How Long Does it Take to Settle a Semi-Truck Accident in Illinois?

Trucking accidents are among the most dangerous kinds of accidents on Illinois roadways. The injuries that can result when your average car collides with or is in an accident with a mammoth semi-truck, can be absolutely catastrophic. It’s no wonder that when someone is involved in a semi-truck accident and visits a Hoffman Estates truck accident attorney, their first question is usually something like, “how long will it take my case to resolve?”

The answer to that question is complex and depends on the circumstances of each case. To better understand how long your truck accident will take to resolve, it may help to understand how complex these kinds of accident cases can be. That complexity can add time to the case, which wouldn’t ordinarily be the case in a traditional car-on-car accident case.

A Lot of People and Companies May be Involved

As you will see, there are a lot of potential targets (that is, possible people or companies that may have done something wrong to cause your accident) and things that can go wrong in a truck accident. The more potential defendants there are the more people or companies who may have done something wrong, and the more time your case may take to resolve.

The Rush For-Profits

Unfortunately, many truck accidents are simply caused by the rush for the trucking company or the company shipping whatever is in the truck, to make a profit. The faster-shipped items get to their destination, the more money companies make (and sometimes, drivers as well, as employers may incentivize and pay drivers more for getting the product to its destination faster).

This has led to many drivers being on the roads, longer than they should. Exhausted truck drivers are dangerous drivers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has established guidelines that limit how long a driver can be behind the wheel before they must be given a rest. They also have rules that dictate how many hours at once, over a period of days, a truck driver can legally be required to be on the roads. However, some companies have ignored these regulations. And, even if the rest is provided, many drivers, anxious to meet financial incentives for getting their payload to their destination quicker, don’t take advantage of these rest breaks.

Federal law requires that drivers’ hours be logged and tracked by trucking companies. Some are recorded electronically, by devices placed inside the truck. These records can take time to get, and for your litigation attorney to interpret once they are obtained. This can add time to your trucking accident case-but it is a vital part of showing the trucking company was negligent.

Overloaded Vehicles

In a similar rush for profits, many trucking companies overload trucks. Trucks must be driven differently depending on their payloads, and if a load is too heavy or packed into the truck improperly, the uneven weight balance of the truck, or shifting of the payloads while the truck is driving, can lead to the truck overturning or jack-knifing. Sometimes, the driver isn’t even aware that the company has improperly or overloaded the truck.

Again, if you are in a truck accident, your Hoffman Estates truck accident attorney will need time to see how much was loaded on the truck, whether the payload was an unsafe amount, and whether the driver used proper driving techniques to account for the payload.

Trucks are Different

Trucks are not like our cars. Their shocks, brakes, tires, and other components are built to manage a 40 ton truck and trailed, not a vehicle the size of your car. Those different components require different maintenance than your car requires, and they also need mechanics specially trained to work on them. Unfortunately, many trucking companies don’t maintain trucks the way that they should be maintained or don’t utilize properly certified mechanics.

In your truck accident case, your attorney will want to see if the accident was a result of a mechanical failure of the truck. For example, truck brakes often fail or don’t operate as they should, especially when they are poorly maintained.

The next step will be to see who was repairing the truck and whether they were properly certified. Federal, and some state laws, require that truck mechanics be specifically certified to work on trucks.

All of this will take some time, as your Claim Your Justice attorney both collects records from the trucking company, and the opinions of experts that your attorney may hire, to analyze those records.

What About the Driver?

The driver of the truck will need to be investigated if the accident was the result of driver error. Trucks are driven differently than standard cars. For example, to make a right turn, a truck may need to “swerve out” in order to make a short right turn. In doing so, the truck can run into oncoming traffic.

Large semi-trucks may have blind spots, which makes changing lanes on the highway dangerous. They also may be more prone to bad weather conditions; a slippery road can be way more dangerous when a truck is on the road than when your car is on that road.

When you or I are on medication that makes it unsafe to drive, we may have the option of not driving. But a trucker doesn’t have that option; driving is his or her livelihood. This leads many drivers to go behind the wheel, even if they aren’t feeling well, or if they are on prescription medication that makes it unsafe for them to be driving.

You and Your Medical Treatment

While the investigation into the trucking company is going on, you will be treated for your injuries. Many people want to try to settle their case as quickly as possible, even though they are still being treated for their injuries.

The problem is that people heal and recover at different time periods. Some will completely heal, while others will be permanently injured. Until you follow your doctor’s course of treatment and undergo therapy, diagnostics, or procedures recommended by your doctor, it is impossible to know whether, in 6 months, a year, or 18 months, you will be healed, or still very much disabled because of your injury.

Negotiate and Settle, Or File a Lawsuit?

