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Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal injury takes on many different forms. However, one thing is usually constant – it is generally caused by the wrongful actions of another party.
Under Illinois law, persons injured by the wrongful actions of another person may be entitled to file a lawsuit for compensation. The rationale is simple: you should not have to suffer the financial inconvenience that someone else’s negligence or recklessness has caused you.

When you or a loved one falls victim to injuries due to the wrongful actions of another party, you can file a lawsuit for compensation for those injuries you have suffered. This is generally known as a personal injury claim.

At Uche P.C., our experienced Chicago personal injury lawyers understand how stressful a personal injury can be to your health and finances. We have worked tirelessly on behalf of injured individuals all over Chicago and Illinois, helping them hold the responsible parties accountable and obtaining effective compensation for their injuries.

If someone has caused you or your loved ones pain or injury, our attorneys can help you secure the justice and compensation you deserve. Our legal team is made up of brilliant attorneys who have an intimate knowledge of personal injury laws.

If you or a loved one were injured due to another party’s wrongful actions, call our experienced personal injury lawyers in Chicago today. We offer free initial consultations and we will not collect a dime unless we recover money for you. Call us at (312) 380 5341 to discuss your case today.

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Common types of personal injury cases

Generally, personal injuries happen because a party that is responsible for preventing the accident was negligent.

Personal injury laws allow the injured party to get compensated when the injury was caused by another party’s wrongful conduct. The wrongful conduct could be an intentional act or negligence.

Personal injury law is also known as tort law. There are several situations that can give rise to a valid personal injury claim. However, they fall under several categories which include the following:

Motor vehicle drivers are obligated to drive carefully and obey all the rules of the road. When a driver does not do any of this, it will most likely result in a crash with another driver.

According to the United States Department of Justice, motor vehicle accidents account for the majority of personal injury claims, making up over half of them.

In Illinois in 2018, there were 319,146 crashes involving motor vehicles. 21.1% of them resulted in injuries and less than 1% of them resulted in fatalities.

Medical malpractice happens when health care providers cause injury to a patient through a negligent act or omission.

Doctors and medical personnel have a standard of care they must meet when taking care of their patients.

To fall below this standard and cause injury, as a result, is to be liable for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Medical malpractice lawsuits make up 15% of personal injury cases. In 2017, there were 922 closed cases of medical malpractice claims, with the defendants shelling out $43,571,907 in compensation.

When a person is injured while using a defective product, he or she may seek compensation for the injuries.

In establishing fault in product liability suits, it is sometimes necessary to include everyone involved in the chain of production. This is, however, dependent on what type of defect the product had.

It could be a design defect, a manufacturing defect or a labelling defect.

Unlike the majority of personal injury cases, intentional torts are not based on injuries caused by the recklessness or negligence of another party.

They are based on when a person intentionally harms another person. The intent is the deal-breaker in intentional torts.

This is why intentional torts, in addition to being civil lawsuits, can also be treated as criminal cases.

According to a survey carried out by the Bureau of Labour Statistics in 2018, workplace injuries occur at a rate of 2.8 cases per 100 full-time workers.

While this number seems low, it can be a serious burden to be one of the 2.8 cases.

Employers have a duty of care to ensure that their places of employment are reasonably safe for those who will work there.

Thus, when you sustain injuries while doing your work, it is within your rights to expect some form of compensation for your injuries.

Defamation, when linked with libel or slander, is when a person suffers an injury to his or her reputation as a result of untrue negative or malicious statements.

In defamation suits, the victim has the burden of proof and this varies depending on who the victim is.

If the victim is an average person, he or she has to prove that the untrue statements caused some harm, which is usually a financial loss.

If the victim was a public figure, he or she will have to take things a step further by proving that the statements were not only untrue but were also made with malicious intent.

Dog owners are expected to ensure that their dogs are properly trained and won’t attack people without justification.

They are also expected to keep their dogs on leashes when in public, especially when they can’t guarantee the good behaviour of the dogs.

Thus, when a dog carries out an unprovoked attack on a bystander, the dog owner can be held liable for any injuries sustained from the attack.

Landlords and property owners owe a duty of care to everyone who visits their property. They must ensure that their property is kept in reasonably safe conditions.

Barring an inability to do so, they must ensure that visitors to the property are appropriately warned of potentially dangerous conditions present on the premises. Failure to do so opens them up to premises liability suits.

When a party’s negligence or recklessness results in the death of a person, the family of the deceased is entitled to seek compensation for the death of their loved one.

Steps to take in filing a personal injury claim

#1: Report the incident and the injuries sustained to relevant authorities

This will differ based on the type of injury.

