideshare service, or did a rideshare driver cause it? Call our experienced Schaumburg car accident attorneys at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555 today. You only have a limited time to file a personal injury claim. Do not delay in reaching out to have your case evaluated.

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Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer Discusses Motorcycle Injuries

motorcycle accident

Good afternoon. Welcome to another edition of Claim Your Justice Facebook Live. My name is Keith Shindler.  These live sessions aim to give you, our viewers, and the rest of the Facebook community valuable and helpful information on personal injury cases. We are here to answer any personal injury questions you may have to help you Claim Your Justice.  Visit us at ClaimYourJustice.com or call us at 847-434-3555. 



Today, on April 5th, 2022, the weather in Chicago is ugly. It’s cold. Soon though, it’s going to be spring. As soon as we see the first signs of spring weather, motorcycles come out of storage and get on the road. Some days you could even see dozens of motorcycles on the road. 

When you or a family member get injured in a motorcycle accident, the injuries can be traumatic. It makes sense as car versus motorcycle, truck versus motorcycle, motorcycle never wins. Injuries can include burns, road rash, and often much more severe injuries, from broken bones to loss of limbs and even death.

Loud Pipes Save Lives

First, as a shout-out to the motorcycle-driving community, I believe in the saying “loud pipes save lives”. I learned it from a friend of mine who owns a motorcycle. Why do loud pipes save lives? Loud pipes help to let other people know you’re out there. 

The reality is car and truck drivers sometimes don’t care about the motorcycles on the road. Their vehicle is larger, and sometimes they act like they own the road. A driver can tailgate you or abruptly change lanes without checking their blind spots. Never a good thing. 

Stay In Your Lane

Now, of course, some motorcycle drivers will split the lanes when driving. It’s not anything I recommend and I believe this is very dangerous. As a lawyer, I know if a motorcyclist is injured while splitting the lanes like that, it’s difficult to achieve a good outcome when you try and make a personal injury claim. That’s not the design of the roads and this type of driving violates the Rules of the Road. That’s not how the highways are prepared and designed. So stay in your lane. 

Secure Evidence Quickly

As we have discussed in the past, the general rule is that I want to secure evidence as quickly as possible. I want to gather the evidence as soon after the accident as possible. The same rule applies to motorcycle cases. 

We had a case where a motorcycle driver crashed his motorcycle into a concrete median because he couldn’t navigate and handle the curve. He went “splat” right into the concrete median and was seriously injured. His passenger was even more seriously injured. 

The problem is that I want to be able to secure the motorcycle to preserve the evidence for my client’s case. It’s not an easy process. It’s a very technical process, and it can be expensive. However, there are benefits to securing the motorcycle as soon as possible. What are the reasons? 

  • The first reason is the damage will allow me to show, not just by pictures. I could demonstrate to an insurance adjuster just how serious the accident was. 
  • The second reason is that I can bring the motorcycle into a courtroom if there’s a jury trial. I could physically bring it into court and show it to the jury, which has many impacts. The impact that this can have on a jury and helping me maximize my client’s recovery cannot be understated. 
  • The third reason is that many motorcycles are in storage all winter long. Before they come out, they may get maintenance. They may get some repairs and the repairs could be faulty which lead to the accident. 

Have The Motorcycle Examined By An Expert Mechanic

Suppose I can preserve the motorcycle soon after an accident. In that case, I can have that motorcycle examined by an expert mechanic to determine proper repairs or maintenance on the vehicle. If they determine that the manufacturers improperly designed a part on the motorcycle or if a mechanic did not perform the proper maintenance on the motorcycle, my client has another target that I can pursue to claim additional money for my client. 

Please drive safe this summer. If you get injured in an auto accident, work injury, trip and fall, medical malpractice, or wrongful death, let us help you Claim Your Justice. Call 847-434-3555, or visit us at ClaimYourJustice.com. Thank you, and have a successful rest of your week.

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How Long Does it Take to Receive Compensation From a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

personal injury

If you are in a car accident in Illinois, you may be out of work for an extended period of time, as you try to heal from your injuries. You may have bills mounting up. You may be in serious pain. All this may add up to one feeling how long will my case take to settle or otherwise resolve.

If you file an Illinois personal injury case, there are certain questions that may arise such as how long will the case take? Or, how long will it take you to receive compensation?

The answer to these questions is complex and varies from case to case. It will help to understand the stages of a personal injury case, and approximately how long the stages last. This blog will can give you an idea of how long it will take to receive compensation. It is advisable when you have questions about the personal injury claim process that you speak with an Illinois personal injury attorney at Claim Your Justice to get the answers you need to your questions.

Insurance Money

In the time after your accident, you may have access to some insurance proceeds. if you are injured in a car accident. Your car insurance will pay damages to your car under the comprehensive coverage portion of your policy, and your medical bills under the medical payments coverage portion of your policy.

This is not the compensation that personal injury victims are looking for.

Quick Settlement Offers

Before discussing the time frame to receive compensation, it is worth mentioning that in some cases, the responsible party’s insurance company (or the other side itself, if the Defendant is a larger company), may try to prey on your financial desperation. They may entice you with a quick settlement offer. Although they may seem like good or fair offers, these offers are almost always way less money than you are entitled to.

The other side’s goal in making these offers is for you to take what they are offering in desperation. As a result, you would sign a release that would forever bar you from ever suing them for more money. Always talk to a personal injury attorney at Claim Your Justice before signing any of these documents, and for that matter, before even speaking to the insurance company for the other side.

The Initial Investigation

At the outset, your Claim Your Justice attorney will need to evaluate the facts of your accident, to see if there is a claim. In most cases, this is immediate. If you were stopped at a red light and hit from behind, there may not be any investigation needed at all. However, in a wrongful death case or medical malpractice case, your Claim Your Justice attorney may need to get medical records and have them evaluated by a doctor before determining whether there is a viable claim or not.

By doing this investigation, your attorney isn’t guaranteeing your case will win. He or she is just verifying that there is a strong likelihood of a case and a strong argument that you can make to win compensation. Your Claim Your Justice attorney may also speak with witnesses, or get photos or video of where you were injured.