When you have healed, and when your Hoffman Estates truck accident attorney has an idea of what the trucking company or its driver did wrong, your attorney will present your case and explain your injuries to the trucking company or its insurance company. At that point, there will be a “back and forth negotiation,” as your attorney and the trucking company, try to settle your case.

If we can reach a settlement dollar amount that you are happy with, your case will be concluded. Prior to that your attorney will go over with you the pros and cons of accepting whatever the trucking company offers, and explain the consequences of accepting or rejecting any settlement offer.

The last thing you want is to settle your case early for less compensation, only to find out that your injuries did not heal as fully as they thought that they would, or to find out you need another procedure that you didn’t think you’d need when you accepted the settlement offer.

Filing a Lawsuit and Getting Evidence for Your Case

If you cannot resolve your truck accident case, you will need to file a lawsuit. The lawsuit will allow you to get all the information your attorney needs to conduct a trial of your case, if necessary. However, getting that information can take time, and the truck company may make it difficult to access critical information.

In addition to gathering paper or document-based information, your Hoffman Estates truck accident attorney will have the chance to take depositions of the truck driver and representatives of the trucking company. These are opportunities for your lawyer to ask the representatives of the Defendant questions about the accident, the maintenance of the truck, the driver, and company safety policies and procedures.

Evidence gathered by your attorney will be forwarded to your expert, who will analyze whether the company did something wrong, and if so, what. This can take additional time as well.

Courts also operate on their own schedules, so if a judge must get involved to make the Defendant trucking company produce information, your attorney will have to schedule hearing times based on the court’s schedule.

If your case does go all the way to trial, you will be given a date for your trial by the court. The court will usually schedule your trial at least a few months forward in the future, to give all sides the chance to prepare.

No One Time Frame for All Cases

As you can see, a lot of variables go into a truck accident case. With all of this, it is easy to get discouraged. You should not be discouraged; not all cases take a long time to resolve—in some cases, where the trucking company clearly did something clearly wrong, and where the extent of your injuries are pretty clear from the start, a truck accident can resolve relatively quickly.

Call our Hoffman Estates truck accident lawyers at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555 to help you with your car or truck accident case.

May 27, 2022February 21, 2023

Steps to Take After a Car Accident in Kentucky

After an accident, you may or may not be injured, but you will likely feel confused and frightened. That is natural and experienced by everybody. One thing that can help alleviate your fear is understanding what steps to take after an accident and knowing what to do and what not to do after a car accident. Call your Louisville car accident attorney with any questions.

Move Your Car

You should always stop your vehicle after an accident, even if you are not at fault for the accident. Leaving the scene of an accident, even a minor one, is a crime.

The first thing is to decide what to do with your vehicle, assuming that it’s driveable or moveable. If you cannot move your car, either because it is totaled or because you are not in physical shape to move it, you can leave it where it is.

Make sure that you are in a safe place. If you need to leave your vehicle where it is and move somewhere safe, such as the side of the road, you should do so.

Remember that “secondary accidents” are all too common. When your car is stationary after an accident, another car crashes into your immobile vehicle. If you can, you may want to get yourself away from the car, even if you cannot move it.

Towing (or Not Towing)

The police will likely arrange for your car to get towed if it is immobile. If possible, get the contact information for the tow truck company so that you can locate your vehicle quickly when you are ready to get it back.

If your car does not get towed, you should not fix or repair anything on your vehicle by yourself. Your insurance company and the other driver’s insurance company may want to evaluate the damages to your car. You could lose insurance benefits if you fix your car on your own and deprive the insurance company of the ability to have their adjuster review the damage.

Calling 911 or Emergency Responders

You should immediately call 911 for help. Another driver may often offer to “take care of this between ourselves” and avoid the police or insurance companies getting involved. However, that is rarely a good idea.

The police will arrive and often bring or call medical help if needed. If you need medical attention, immediately tell the 911 operator.

The police will ask you preliminary questions about how the accident happened. It would be best to tell the officer what you know or remember, but this isn’t a quiz. You likely don’t remember every detail of the accident. The accident was stressful, happened quickly, and you are likely full of adrenaline.

It would be best not to admit to fault or say that you did anything wrong because you may not know what is legally right or wrong. Just tell the officer what you observed, and avoid coming to legal conclusions about who was responsible for the accident.

After the accident, you will be able to get a copy of the report that the police file. However, your Louisville car accident lawyer will also do this for you.

Take Pictures and Document the Scene

If you can do so safely, take as many pictures and videos of the scene. Also, if it is safe, take photos of where the cars came to rest after the accident. But if you can’t do that, take pictures as soon as possible, after the vehicles move from the scene.