In a car accident, the police should be notified and a Traffic Incident Number should be obtained. In the case of a workplace accident, the incident should be reported to the employer.

If the accident happened in a public place, you should locate any agency with local authority and report it.

#2: Get medical attention

Visit your doctor or at least, the closest emergency medical centre and get accurate documentation of your injuries.

The medical and diagnostic reports combined with the medical records given to you will help support your claim.

Aside from this, getting proper medical attention is vital to your well-being, as you possibly sustained injuries you were not immediately aware of. A thorough examination will help bring this to light.

#3: File a compensation claim

You should file a claim for compensation with the relevant authority, following due process.

If the injury was work-related, the claim should be filed in the format specified by your employer.

If it was a vehicular accident, you should file the claim with the relevant insurance company in the required format.

#4: Get expert legal help

Seek out a competent and experienced personal injury lawyer so that you can have an accurate understanding of your rights and entitlements, and a clear picture of what to expect from the process.

Getting compensation in a personal injury claim

When making a personal injury claim, you need to establish that the other party was at fault. This is important because showing fault is crucial to getting compensation for your injuries. Fault is usually established in the following manner:

Duty of care:

You need to prove that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care. In a vehicular accident, for example, this could be the other driver because every driver is obligated to use the road in a reasonably safe manner. It could also be the manufacturer of the vehicle you drive if the accident happened as a result of a defect in the vehicle. This is because the manufacturer owes you a duty of care to provide safe products.

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Breach of duty:

You need to prove that the duty of care was breached and show how it was breached. Continuing with the vehicular accident example, driving in an unsafe manner or manufacturing defective products will be considered a breach of duty of care.

Breach of duty caused the injury:

You need to show that the breach of care caused injuries to you and that you would not have been injured if the at-fault party did not breach their duty.

Who do you get compensation from?

It is not enough to know who to hold responsible in your personal injury claim. You need to also know who pays the compensation you are claiming. You can get compensation from any of the following parties:

The at-fault party’s insurer:

You can recover compensation from the at-fault party’s insurance company.
You should know, though, that recovering compensation from insurance companies is not easy.

This is because insurance companies are usually reluctant in paying compensation in liability claims. They will try to pay as little as possible or nothing if they can get away with it.

This is one of the ways you benefit from hiring an expert personal injury lawyer. He or she will ensure that you are not cheated by the insurance company.

Your own insurer:

If the at-fault party was not insured or their insurance coverage limits cannot cover your loss, you may need to turn to your own insurer. This can be the case in vehicular accidents.
You should know though that you can only make this type of claim if you are dealing with an uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.

The at-fault party:

You can also file a lawsuit for compensation against the at-fault party for the balance of your loss. If they do not have sufficient insurance, or for the whole loss, if they do not have insurance at all.

What kind of compensation can you recover?

There are several types of compensation you may recover after proving your personal injury claim.

While the compensation may not put you back the way you were before your injury, it will at least improve the quality of life you now have to live. You can recover compensation for the following:

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Cost of medical treatment, present and future

R

Emotional distress

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Pain and suffering

R

Punitive damages*

R

Lost wages

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Out of pocket expenses such as the repair of your vehicle

*This is especially the case in intentional torts and cases of extreme recklessness where the jury requires the at-fault party to pay an amount of money that goes beyond your injury. A punitive damage award carries out the dual function of punishing the defendant and serving as a deterrent to members of the public from engaging in the reckless or intentional act.

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Let an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer help you.

Pursuing personal injury cases can be overwhelming, especially when having to deal with your injuries and the strain on your finances.

When you get in touch with our expert Chicago personal injury lawyers, we will listen carefully to your story, investigate your accident and consult with the best experts possible to help you recover maximum compensation.

We have assisted people like you all over Chicago and Illinois in recovering effective compensation running into millions for their injuries. Being added to the Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Stars List is testament to our success in returning favourable results for our clients.

We understand how much you are having to deal with, so we will provide the support and legal expertise you need to make a full recovery.

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Practice Areas

Beyond focusing on nursing home abuse cases, our firm also focuses on other forms of personal injury such as:

Car Accident -

Truck Accidents -

Birth Injury -

Police Brutality -

Personal Injury -

Medical Malpractice -

Wrongful Convictions -

Call us immediately at: (312) 380.5341, if you or your loved one has suffered any injury as a result of a motor accident!

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Nenye E. Uche

President, Uche P.C.

A former prosecutor, Attorney Uche is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who provides high-powered representation to victims of personal injury at no cost unless he wins.