The initial investigation period can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the type of case.

Treating for Injuries

When the investigation is done, or while it is going on, if you are injured you will be treated by doctors for your injuries. Your attorney will want to wait to see how well or how fully you heal. Some people heal almost completely, while others may get better initially, and then plateau, never getting back to their pre-accident self. Your Claim Your Justice attorney won’t know what a fair amount is to settle your case, until it is clear how disabled, injured, or limited you are, because of your personal injuries.

How long it takes to see how injured you are or how much your body will heal, depends on several factors, such as the type of injury you sustained and how often you visit your treating doctors. If you are still making improvements and feeling better, your attorney may want to wait to present your claim, to see how much you improve before that improvement stops.

Your doctor may recommend further medical procedures, like surgery. Your doctor may refer you to another medical specialist. You may also need to undergo a course of physical therapy. All of these things take time.

There are some instances, where your injury is so obvious, that its value is clear from early on. Then, there may be no need to wait until your entire course of treatment is complete.

For example, if someone is paralyzed, that is often clear from the initial stages. There may be some improvement as time goes on, but we generally know what the lifetime consequences are of paralysis. In the case of amputation, it is clear from early on that there has been an amputation, and what the costs and associated lifetime medical needs will be.

This waiting period isn’t just about your current medical treatment. Your treating doctors may recommend future medical procedures. Your attorney also needs to know whether your job, income or future earning potential at work, will be affected. If so, the wage losses need to be included in your claim.

The time period for you to treat, heal, and have your injuries and physical or mental improvement measured, can be anywhere from a few months, to a year or more.

Making the Money Demand to the Insurance Company

Once it is clear what the extent of your injuries is, your Claim Your Justice personal injury attorney will make a money demand to the insurance company. The demand will detail the accident, why the other side is liable for your injuries, and what the value of your personal injuries and expenses are.

There will be a “back and forth” negotiation between your Claim Your Justice personal injury attorney and the insurance company, in an effort to resolve the case. This “back and forth” will usually last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. The length of time will depend on how much information the other side requests and whether your attorney thinks it is best to settle, keep negotiating, or file a lawsuit. Your attorney will relay to you the demands made, offers by the insurance company, so you can evaluate whether to accept an offer made.

Filing a Lawsuit and Going to Trial

If the case cannot be settled, you will have to file a lawsuit. The time it will take to get your case to trial after you file the lawsuit, will depend on the Illinois court’s docket. Busier courts may make the wait a year or more to get a trial date, while other courts and judges will move your case along much faster.

Your personal injury case may need time before it goes to trial for your Claim Your Justice attorney to conduct pre-trial discovery, and a lot of delays may be out of your attorney’s hands. For example, you may need to take the depositions of corporate representatives of the defendant, and witnesses.

Even if you are on a longer schedule, you can still settle your case at any time. The negotiations often continue between your attorney and the other side, even after a lawsuit is filed. You may go to, to mediation, where you could settle your case relatively quickly.

In some situations, your trial won’t be the end of your case, even if you win. The defendant may file an appeal. That is rare, but if it happens. An appeal can delay payment for another year or more. However, in most cases, after a successful trial, the Defendant would rather just pay the verdict, instead of filing an appeal.

After The Case Ends

Even after you agree to a fair settlement or win a jury verdict, there still may be a delay in receiving your award. That’s because your personal injury attorney may need to negotiate with your medical providers, to try to lower your medical bills. Remember the less money your bills are, the more money you will receive. So, although this can seem frustrating, the time spent is in your best interest.

Depending on how many medical bills there are, and who is owed (government entities can take longer to negotiate with than private medical providers, like doctor’s offices), you can anticipate a few weeks to a few months to allow your expenses to be negotiated.

As you can see, the time to get paid or to receive compensation in a personal injury case can vary from case to case.

Many of the variables that may increase or decrease the time are not in your or your attorney’s control. However, a good, diligent personal injury attorney can stay on top of your case, get the information that’s available, and make the settlement demand as quickly as possible, to help you get the compensation you need and deserve on a faster time scale.

Call our personal injury attorneys in Schaumburg at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555 to help you understand the process of receiving compensation for your injuries.

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Personal Injury Lawyer Discusses Workers’ Compensation

workers compensation


 

 

Workers’ Compensation Overview

My name is Attorney Keith Schindler, I’m coming to you with another edition of Claim Your Justice via Facebook Live on workers’ compensation. These video sessions aim to give our viewers and the rest of the Facebook community valuable and helpful information on personal injury cases and related personal Injury topics. We welcome positive comments and questions. You can always call us at Claim Your Justice, visit us on the web, or call 847-434-3555.

Today I want to discuss the nuts and bolts of a workers’ compensation case. You go to work, you intend to do your job, and unfortunately, you’re injured while doing your job, within the scope of your employment. Many workers are injured every day. The range of injuries can be from a simple soft-tissue type of back injury where you get physical therapy and injuries requiring surgery. It could be a significant back injury, where you have a herniated disc or related type of spinal condition and need surgery.

Rarely, but it happens, there are cases where a worker is permanently restricted from working. We have a worker’s compensation case where our client suffered an injury at work and is unfortunately in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Then there are also those sad cases where a worker is injured, and the injury results in the worker’s death. These incidents are unfortunate with different degrees of severity, but no one deserves to go to work, be injured on the job, and not get compensated for their injuries.

How Workers’ Compensation Got Started

From a quick historical perspective, workers’ compensation cases grew out of the type of working conditions in the early 1900s when they were building, for example, the Empire State Building. There weren’t many rules regarding worker safety, and workers were being injured, maimed, and killed without getting fair compensation, or for that matter, any compensation for their injuries. That’s the basic evolution of these workers’ compensation cases.

Workers’ Compensation Laws Are Different in Each State

Workers’ compensation laws vary from state to state. Essentially, they have their court system to administer the workers’ injury claims. Those cases do not make it to a court or a judge as we understand them in everyday conversation unless they’re appealed outside of the workers’ compensation venue. In Illinois, workers’ compensation cases are filed in the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development in Wisconsin hears worker’s injuries. I’m licensed in both Illinois and Wisconsin. In Kentucky, where one of our attorneys is licensed, those injury cases are heard within the department of workers’ claims. The general rule is that an injured worker is entitled to a few elements of damages. First, they are entitled to compensation for the time they missed from work. Generally, that’s at two-thirds of their regular salary, which is determined by having taxes withheld from your paycheck when you work.