Take pictures of as much of the area as you can. The images should include the following for both vehicles: damage to the car, interior and exterior of vehicles, debris or markings on the road (such as skid marks caused by the other vehicle), and damage to surrounding areas (for example, if a car veered off the road and hit a tree).

Do not rely on others to document the scene for you. There is no guarantee that you will ever get access to pictures that the other driver is taking.

Another handy tip is to take a quick picture of the other driver’s license plate if they decide to flee the scene before the police arrive. Call your Louisville car accident attorney with any questions.

Call Your Insurance Company

Even if the accident was not your fault, call your insurance policy. You likely have insurance coverage that you can obtain. Regardless of who is at fault, and even if you are at fault, your insurance company has to know what happened in the accident so they can begin preparing a defense for you.

Most insurance companies have 24-hour call centers that do primary intake on new reports, so you should call the insurance company no matter what time the accident happens.

Like the police will likely do, your insurance company will ask you questions about the accident. Once again, tell them what you know, but you are under no obligation to answer every single question they ask you in detail. Avoid volunteering this information. Later, when you get a Louisville car accident lawyer, your attorney will give your insurance company more information about the accident.

Remember that many insurance policies have strict deadlines to report a claim. If you have to wait a few days to report your Kentucky car accident because you are physically unable to do so, such as because you are in the hospital, that is fine. But, report the accident to the insurance company as quickly as possible.

Get Witness Information

Often, observers or other vehicles or people who saw the accident will rush to your aid after the accident. Many, however, may leave before the police get there. If you can and can do so, try to obtain contact information for these witnesses. If the other driver denies how the accident happened, these witnesses may be vital to providing your case later on.

You can also try to get the contact information from the other driver. However, do not engage with or interact with the other driver if they seem violent, angry, or volatile.

Get Medical Help

Right after the accident, you may feel that you don’t need medical help. Perhaps you aren’t in pain, or at least not in great pain.

The police, driver, or witnesses may ask how you feel. Avoid saying you are “fine” or “have no pain” because your body is adrenaline-filled after an accident. Your body can immediately mask the damage done to you in the accident. Do not rely on your pain level right after the accident.

Additionally, many medical conditions after an accident may not hurt at first. Sometimes, the pain won’t show up for hours or even a day. Many injuries take time to develop. Just because you don’t feel pain immediately doesn’t mean you aren’t injured.

Later on, the other side will often try to use the fact that you spontaneously said that you were “fine” against you. It is particularly true if you try to get compensation for injuries that develop later on.

Talking to the Other Driver (and His or Her Insurance)

Sometimes the other driver will say or do things there at the scene, such as an offer to work the matter out between yourselves. They may also try to blame you for the accident. Do not be argumentative or angry.

You should also not accept blame or blame the other driver–your Louisville car accident lawyer will take care of that part. However, if you feel it was the other driver’s fault, you should say that to the police and the insurance company.

A few days after the accident, the other driver’s insurance company may try to contact you. If you have a personal injury attorney, you don’t have to worry about this–your Louisville car accident lawyer will cover all communications.

However, before you have an attorney, either the other driver or their insurance company may propose to settle your case. They may not even say “settle” but may offer you some money. You should never accept money or sign any agreement without first talking to an injury attorney.

Many of these “quick settlements” will never fully compensate you for your damages and injuries. They are offers designed to make you “go away” before you can receive what you are entitled to for your damages.

Contact An Experienced Kentucky Car Accident Lawyer

These are just some of the immediate situations you may encounter after an accident. In the days and weeks after your accident, you may get overwhelmed with problems, pain, phone calls, or requests for documentation.

You don’t have to worry about that–your Louisville car accident lawyer will take care of it for you and guide you through the entire process to focus on getting better and getting yourself back to you.

Call our Louisville car accident attorneys at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555 to help you with your car accident case.

May 23, 2022February 21, 2023

Personal Injury Lawyer Keith Shindler On Not Representing Yourself

Hello, I’m attorney Keith Schindler. Thank you for taking the time to view another edition of Claim Your Justice Live.

The purpose of these sessions is to try and help educate the viewers, and the rest of the Facebook community about personal injury cases, personal injury topics, and how to maximize the value of any personal injury claim.

The ultimate goal is to help you Claim Your Justice. We welcome positive comments and any questions you may have. To contact us, visit us on the web at ClaimYourJustice.com or call us at 847-434-3555.

Should You Ever Represent Yourself In A Personal Injury Case?

Today I am going to discuss representing yourself in a personal injury case. You may think this is a self-serving topic because of course, we’re personal injury attorneys. I want to represent clients in personal injury cases. However, there are pitfalls to representing yourself, a glaring comparison is if you had a fire at your house, you would call the fire department. Why? They’re professionally trained in putting out fires. They have the tools that are necessary to do the job.