When you’re not working, you don’t have to pay employment taxes, your employer doesn’t have to pay employment taxes, so you get roughly two-thirds of your check. You’re also entitled to get your medical bills paid. That makes sense. There are often disagreements between the worker and the doctors treating the worker and what type of services are needed. That is a discussion for another time, but you’re entitled to get your medical bills paid.

Finally, you’re entitled to compensation for the permanent nature of your injury. Suppose you went to work one day, went home from work, and were no longer able to walk anymore, or now walk with a permanent limp, or experience any permanent injury. In that case, you are entitled to compensation for the permanent nature of those injuries.

You Must Communicate the Injury to Your Employer

When injured on the job, it’s necessary to communicate the injury to your employer. Some people don’t do that. They’re injured on the job and don’t want to miss their paycheck. They don’t understand workers’ compensation rules. They worry that they may be fired if they make a claim.

So, the worker decides to continue going to work. The pain continues to ache throughout their back, shoulder, and ankle daily, but they decide to continue to go to work because they want to get paid. Then a few weeks later, the worker realizes the injury is too severe to work through it and that they need to report it now. They go to their supervisor and explain that they were injured. When the supervisor asks when the injury occurred, and the worker says five weeks ago, it is more complicated.

You can still assert the claim, but it is more difficult to protect the claim. My advice is that when you’re injured, make sure you report it to your supervisor. The best way to do so would be to send an email. Most injuries are reported orally to a supervisor. Then there is typically a report that’s made, and you may be contacted, depending on the size of your company, by the workers’ compensation representative.

Seek Medical Treatment Immediately

The next thing is to seek medical treatment, this is obvious, but there’s a push and pull because companies want to preserve their expenses. The companies don’t necessarily want their workers’ compensation premiums to go up. So, there is sometimes a prejudice, let’s call it, where the employing medical group may say, “Do a little less medical work, maybe take a couple of Advils for a week, let’s see if that fixes your pain.”

Well, that will benefit the employer, not you, the employee. When you get medical treatment, and assuming it’s authorized, it will get paid. If it’s not authorized, the argument points to necessity. If the employer disputes that it was necessary, there are hearings that you can motion up before the commission and present your argument as to why the employer should pay your medical bills.

Follow The Doctor’s Instructions

When you go to a doctor, the doctor will evaluate you and give you a doctor’s work authorization. It could say no lifting more than five pounds, only light work if you’re a truck driver, no driving for more than five miles. Well, that’s not realistic, but it could say that. Your job as the injured worker is to make sure you follow that doctor’s advice.

If the doctor says you should go to work and feel you can’t go to work because you’re too injured, the doctor didn’t authorize you to miss work, and you risk getting fired by your job. You don’t have a valid reason to be missing work. You have a doctor who’s treating you. He’s an expert. He’s a medical doctor, he’s licensed, and he says there is no reason for you not to be working. You, as the employee, say, “I’m injured. I can’t go to work”.

You may face a situation where you get terminated from your job and have difficulty seeking relief for future employment. Remember, it’s not going to affect your workers’ compensation claim, but it could affect your status as an employee with the company. That’s the risk of not following the assignment. There’s also light-duty work. The problem with light-duty work sometimes is that not every job has light-duty available. If you’re a laborer and you’re lifting materials from one part of the warehouse to another part of the warehouse, and your doctor says no lifting over 10 pounds, the employer may not have any light-duty work for you to do.

Make sure you follow the doctor’s advice regarding the work restrictions. Generally, when we get to a settlement on a workers’ compensation case, my clients have completed their treatment. The doctor has determined that the client had something that we call MMI, maximum medical improvement. At that point, I, as the lawyer, can review the medical records and make a proper evaluation as to the entitled compensation for my clients.

If I have a client who requires many more weeks or months of treatment, the employee is not at maximum medical improvement. Therefore, I’m not able to settle their case. Of course, the lawyer and the client have some push and pull because the client wants to get the settlement money right now. I understand that, and we work as quickly as we can. But I’m also not in the business of selling my clients short. I want to make sure I get the maximum compensation for each of you who are my clients.

Contact Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Today

Please know that workers’ compensation cases can be complex. Many rules apply. I do not recommend that you try to handle workers’ compensation by yourself. There could be a medical treatment that you’re entitled to that you’re not getting. So please call us so you don’t make any mistakes that could cost you your compensation.

If you’re injured in any work, accident, car accident, trip, fall, medical malpractice, or wrongful death, let Claim Your Justice help you. Call 847-434-3555. We’re here to help you Claim Your Justice. Thank you. This has been Keith Schindler, have a successful rest of your week.

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How Do I Protect Myself From a Lawsuit For An Injury On My Property?

personal injury

Anytime you have people into your home or business, you risk the chance that you could get sued for negligence if one of those people is injured. Negligence, by definition, means an accident. That means that you can have the best intentions, and still, someone can get injured. Under Illinois premise liability statutes, you could be liable for injuries, and thus, have to pay for the damages that a person suffered on your property.

Although you can’t plan for every contingency and event, there are things that you can do, as a homeowner or as a business owner, to keep your property safer, and minimize the risk of accidents. The goal is to make those accidents that cause injury, less likely to happen.

Warning of Dangerous Conditions

Not every part of your property can be safe, all the time. For example, in private homes, there may be cracked pavement that juts out, causing an obstruction to someone who walks in the area. You may have an object, like a vacuum cleaner, that may protrude into a walkway.

Businesses may need to clean the floors, which entails having part of the floor slippery for a short period of time. Also, with customers coming in and out, a dangerous condition, like mud or water being tracked through the store, can be expected and result in a negligence claim.

You should try, if possible, to warn other people of potential dangers that you know exist, even if they are out in the open. This can be done verbally, of course, which is an okay strategy for private homes. But, it may also be better just to block areas off, or rope areas off, temporarily, if it seems that they may present a danger. Businesses should invest in ropes, cones or signage to be used for this reason.