I have had prospective clients who have called to discuss with me their case and are trying to represent themselves. Why are they trying to represent themselves? They do not want to pay an attorney a fee to represent them in a personal injury claim. If it is a very, very minor type of injury, go ahead and try and represent yourself.

An Attorney Doesn’t Cost It Pays

I rarely say that though. I view it as an attorney does not cost, it pays. Over the past couple of months, I have had two clients call, and they were representing themselves. In the first case, the client was very happy that they were able to secure a settlement of a few thousand dollars, on their own. Sounds great, right? The problem is, my evaluation of the case and medical bills told me the case was worth probably $25,000. Certainly in that situation, having a personal injury attorney representing the client would not have cost, it would have paid because the client would have walked away from the case with significantly more than a few thousand dollars.

Worse, I had a client call and she was representing herself trying to negotiate a settlement. There were a lot of medical records involved. A lot of gathering medical records. There were a couple of different injuries at play. She had a specified type of injury that she was suffering and organized what bills go to what type of injury and what the permanency of the injury was valued at. It took such a long period that the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit had expired. The client had not successfully negotiated a settlement for herself. The case was essentially dead.

The problem with the second example where the statute of limitations expired, is that the client had suffered a significant injury, my guess is the value was over $100,000. Right now the client has zero. Again, the Personal Injury Attorney would not have cost, it would have paid. That client would have been able to get a substantial recovery. Now there are some issues about how a personal injury relationship works. Well, it is a contingent fee relationship. What that means is the attorney fee is contingent on me successfully winning the case. To Claim Your Justice, attorneys have to win. The win is contingent on getting paid.

This creates what I describe to clients as a partnership. We are in this partnership together, the more I am able to recover for my client, and the more I am able to make for our firm. It’s not just self-serving. It is a benefit that pays to the client. I have every incentive to not settle the case for a shorter value, or in a shorter time to get out of the case and make a quick buck. That is not our goal. Our goal is to maximize recovery. It is number one in the client’s interest, because the more money I could collect for the client, the more money I earn for the firm. It is contingent, it is a win-win relationship.

Pitfalls Of Self Representation

As for the pitfalls, you can suffer when you are trying to negotiate a settlement yourself. Some are obvious, right, we have already discussed it, you are going to recover significantly less than your case is worth. That is bad. You cannot unwind that clock, you cannot un-ring that bell. Once you sign the release document, case closed, you’re going to get a check, you’re going be talking to someone along the way afterward, you’ll say “Look at me, I represented myself and got $7,000.”

The person will say, well, I know a little bit about personal injury, I think your case was worth upwards of $25,000. It is a sad day, but it happens all the time. Who wins in that situation, the insurance company. Not the injured party. You could also miss out on recovering what you might need for coverage for future medical services.

Let’s say you have a scar where your injury was, and eventually, you need plastic surgery to reduce the visibility of the scar. You signed that release … case over, if you did not include the value of those future medical services in your settlement, that surgery will not be covered.

You also have issues of not being able to properly evaluate if other insurance coverages apply. Let’s say you’re in a car accident, and the other side has a $25,000 minimum statutory insurance policy, and the insurance company offers that $25,000 for your injury. The problem is if you don’t have experience and knowledge in dealing with this, maybe you forgot to notify your underinsured motorist carrier. Maybe you forgot to see who the owner of the car was. If it’s a company, maybe they have a larger policy.

You get my point, hopefully. Then there is the, usually very minor issue of lost wages. Let’s say you missed a week or two of work and you didn’t get paid. You likely won’t know that you’re supposed to include those lost wages in your claim. Again, the insurance company wins, and you lose.

Another benefit of having a personal injury attorney represent you in a personal injury case is that after the case, we will frequently get involved in negotiating the medical bills. If there’s not a sufficient amount of money to cover all the medical bills, we will help you. There may be a $19,000 hospital bill that we could reduce down to $11,000. It’s a big number, these numbers matter.

May 12, 2022February 21, 2023

What are the Most Common Personal Injury Cases in Kentucky?

The terms or phrases “personal injury” or “personal injury case” get used often in the legal world. However, a personal injury case is a broad term and a phrase that includes various situations. The basis of a personal injury case comes when there is negligence involved, meaning that one or more parties behaved carelessly, which causes an accident that results in harm to others.

What is a Personal Injury Case?

A personal injury case is any case where someone else’s actions or a business’ actions or inaction injures someone. Those actions can be affirmative acts—such as when someone runs a red light. Or, they can be an omission, where someone doesn’t do something that they should have—such as when someone fails to clean a floor. They can also occur when a doctor fails to prescribe a prescription or a medical procedure.

Saying a personal injury case is any case where you get injured is very broad. But there are many different kinds of personal injury cases, and certain types tend to happen or occur more often than others.

Car Accidents

A typical personal injury case is a car accident. However, saying that every case involving a car is the same is certainly not true. Even within the vast category of car accident cases, different car accidents happen very commonly.

For example, a car or motorcycle accident case can include:

A rear-end accident.
An accident in an intersection caused by the other person running a red light or a stop sign.
A lane change accident, where someone doesn’t look to see that the lane they are going into is empty.
Hitting a pedestrian, bicyclist, or motorcyclist.
Hit and run accidents, also known as “phantom” or unknown drivers.
Commercial truck accidents.

Because there are so many cars on the road and so many ways that people can get in accidents while driving cars or motorcycles, this is hardly an all-inclusive list. Additionally, anybody in a car can be a car accident victim, including passengers.

However the accident happens, car accidents remain one of the most common personal injury cases. Call your Louisville car accident attorney with any questions.

Slip and Falls

A slip and fall is a case where someone falls while on or on someone else’s property, usually because a foreign object or substance was on the floor. It may be accidental, such as when something spills, or purposeful, such as when a worker is actively cleaning the floor, but if the store just doesn’t put markers or cones around the dangerous area to alert people that the floor is dangerous.

Slip and falls also can include situations where there is no foreign object on the floor. Perhaps there is a condition on the floor that is dangerous. Examples may be when someone leaves an object on a walkway or a crack or a brick on the floor that creates an uneven walking surface that causes someone to fall.

Slip and fall cases don’t just happen in stores or businesses-they can also occur in people’s homes. Homeowners have the same obligation to keep their property safe as business owners do. Call your Louisville personal injury attorney with any questions.

Negligent Security

Businesses must keep their property safe. That includes keeping the actual physical premises safe by minimizing, lowering, or eliminating the risk of criminal activity that could end up causing someone an injury.

A negligent security case involves three “actors”: You (the victim), the store or property owner, and the perpetrator or criminal. Although it seems like criminals act independently, and a store owner has no responsibility for your being a victim of violent crime, that is not the case. Stores located in high crime areas must take proper security measures to lower the chance of crime happening on the premises.

Standard safety measures are employing security guards, using gates or fences, proper lighting in parking lots, and using video cameras to deter criminal activity.

Products Liability

Often, products do not work the way they are supposed to, and people get injured. Many product liability cases make national news when things like cars, airbags, drugs, or other products don’t function properly.

Product liability cases can involve an item that is just a “defect,” such as where a single product comes off the assembly line differently from other similar products. Product liability cases can also involve a product that works as it is supposed to. It’s just that the product was made or designed dangerously.

In a product liability case, you or your Louisville personal injury lawyer must do the following: hire experts who will look at a product, analyze what went wrong, how the product was made or designed, and render an opinion on whether the product was made or designed dangerous.

All parties responsible for the sale of a defective product are liable for the injuries the product causes. In other words, not only the manufacturer or maker of the product is liable for your injuries, but also distributors or retailers.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is an action or omission taken by a medical provider that falls below the accepted standard of care. It is where a medical provider does something different than what most other medical providers in the same field or specialty would do.

Any medical provider can get sued for medical malpractice—not just doctors or doctors who treat you. Nurses, acupuncturists, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and other medical specialties can all commit medical malpractice.

Not every bad medical outcome means that there was medical malpractice—medicine is, after all, still an inexact science. Your Louisville personal injury lawyer will need to retain and hire an expert to evaluate your medical records and what your medical providers did or didn’t do to see if you have been a victim of medical malpractice.

Nursing Home Negligence

Nursing homes get charged with safeguarding the most vulnerable members of the population, a population that is generally not able to care for themselves-the elderly and infirm. Unfortunately, many nursing homes are understaffed, have untrained employees, or the team doesn’t know how to deal with difficult patients or patients with complex medical needs.

Nursing home personal injury cases can include a broad range of situations. For example, a resident may be mobile and walking and then fall because it was not medically advisable for the person to be walking about. Someone can be walking about and fall on items on the floor.

Even the things supposed to protect nursing home residents, like bed rails, can cause injury.

Many residents are injured when the staff ignores their needs, such as not being moved in bed or in pain, and staff may be non-responsive in coming to their aid.

Because many nursing home residents have medical needs and get treated by doctors inside the home, a nursing home resident can also be the victim of medical malpractice while in a nursing home.

Some residents may even find themselves victims of physical or sexual abuse, either from fellow residents or the home staff.