Signage should also be used to warn people where they should not go. For example, a sign can avoid a curious customer from going into a store’s stock area to look for an item or from going into a car repair garage area. All areas that could be potentially dangerous.

Although it is not always a guarantee, having clear, obvious warnings can go a long way to protecting you from liability. To learn more about premise liability in Illinois, please reach out to the Illinois premise liability lawyers at Claim Your Justice.

Keep Clean

Businesses don’t always have to keep their property safe every single minute, but they do have to take actions and measures to show that they are diligently and properly monitoring their area.

Businesses should keep employees who monitor cleanliness on a set cleaning schedule and have a cleaning schedule that allows for an employee to scan for dangerous conditions regularly. Employees should have a log or some way to document when each area of the store was observed or cleaned.

There is no bright-line time limit that says that you need to observe or clean your home or business every 3, 5, or 10 minutes. How often is enough to protect you from liability, depends on the circumstance. Sweeping or mopping every hour may be fine on the average Tuesday, but on a Saturday or the day before Christmas, it may be too little. For private homes, if you have a party with 20 people, you may need to clean more often than you would if you just had 1 or 2 close friends over.

Pay Attention When Watching Others

This may be more applicable to private homes. In homes with children, you may find your home ends up as the meeting grounds for play dates with your child’s friends. Too many times, homeowners see playdates as temporary babysitters or the adult’s time to rest. As a result, the kids “play on their own.”

However, this is irresponsible and dangerous, especially for younger kids. Younger kids should never be left alone, unattended. You, as the supervising adult, may be held liable for failure to supervise young kids who are injured on your watch.

This becomes especially dangerous when kids are unsupervised while doing dangerous (or potentially dangerous) activities. For example, swimming, motorbiking, or playing physical games, all require your constant supervision as an adult. This is aside from the fact that young children can often be friends one minute, and physically fight the next. In this case, it takes you, as an adult, to stop this from happening.

A business doesn’t have a general duty to watch over or supervise its patrons. This is unless it is in a business where it is foreseeable that danger, harm, or violence could occur. Bartenders and other associated workers may need to watch over bar patrons to avoid violence and overserving of alcohol, for instance. Another situation could be if your business handles vulnerable populations, like younger kids or the elderly.

Keep Walking Areas Clear

This may sound like common sense, but it is often very easy that a business-owned ladder, forklift, box, or another item, large or small, ends up obstructing somewhere people will walk. Do not rely on the belief that someone will surely see the item, and thus, could not fall on it. Although something being out in the open is a valid legal defense, it is not foolproof, and should not be relied upon.

Businesses should have written policies, and employees should be trained. Often, accidents happen when untrained employees leave obstructions in walkways for just seconds. Think about someone stocking a shelf. Should they walk away from the stocking cart for a few minutes, it becomes a hazard in the walkway. That could lead to an unsuspecting patron being harmed by tripping over the cart.

Homes should also make sure that there aren’t items on the floor or walkways. This can be more difficult with homes that have children. A small toy in a doorway or jutting out from under a cabinet can end up being a dangerous item that causes someone else to fall.

Use Security

Certainly, crime is random, and a business cannot always ensure that visitors don’t end up as crime victims. However, there are things a business can do, to ensure that the people who visit the business are free from crime.

Consider your property and whether you need human security guards. This could be either inside the premises or around it. Additionally, think about how many you need, and whether that security needs to be trained as security. Potentially, it may be necessary to hire professional guards from an actual security company. In other situations, maybe security can be taken care of using one of your employees equipped with a phone or walkie-talkie to communicate with authorities if needed.

Even if you decide that you don’t need human security, other things can be done, to make it harder for you to be sued if someone is the victim of crime on your premises. For example, lighting in parking lots and video cameras on the premises can go a long way to minimizing the risk of a crime event happening on your property.

Fix What’s Broken

The physical items around us break down and need repair or replacement over time. You should be aware of the things on your property that may need repair and handle them accordingly. If something needs repair and can’t be repaired for some reason in a reasonable amount of time, you should take measures to warn other people of the dangerous condition.

Some things that tend to break down, which we may or may not notice include:

  • Stairway handrails can get shaky or unhinged from whatever they are affixed to.
  • Parking lot bumpers, where the cement can deteriorate, or where the paint can fade.
  • Any painting on your floor that is there for safety, such as stripes on the edges of stairs.
  • Shelving that may hold up items that, if the shelving were to collapse could land on your customers.
  • Walkways or pathways that may buckle or crack, or tiles on a floor that may start to lift.
  • Carpet or floormats that get worn down, and which may roll up or stick up on the edges.
  • Shopping carts that may have sharp edges on them.

Consider the Elements

You can’t control if it rains or snows, or if a customer tracks mud from outside, inside your property. But there are things you can do to address and minimize the danger.

For example, some types of flooring are more slippery when exposed to ice, snow, or rain, than other flooring may be. Some types of flooring are just naturally slick.

Often, your flooring can be coated or treated in ways that give it more friction.

If it is raining or snowing, businesses may want to assign an employee to regularly monitor the area around the doorway to keep it clean and dry. Of course, a mat or carpet at the doorway can also help ensure that snow or ice doesn’t get tracked inside the property.

Use Common Sense – and Maybe an Expert

No matter what kind of problem you are trying to avoid, some of these problems require common sense application of policies and procedures, while others may require some kind of consultation with an expert in a safety or security field.

The good news is that you may be able to lower the cost of your insurance or get other tax benefits, from the money that you spend on these security measures or improvements to your store. That’s not to mention the peace of mind that you will have knowing that if something were to happen on your property, you will have a solid defense to any claim that may be brought against you.

Call our Schaumberg personal injury attorneys at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation if you are injured on someone else’s property at 847-434-3555.

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How Your Medical Bills Are Paid During A Personal Injury Case

medical bills


 

 

How Medical Bills Get Paid

Hello, thanks for visiting us on another edition of Claim Your Justice personal injury Q&A, this one is on medical bills. My name is Keith Shindler. I’m an attorney at Claim Your Justice. Over the past couple of months, we’ve had an opportunity to discuss different areas of personal injury law, what to do when a personal injury occurs, how to deal with liability issues, etc.