Dog or Animal Bites or Injuries

The owner of an animal is liable for the injuries caused by that animal. The animal owner doesn’t have to have known, in advance, that the dog could bite or cause injury. The fact that an owner is “surprised” that their dog injured someone is not a defense either.

Many animals can injure other people not out of anger or aggression but just accidentally. For example, an exuberant dog may jump on someone and cause them to fall or scratch them. Even if the dog injures someone else just being playful, the owner can be liable.

Speak To A Louisville Personal Injury Attorney

These examples are hardly an exhaustive list of all the kinds of personal injury cases. Many other personal injury cases can be pretty standard. Examples include injuries at amusement parks, gun shops negligently selling weapons to unauthorized individuals, or where a daycare or school fails to supervise children, resulting in personal injuries.

The law doesn’t require that you categorize your personal injury case, and where it does, your Louisville personal injury lawyer can help you. You don’t need to worry about what kind of personal injury case you have. So long as you are injured and believe that someone or a business may have been responsible, you have a right to sue for your injuries.

Call our Louisville personal injury attorneys at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555 to help you with your personal injury case.

May 4, 2022February 21, 2023

Personal Injury Attorney Keith Shindler On Bicycle Accidents

Bicycle Accidents And Personal Injuries

Hello, this is Keith Shindler coming to you with another edition of Claim Your Justice Facebook Live. Personal injuries happen in many types of scenarios, some of which we’ve talked about throughout the weeks. My purpose in having these live sessions is to try and give you information.

I want to provide information to you so that if some tragedy befalls you or anyone you may know, and they’re injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you will be prepared and know the proper course of action to take. I’m teaching you how to Claim Your Justice. Call Claim Your Justice at 1-888-88 KEITH, that’s 1-888-885-3484 and one of our lawyers will professionally help you recover the proper amount of money for the particular injury and the scenario that may have occurred.

Summer Brings More Bicycles

Today we’re going to talk about bicycles. Summer is almost here, soon enough there are going to be lots of bicycles on the road, you are going to be out on a bicycle, your kids will be out on a bicycle, and your adult-grown parents will be out on bicycles.

Unfortunately, there are lots of injuries that happen when someone is out on their bike. The type of injuries that occur can vary greatly. In the worst-case scenario, you have a bike rider who’s run off the road, hits some type of cement pole or median, or falls into a ditch, and is seriously injured. Sometimes those accidents result in someone’s death. That’s rare, but it’s possible.

Frequently, you have someone who suffers an injury like a broken arm, a broken wrist, a broken leg, or head injuries where someone breaks the skull or the orbit around their eye, it’s called an orbital fracture, and you could have a combination of those injuries.

Bike Riders Have Rights

Regretfully, when you have a 20-pound bike versus a 2,000-pound car or a 30,000-pound tractor-trailer, the injuries can be massive. You have got to be careful out there. Bike riders have rights!

A simple fact pattern for when these types of accidents occur. You could be making a right turn at an upcoming street and a car behind you thinks that they can make their right turn before you’ll hit the intersection. They may speed around you and make that right turn, and either turn right into you. Or, in the middle of their turn, your momentum carries you right into the passenger side of their car.

They shouldn’t be doing that, of course, but everyone is in a rush these days as they want to get places fast and there is minimal regard for bike riders out there.

Another scenario you could have is where someone’s trying to make a left turn at an intersection, the bike rider is coming in the opposite direction.

Whether there’s a red light, green light, or no traffic control device at all, the car turns left in front of the bike rider, the bike rider again runs into the passenger side of the car. Or the bike rider comes through an intersection, and the driver makes their left turn smashing right into the bike rider. Drivers often can’t really evaluate how quickly a bike is approaching. It’s much easier to evaluate and guess the speed of an approaching car than it is to guesstimate the speed of a bicycle. The speeds vary up and down greatly with a bike as opposed to a vehicle.

Distracted Driver And Annoyed Driver Accidents

Those are two types of kinds of injuries. What else do we have? This is the worst…You have a distracted driver, who is texting, tuning the radio in their car, or doing something other than paying attention to the road. That distracted driver, as a result, is going to swerve, run into the bike, and run you off the road.

The law is on your side.

One other type of injury you could have is with the driver who’s just annoyed with you being a bike rider on the road. They think roads are meant for cars. You’re on a bike, stay on the sidewalk. Well, personally, I’m a road bike rider. I’m out on the road a lot. I see some of these drivers, they just think that you should not be there.

So, you could have an annoyed driver, and you’ve read some of the news articles about this possibility. Recently, in the past year or so a pickup truck ran into a group of bike riders killing at least a few of them. First of all, criminal, yes, for sure. From a damage perspective, that would be more of an intentional act.

In that particular scenario, we’d ask for what’s called punitive damages. Those damages are meant to punish the person who causes the accident. The law is on your side.

Of course, most of us have seen road signs that say “share the road” or for bike riders not to ride side by side as opposed to single file. I prefer the single file method. I think it’s safer. There are many bike riders out there that will go side by side.

Illinois State Law On Bicycles And Automobiles

There’s a state law in Illinois and at least two Chicago ordinances covering bicyclists. The State law is found in the Illinois Compiled Statutes and it provides that as a car driver when you’re passing a bike, you need to give at least three feet on the side before you pass the bike. Very rarely are there three feet to give. There is a law out there that protects you when you have a driver who hits a biker and didn’t give that three feet to pass. they violated not only traffic rules, but they were negligent as well.

When I’m driving and I see a biker I go as far as the other lane when passing them. This assumes there is no oncoming traffic.

Personal Injury Compensation You Are Entitled To

Let’s talk about the damages you’re entitled to. You get your medical bills paid for sure. You are entitled to future medical bills paid as well. Pain and suffering. Plus, there could be a permanent disfigurement, someone fractures their hip as a result of being hit by a car. If you have someone who fractures their hip, they could have a limp. If this occurs, that person has permanent disfigurement, and that limp is a permanent disfigurement. Lost wages. Then sometimes bikes are a couple of hundred dollars. Well, when you have a road bike, some of these road bikes out there can cost thousands of dollars. You’re entitled to get your property damage compensated for in addition to these other damages.

What can a bike rider do to make their life safer out there? I’m not preaching to anybody, but I’m just telling you, as I do personally, wear a helmet. I try and wear a brighter color shirt. I want to make sure that people can see me out on the road. I have a front blinking light and a rear blinking light. I observe the rules of the road and try not to ride in the middle of the street. I see some bikers out there, that may be great bikers, but are kind of jerky where they’re right in the middle of the street. This can result in annoying somebody like we were talking about a little earlier.

I do have personal experience here. I was coming down a street in a suburb. I was going through the intersection and a woman, a young lady, maybe in her 30’s driving a minivan with a young kid in the car, paid no attention to me, ran right into my front tire, and knocked me off my bike. Thankfully not a serious injury. My bike was damaged. I did have some blood and cuts on my hands. Worse and believe it or not she just kept going. She couldn’t care about the bike.

Contact Our Experienced Bicycle Accident Lawyer

So I’m very sensitive about this. I have a lot of emotion representing anyone injured while riding their bicycle, or groups of people injured at the same time.

If you’re injured in any type of work accident, car accident, trip-and-fall, medical malpractice, wrongful death, or for this topic of this today, a bike accident injury call Claim Your Justice. Call 847-434-3555 we’re here to help you Claim Your Justice. Have a great rest of your day.

April 30, 2022February 21, 2023

Why you Should Hire an Attorney After a Serious Car Accident

Let’s say that you are in a bad car accident. You may not be an expert in the law, but you know one thing: The accident wasn’t your fault. It seems like an easy, open, and shut case. A drunk driver runs a red light or a stop sign and hits you from behind. You are significantly injured. It seems like an “easy” case…why hire an attorney?

There are many reasons to hire an attorney–especially if your injury or the accident was severe. After a car accident in Chicago, you may face more problems and questions than you anticipate, and a Schaumburg car accident attorney can help you with those issues.

The Insurance Company Has More Legal Knowledge Than You

After an accident, you can expect to be contacted by the responsible side’s insurance company. The insurance company will use an adjuster to speak to you about your claim. That adjuster will be well trained in the law and how to negotiate. Just when you thought you had a great case, the insurance company adjuster may tell you that you may have problems you didn’t anticipate.

Maybe you were at fault, in full or partly, for the accident. Perhaps you weren’t following the rules of the road. Maybe the other driver isn’t at fault because they were trying to avoid another unknown careless driver.

What will you say when the insurance adjuster says these things? Would you know what to say and whether the adjuster is correct or not?

A Palatine car accident attorney has heard these same excuses from insurance companies over and over and knows how to deal with them. The insurance company’s adjuster is no match for your car accident attorney at Claim Your Justice.

The Insurance Company Has More Resources

The insurance company has a lot of resources at its disposal to investigate the accident that you don’t have.

For example, the insurance company may have experts take pictures of the accident scene. They will have their mechanics analyze the damage from all the vehicles in the accident. They may have accident reconstruction experts that will try to “recreate” the accident (no doubt, in a way that shows they are not at fault).

How will you get any of this information? Do you have experts of your own? Your car accident attorney certainly will. Your attorney will have some of the same resources that the insurance company has and will be able to request the information from the insurance company to counter their investigation.