Today I want to talk about dealing with medical bills in the event of an injury. It could be a small number of medical bills somewhere in the range of several hundred or several thousand dollars. Or, in many of our cases, it’s 10s of 1000s of dollars. The question is, what are you going to do, and how will I help you settle your medical bills?

I want to talk with you about a real-life example. A case recently settled for $100,000, which was the policy limit on the case, and our client had $47,000 of medical bills. My job is to make sure that I maximize the amount of money that I put back into my clients’ pockets. My job is not to collect money and pay the doctors every dollar they billed to my client.

Illinois Health Care Services Lien Act

In Illinois, there’s something called the medical health care services lien act, which gives medical providers certain rights. We want to assume for this topic today that my client did not have any health insurance. All the bills are now the responsibility of my client. I need to make sure that I do my best to satisfy the bills without paying every dollar that the medical providers are claiming.

In this case, we have a $100,000 settlement. My goal is not to pay the medical providers more than one-third of the settlement, which would be $33,000. I want to make sure that my client at least gets one-third of the settlement. Of course, my goal is for the client to get more than that, but under the health care services lien act, medical providers have certain rights.

First, I need to contact each provider and propose a settlement of the medical bill. I want to make sure that any money paid to the provider will completely clear the bill for my client. The last thing I want is to have an $8,000 hospital bill, pay the hospital $4,000, and then my client gets an envelope in the mail from a collection agency saying that they owe another $4,000. I’m not going to let that happen. That’s part of the services we provide to our clients. We ensure protection in many different areas, including medical bill collections.

In this case, we have $47,000. Some clients think, okay, if I have to pay my attorney a third, that’s $33,000, I pay another $47,000 in medical bills, that is $80,000, and now the client may be thinking they are only going to get $20,000. That’s not how we roll here. We work aggressively for our clients to make sure we can reduce their medical bills as efficiently as possible. In this process, it’s not so easy because, as we know, they may have a hospital bill, then a radiology bill, on top of an emergency room bill, all separate from one another. Our staff needs to make sure we contact the right person, negotiate the proper settlement, and get a complete release from each of the providers so that my client knows they are clear of any future collection. Then I can distribute the money.

Health Insurance Companies

Now, let’s take an example where a client has health insurance. Hopefully, most people have health insurance. If your health insurance company pays for your medical bills, which is very frequent, then I need to make sure that the health insurance company gets protected because they have something called subrogation. Subrogation is where the health insurance company makes a payment, but in the policy document, it says when the payment is made for a personal injury case, the health insurance company gets back their payout.

In that situation, I will communicate with the health insurance company. As a quick footnote, if you’ve been in an accident and gone to the hospital, one of the questions they will ask you is, “Are you here as a result of an accident that someone else was responsible for?”. This question is because the provider wants to make sure they communicate with me to get their bill paid.

Going back to the health insurance example, you could have $47,000 in bills, and the health insurance company doesn’t pay the total amount of the bill. The $47,000 may be billed to the health insurance company. The health insurance company has a specific formula they calculate and payout that amounts through their insuring agreements with the providers. In that case, let’s say the bills are satisfied by the health insurance company for $20,000. It seems great, right?

Now, here’s where I come in to help. I’m going to try and negotiate that number down even further. If I can negotiate the $20,000 health insurance subrogation lien down to, let’s say, $15,000, then I pay $15,000 Out of the $100,000. I will pay $15,000 to the health insurance company as reimbursement. I’m going to take our fee of a third, $33,000. Now you have $48,000, and my client can get $52,000 out of the settlement for their injuries.

This topic is not always discussed because it comes up on the back end of a personal injury case when a case has settled, and the attorneys disperse the money to the client for their entitled recovery.

Contact Our Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers To Make Sure Your Medical Bills Are Paid

One last closing message. We’ve had cases where there has been $300,000 worth of medical bills or $250,000 worth of medical bills. The process is generally the same. The reductions are sometimes larger when you have more extensive medical bills. The fact is, I and Claim Your Justice needs to protect our clients once the case has settled to ensure no medical bills hanging over their heads. Thank you for listening. Remember when you or a loved one are injured in an accident, let Claim Your Justice help you. Contact Illinois personal injury lawyer Keith Shindler at 847-434-3555. Have a lovely afternoon, and thank you!

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What is the Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims in Kentucky?

personal injury claims in Kentucky

You hear Louisville personal injury lawyers say this all the time: “Act fast, or your personal injury lawsuit could be forever barred.” Or you may have heard advertisements warning you that you have a “limited time” to file your lawsuit. But are all these assertions actually true? Is there really a time limit to file your personal injury lawsuit?

What is the Statute of Limitations?

These calls to action are in fact true. There are time limits to file personal injury claims, after which time, you lose the chance to file your lawsuit forever. These laws are called statutes of limitations.

Statutes of limitations are not unique to personal injury cases. Every kind of civil case, and even many criminal cases, has time limits. All people are subject to filing their lawsuit within a specific amount of time, as stated by the statute of limitations.

After the deadline expires, if you have not already filed your lawsuit, you will not ever be able to file your lawsuit. In other words, your ability to obtain financial compensation from the liable parties will be forfeited. So, Act fast and call Claim Your Justice.

Why Is There a Statute of Limitations?

The law has statutes of limitations because the law recognizes that a defendant at some point, must feel safe from being sued. There must be a time when a business or person is safe throwing away records, or destroying what would be evidence without worrying whether they could be sued later on. People cannot go their entire lives worried about whether they will be sued for something that happened 3, 5, 10, or 20 years ago.

The law also recognizes that as time goes on, witnesses’ memories fade, die, or they move away. Evidence disappears. It is hard to get to the truth of what happened in each accident when an accident happened 20 years ago.

How Long Do You Have to File?

Every state has its own statute of limitations, so you should not rely on just anything you read on the internet to figure out how long you have to file your case. A good Louisville personal injury lawyer can analyze your case, and explain to you Kentucky’s statute of limitations for how long you have to file your case.

Compared to other states, Kentucky has a shorter statute of limitations. You only have one year to file your personal injury claims in Kentucky. The one-year time applies to cases like slip and fall accidents, medical malpractice, intentional harms, negligent security claims, or products liability claims.

The “clock starts ticking” on that one-year time, on the day of your accident. Note that this is the day of the accident and not the day that you discover you may be injured. Although there are situations where the delayed discovery of your injuries could extend the statute of limitations, as discussed below.

You protect the statute of limitations, by filing a lawsuit in court. Making a claim with the defendant’s insurance company or sending demand letters, does not protect the time deadlines of the statute of limitations.

Injuries that arise from car accidents get some extra time. If you are injured in a car accident, you will have two years to file your lawsuit. Even better, that two years either starts on the day of the accident, or on the day that you received the last insurance payments from your own personal protection insurance coverage, whichever date happens later. Kentucky Revised Statutes 304.39-230 Limitations of actions.

Although car accidents can have a statute of limitations that goes a bit beyond two years, that is still a short amount of time to file a lawsuit.

Exceptions and Extensions to the Statute of Limitations

All of Kentucky’s statutes of limitations have some exceptions which can extend the time stated in the laws. If someone is:

  • Underage, that is, under the age of 18.
  • Incapacitated.
  • Is of “unsound mind”.

The time to file the lawsuit is extended to one year after the removal of the infirmity.

Practically, for minors, this will mean the lawsuit has to be filed within one year after the minor hits adulthood, age 18.

If someone’s injury is due to a defective product, or because of medical malpractice, and they are not aware that the injury is caused by a product or a doctor’s negligence, the law may provide some extended time. The one-year time limitation for products liability claims is extended in these cases, up to 5 years.

However, the time limit to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice will only be 1 year from the date that the injury or negligence was discovered.

There are also some extensions that the courts will provide, if the defendant hides from being served, or is absent from the state of Kentucky for an extended period. Some defendants “hide” from being served with personal injury lawsuits in Kentucky. As a result, the court will allow you some extra time to file your lawsuit, if you were delayed by a defendant’s trying to conceal himself.

You can also try to get the insurance company for the defendant, or the defendant itself, to agree to extend the statute of limitations. Sometimes, the defendant will agree to this. In instances where you are making meaningful headway towards resolving your case and the statute of limitations is quickly approaching. However, you should not rely on this. An insurance company often would rather take the chance that you don’t file, and thus that you miss the statute of limitations deadline.

What if You File After the Deadline?

If you try to file your personal injury lawsuit after the expiration of the deadline set by the statute of limitations, you can expect that the defendant will ask the court to dismiss your case. If the court finds that your case was filed too late, it will be dismissed by the judge. That means that you will not get to a jury or have your day in court.

It also means that any offer that the insurance company may have made to settle your case before you filed the lawsuit, will be withdrawn.

Why Time is So Important in Personal Injury Lawsuits

Although these time frames may seem lengthy, they in fact are not lengthy at all. In most cases, you cannot just walk into your Louisville personal injury attorney’s office, and have your case filed the next day. Your attorney will need time to get your documents and records and evaluate your claim.

In a car accident case, your attorney may want accident reconstruction experts to recreate the accident. This often happens when there are disputed versions of who caused the car accident, or how it happened or in very serious injury car accident r car accidents causing fatalities.

In some cases, like with products liability or medical malpractice cases, your attorney may want to get an expert to review your documents and evaluate the merits of your lawsuit.

In fact, Kentucky law requires, in malpractice cases, that a victim files a certificate of merit that says that an expert has reviewed the victim’s medical records. This accounts for further action that must be done by your attorney before your malpractice lawsuit can be filed.

You may also need time for follow-up medical treatment, or to find additional defendants who may be liable for your accident.

Additionally, the last thing you want is to be “under the gun,” facing an expiring statute of the limitations time limit, while you are negotiating with the insurance company. The insurance company will know the deadline is approaching. That likely will lead them to give you lower offers.

Suing Everyone Can be a Problem If You’re Too Late

You can also run into problems with unknown defendants if you file your lawsuit just before the statute of limitations has expired.

For example, you slip on the floor of Store A, and you sue Store A within the one-year statute of limitations. But then in the lawsuit Store A says that its cleaning company is the one who was liable. In this case, it could be too late to sue the cleaning company. Because you waited until the last minute you have now lost the opportunity to sue defendants who you did not know were liable, but actually were liable in full or in part for your injuries.

Speak to a Louisville Personal Injury Attorney Today

It is true, you should act fast and Call us Now if you have been injured in an accident so that your personal injury attorney in Louisville can help you. Putting yourself in the best position to secure maximum recovery means connecting with an experienced legal professional soon after your injury accident happens.

There are several steps that are necessary during the personal injury claim process, and anything can change or cause delays. Taking full advantage of the time that is defined in Kentucky’s personal injury statute of limitations is in your best interest.

Call our experienced, talented, and proficient Schaumberg personal injury attorneys at Claim Your Justice today to schedule a free no-obligation consultation at 847-434-3555.

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Personal Injury Attorney Keith Shindler On Slip & Fall Cases

slip and fall accidents


 

 

 

Slip & Fall Accident Cases In Illinois, Wisconsin, & Kentucky

Good afternoon, I am Keith Shindler coming to you for another edition of personal injury and Facebook Live, this one will cover slip & fall accidents. I do these sessions to try and bring to the community information about how you can help yourself recover damages and perfect your personal injury case. We welcome positive comments and questions. You can always call us at Claim Your Justice at 847-434-3555.

In our first episode, we discussed who pays for costs when a client is pursuing a personal injury case. In the second episode, we discuss what to do in the event of a car accident. In the third episode, we discussed chain reaction types of accidents.

Slip & Fall Accidents Are Common

Today I want to discuss slip & fall and trip and fall cases. Very basic, right? Someone is walking, they slip, fall, and injure themselves, or someone is walking, and trip and they fall and injure themselves. With the winter here, slip & fall accidents are prevalent. Even without the weather conditions, it could happen in a store. It could happen in a parking lot. It can occur when walking from a parking lot into a store.