How Will You Pay Your Bills?

After an accident, you will have medical expenses that insurance will cover, and you may have some costs that insurance doesn’t cover. A Buffalo Grove car accident attorney can help you in both cases. There may be questions about which insurance will cover the expenses.

You may have your car insurance, health insurance, and the other side’s insurance. Each of these insurances may have an adjuster. They will want information and documentation to pay your bills. However, what about your insurance coverage to repair your car? Your car accident attorney can also help you arrange those matters.

Your Claim Your Justice car accident attorney can work with all the insurance companies so that you don’t have to worry about paperwork or which insurance company is paying what–or worse. You don’t have to worry about potentially being denied insurance benefits if you don’t fill out paperwork or information correctly.

That’s just your bills that insurance does cover. What about uncovered expenses? Your car accident attorney can work with your medical providers to keep your unpaid bills from going into default or collections while you are waiting to settle your car accident case.

Watch What You Say

As time goes on, the insurance company on the other side may ask you questions about the accident. You may want to be helpful and tell them everything that you can. However, your statements can unwittingly lead you into saying something that could harm your case or which would justify making you a lower settlement offer.

Your Hoffman Estates car accident attorney can communicate with the other side’s insurance company for you so that you don’t have to worry about saying something incorrectly or carelessly that could hurt your case.

Should You Settle?

The insurance company may offer you a settlement to your case, sometimes soon after the accident. What is a fair settlement offer? You would only know that if you have experience settling or trying injury cases in court the way Claim Your Justice car accident attorneys do.

And if you do settle for less than what your case is worth, you are done–you can’t come back later and ask for more money if something “unexpected” arises (for example, surgery or other medical complication).

Is the offer the insurance company is giving you a fair amount? You could file a lawsuit and try to go to trial. Claim YOur Justice accident attorneys can discuss what you can expect to happen in a trial. Not just what your outcome may be, but what the lawsuit process will be like for you.

Of course, you can expect the insurance company to mislead you into believing that they are giving you “an incredible offer,” and they may say things like, “you should take this offer–you’ll never get this much in court!” Should you believe the insurance company and take the offer? Your Palatine car accident attorneys can tell you this.

Reading the Settlement Agreement

Let’s say that the settlement offer the insurance company makes seems fair. You want to take the offer. But they don’t just hand you money. Before that happens, you have to sign a multi-page document with legalese. Do you know what is in the release or settlement agreement that the insurance company wants you to sign?

These releases can have confidentiality agreements, indemnity agreements, or overbroad releases. The insurance company knows what’s in there and what it says. You may not, and you can’t be sure they will give you an honest answer if you ask.

Your Palatine car accident attorney can review your settlement agreement and tell you whether the money you are receiving is reasonable and whether the settlement agreement you sign is fair.

Do You Have to File a Lawsuit?

If the insurance company doesn’t want to settle or doesn’t want to settle for what you consider to be a fair amount, and you didn’t get an attorney, you now may have a problem. Now you have to file a lawsuit, but whatever attorney you choose will not have been with your case from the beginning. It can put you at a disadvantage.

Remember that there may be time limits to filing a lawsuit. If you hire an attorney too late, the attorney may not have time to thoroughly investigate your case and determine whether they want to represent you. The last thing you want is to hire an attorney that will be in a rush to evaluate your case.

After You Get The Money

After your case is over, whether you settled or went to trial, getting your settlement money isn’t the end of your worries.

Someone may need to negotiate with your medical providers to lower the amount you owe to them. Even your health insurance might want to get reimbursed if you used health insurance for your medical bills.

A car accident attorney can take care of this to ensure that no outstanding medical bills are lurking out there when you get your settlement. The last thing you want is a medical provider who treated you, contacting you a year after settling your case, saying, “we never got paid.”

Questions You May Not Have Thought About

During your case, you may have questions or problems that you never even anticipated–all issues that your Claim Your Justice car accident attorney has dealt with before and can help you.

You may ask yourself, “Can the tow company charge that amount? Do I have to pay that emergency room bill now? Can my employer fire me because I was in an accident? Will a misdemeanor I had a few years back affect your case? Will my bankruptcy affect the car accident case?”

Almost every question you can imagine may come up, and your attorney will help you answer them or deal with them entirely for you.

Call our personal injury attorneys in Palatine at Claim Your Justice to schedule a free consultation at 847-434-3555 to help you with your car accident case.

April 24, 2022April 5, 2023

Personal Injury Lawyer Keith Schindler On Dog Bite Injuries

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.

April 15, 2022April 5, 2023

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

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.

April 5, 2022March 9, 2023

Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer Discusses Motorcycle Injuries

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.

March 25, 2022February 21, 2023

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

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.