This past week alone, I received three calls regarding slip & fall accidents. The first call was from a woman who fell at the Greyhound station in downtown Chicago. She had a severe injury where she broke her foot and required surgery. Another person tripped outside of the hospital. She fractured her hip and required surgery. Another prospective client slipped on ice coming out of the apartment building and fractured their leg.

Pictures Are Crucial To A Slip & Fall Accident Case

As you can see, these types of accidents frequently lead to severe injuries. If the victim properly documents and constructs the incident’s scene, the cases can succeed. However, the common element of the three cases that I just mentioned is that they had no pictures. Why do we need pictures? I’ll get to that in a second.

When I ask a person if they had pictures of an incident where they tripped and fell or slipped and fell, and they say no, I find it a little bit unusual because in our everyday lives if someone sees a fight, what’s the first thing they do? They whip out their phone. If someone sees a car accident, what’s the first thing they do? They whip out their phone. If someone sees anything that may be newsworthy or interesting to them from a social media perspective, they’re all over their phones.

They don’t even think of it when something happens personally, such as these three callers. I understand they were injured. They were in pain and needed help. But the fact of the matter is if you don’t get a picture of the area where you fell, send a family member back to get photos at the time of the fall. Or ask someone at the hospital, ask the ambulance driver. It’s a critically important part of building the case.

I, as your attorney, need to establish that there was some defective condition that the property owner or the company that takes care of the maintenance of the building did not properly address, and therefore it caused you to fall. It’s challenging and sometimes impossible for me to file a slip & fall lawsuit without this kind of evidence. Let’s look at the Greyhound station case. I go after the Greyhound station. I said my client fell in your facility. The first question is, where did they fall? Well, my client doesn’t have an exact location. She said it was on my way to the bathroom. Look at the other case, a person trips coming out of a hospital. There could be sidewalks that aren’t properly maintained. There could be sidewalks under construction, and there’s no proper signage—or cordoning off the construction site.

Those are all beneficial things that could help support a case, but I’m helpless without a picture. If it’s ice, those are complex cases. However, if there was what’s called in the law an ‘unnatural accumulation of ice, it helps me. I can help you recover substantial money with the correct facts.

In any personal injury case, you need a duty, a breach of the duty, a proximate cause, and damages. We’ll discuss duty and breach of duty in a later session. Damages are easy to understand. Someone’s injured, they fracture a bone, and they have surgery. Those are damages. Proximate cause. In law school, they taught us it’s called the “but for.”

But if the property owner had not properly maintained their property, this person would not have been injured. But for the company in charge of maintenance, the person wouldn’t have been injured. But the person wouldn’t have been injured if the construction company’s negligence in taking care of a repair job on a particular site. It’s called proximate cause. It’s a substantial element, a necessary element of a personal injury case.

How do we prove “but for”? Pictures, pictures, pictures. I had a recent case, we discussed it with you at the end of January, and I’ll touch on it again today. Our client was walking on a city street on a sidewalk that had something that’s called an uneven slabbing. So you have one high slab, another slab that is sunken down low. If they’re very close, it’s difficult to maintain a case, and this was not very close.

The client fell and fractured her wrist. She had surgery, and she called us right away. The first perfect thing they did was to help us represent them properly. In the case they talked to me, I said, please get someone out there to take pictures, they sent a relative out, took pictures, and we were able to establish the depth of difference, which was approximately three and a half inches. The images helped me confirm that “but for” the negligence in maintaining that particular sidewalk, the person would not have fallen.

I don’t mean to be redundant. I apologize if you think you’ve heard this five times already in the eight minutes we talked. It’s necessary. Once you get pictures, I can use those pictures to establish where the accident happened, how the accident happened, etc.

Sometimes, if a facility has security cameras, those security cameras’ videos could have captured the actual fall. It’s hard to get video. If it’s a neighbor’s video from like a Ring doorbell, it may be possible. If it’s a video from the person who’s maintaining the store, the house, or the other type of structure, they’re never going to turn it over voluntarily. I can get through litigation to discovery. But it’s difficult to put together a case that way.

On the issue of a Ring Doorbell, we can go around to the houses that may be around the incident scene. Everyone seems to have a ring doorbell or other type of doorbell that records these things. We take the time to knock on the door of those houses or other businesses and say, “Hey, can we get a copy of the video? If I get the video, I can help you.

Call Slip & Fall Attorney Keith Schindler Now

So let’s sum it up. I know you’re injured. I know people can get seriously injured in these trips and falls. My sister-in-law was very seriously injured, and it’s critical to take the pictures, please. Remember if you’re injured in a slip & fall accident, car accident, trip, fall, medical malpractice, or wrongful death. Let Claim Your Justice help you. Call 847-434-3555. We’re here to help you. Thank you. This has been Keith Shindler. Have a successful rest of your week.

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Be Aware of Common Nursing Home Injuries

Nursing Home Injuries

Nursing homes care for the most fragile and vulnerable members of our society and our families. This makes it critical that nursing homes take all the precautions necessary with our loved ones. But the fact is that the care provided does not always reach the appropriate level. Plus, your family is not there 24/7 to monitor the care and treatment that our elderly relatives are getting.

This is very different from when a child gets care, for example. We are with our children while they are receiving that medical treatment and because of this, we can monitor everything that is happening and ask questions online.

Why Nursing Homes are Unique

Nursing homes also must balance residents’ need for freedom, as well as the need to protect them, given the residents’ own limitations. Nursing home residents are not prisoners, nor are they school children. They are free adults with rights, and they deserve to lead full lives while maintaining the necessary quality of healthcare.

On the other hand, many may need special care or may need to be kept safe from themselves, and that often may require certain restrictions on their freedoms.

Nursing home residents are also unique because the care they receive is a mixture of non-medical and medical care. Nursing homes are often staffed with doctors. Residents’ day-to-day treatment often involves the administration of medicines, physical therapies, or diagnosing injuries and disease.

That means when there are nursing home injuries, there are several things that can go wrong. But, there are some accidents and injuries that are more common than others. It may help you to know what to look for if a loved one is injured in a nursing home, and what the most common types of nursing home injuries are.

Decubitus and Skin Ulcers (Bedsores)

Many nursing home residents are active, and able to get around on their own power. But many are not and are bedridden.

It may seem that laying in bed stationery is a pretty harmless activity. But, there is a hidden danger when a human body is sitting in a bed for an extended period of time: decubitus ulcers.

Ulcers of the skin happen when the skin is rubbing against a surface, such as a bedsheet, for an extended period without moving. The pressure of the skin on the surface below, and the lack of airflow can open gaping wounds on the skin.

These wounds can be superficial, simply scraping off the top layer of skin. They can also be more serious. In some cases, so serious that they expose layers of tissue, muscle, and bone.

Aside from the obvious pain, these are open wounds. As such, the patient is susceptible to infection. Decubitus ulcers can and often are deadly.

Thankfully, many nursing homes have beds that automatically move the patient’s body. Otherwise, many homes are trained to have staff simply move or reposition the patient’s body periodically to avoid any one part of the body from being in contact with the surface underneath for an extended period.

But often, patients are overlooked. The hospital staff in a nursing home may be poorly trained. A resident can be left in one position for too long. Making matters worse, the ulcer is often underneath the patient’s body, out of eyesight. That means that nurses and other staff can easily overlook a decubitus ulcer in its early stages, making the nursing home injuries worse.

Bed Rails

Bed rails are meant to protect residents from falling out of bed. Also, bed rails can serve to prevent the patient from getting up and walking around during periods where there is not enough supervision to keep them safe.

But those same safety measures can also cause harm. In fact, bed rails can be so dangerous that the FDA reports that 50% of bedrail injuries end up being fatal.

Most bed rail injuries involve residents becoming lodged between the bed itself, and the bed rails. Unable to get themselves up, their body weight pushes their bodies further down between the bed and the bed rail. Eventually, they may be crushed or be unable to breathe.

Other injuries happen when a resident tries to get over the bed rails. Because the bed rails are higher, the fall from going over the bed rail, all the way down to the floor, can end up being deadly.

Falls

The good news for many nursing home residents is that if they are walking and able to transport themselves, they have a certain level of independence and quality of life. The bad news is that a mobile elderly resident can also be a resident in danger. Specifically, if he or she is allowed to go into areas where residents are not permitted to go or move about without proper supervision or assistance.

Many of these areas are intended for staff. The same staff that are aware of, and who can avoid, things on the floor, or items on shelves, or who can maneuver cluttered areas. Nursing home residents cannot do this, and when they venture into these areas, nursing home injuries such as falls can easily happen.

Like any business or hospital, nursing homes can have fluids on floors, or objects that obstruct walkways. When you or I encounter these situations, there may be no incident. When elderly nursing home resident does, they may be too unstable to keep themselves from falling.

The injuries to an already frail nursing home resident can be devastating. Many do not have the agility or musculature to brace themselves from the impacts of a fall. These falls can lead to serious fractures.

Abuse

Sadly, abuse is a fact of life in many nursing homes. However, it is illegal, and victims can sue for damages that are sustained when they are abused in nursing homes. Abuse can come in many forms:

  1. Nursing home staff, untrained to deal with residents, may use excessive force in trying to handle residents. They may also become frustrated with residents not following instructions, and resort to violence or improper restraining.
  2. Nursing home staff may not do anything intentional at all, but may simply use too much force when handling or managing residents.
  3. Abuse can happen from other residents. Sexual assault and physical abuse from other residents is a common problem in nursing homes. It is the nursing homes’ obligation to recognize these dangerous situations. If they are identified, the nursing home must do whatever can be done to minimize or avoid them. A nursing home cannot take a “blind eye” to relative-on-relative abuse.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice in a nursing home is much the same as it would be for anybody. If a relative’s condition is not getting better or is getting worse, or if there is some condition, accident, or injury that appears to be untreated, it may be an indication of medical malpractice.

Many nursing homes may be slow to order needed tests or diagnostics or may not get residents the medications that they need in a timely manner, or may administer the incorrect medications.

If your loved one has been sitting with a nursing home injury or condition for an extended period without any medical attention at all, it is possible that he or she is a victim of medical malpractice.

Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect: How Can You Tell?

It is very likely when you visit a loved one in the nursing home you will not personally see or observe your loved one being abused, neglected, or ignored. Making matters more difficult, many of our loved ones may be suffering dementia or other conditions that don’t make them very reliable when retelling what may have happened to them.

A Schaumburg nursing home neglect lawyer can help you Claim Your Justice and determine if a nursing home has abused or neglected a loved one. Here are some ways that you can tell if there is abuse going on in the nursing home.

The obvious sign of abuse is physical injury. Often, seemingly small injuries can lead to discoveries of larger cases of abuse. For example, a loved one that has a small bruise may actually be a victim of abuse. For the bruise you see, there may be others you don’t see, or which have since healed.

Loved ones may complain of feeling sick. It may be a slight head cold, nothing serious. But that also could be the start of infection caused by a major decubitus ulcer.

If your loved one is communicative, monitor changes in mood and affect. Depression, or a change in personality, can often signal pain, or abuse, that is happening when you’re not there. Whenever an outgoing person becomes withdrawn, or people start demonstrating abnormal personality traits, it could be a sign that something is going on.

Remember that these personality changes could also indicate a concussion which is a common result of falls. You may want to ask if your loved one has received any diagnostic scans to see if there is an underlying cause for these personality changes. You may want to look at your loved one’s head, for any visible signs of head trauma.

Doing an Investigation

As a family, you are entitled to see your loved one’s records. You may want to look at both the nursing home records, as well as medical records. Many medical records may be kept separately at the offices of the attending physicians.

Your Schaumburg nursing home neglect lawyer can get records for you, and often have an expert review the records to see if there has been neglect or abuse.

You can also speak to a resident’s attending doctors. Many only have knowledge of their medical treatment, but not the care the nursing home is giving when they aren’t there. This still can help you get an idea of what injuries or ailments the doctor has been treating. Then, you can have a broader picture of what has been going on with your loved one while you weren’t there.

Do you believe that a loved one may have been a victim of abuse or neglect in a nursing home? We can help. Call our Schaumburg nursing home abuse attorneys at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555.