Car Accident Attorneys in Chicago, Illinois

The physical, mental and financial damages that result from being injured in a car accident can be staggering. You need an experienced motor accident attorney on your side to secure you the fair compensation you deserve. Speak to Burger Law‘s car accident attorneys today at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a free consultation.

If you were injured in a car accident in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois, see how much your claim may be worth by using our free personal injury calculator.

You have been injured in a car accident and now you are wondering what to do. If you are not sure, you are not alone. You may be unsure whether or not you should get medical treatment, how to file a claim and if there is anything else you can do to make sure that justice is served in this situation. First, get the immediate medical attention you require. Then call Burger Law.

When you have been injured in a car accident, you should be focused on recovering from your injuries and getting your life back to the way it was before the accident. You should not have to argue over your financial recovery after a car accident. Your recovery should be guaranteed and taken care of, but unfortunately, this is not always the case. If the responsible party has no intention of doing right by you, you need someone who knows the laws to fight on your behalf. The Illinois car accident attorneys of Burger Law know how important your claim is to you and are dedicated to getting you the compensation you are owed.

You deserve to have an exceptional team fight for your rights during your car accident claim. Speak to an attorney at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form now. Our auto accident law firm does not charge you until we successfully win your claim, and we always fight to ensure our clients get 100 percent of the recovery they need. Do not settle for less than you deserve.

Illinois Car Accident Attorneys That Get Results

With any type of legal claim, results matter. You want to know that you are giving your case to the best possible lawyer, and that they are going to fight hard to make sure you get 100 percent of the recovery and compensation you deserve. A car accident lawyer saying they are the best is one thing; a lawyer with client testimonials and results that can prove it is another. Below are several of our recent victories:

• $2.5 Million for Father’s Fatal Car Accident
• $2 Million for Traumatic Brain Injury
• $2 Million for Multi-Car Accident Caused by Debris
• $7650,000 After Fatal Collision
• $327,500 For On-Ramp Car Accident
• From $11,000 Offer to $250,000 Policy Limits Settlement
• $222,000 Car Crash Settlement
• $150,000 Phantom Motorist Settlement
• $150,000 Policy Limits Settlement For Minor
• $125,000 Combined Policy Limits Settlement
• $3,900 Offer to $100,000 Settlement
• From Complete Denial to $100,000 Policy Limits Settlement

What To Do After a Car Accident in Illinois

Car Accidents are traumatic events. Knowing what to do when one happens can absolutely make the difference in your case, however, it can be hard to make the right choices when you are still in shock from the accident. Below are the steps you should take both immediately after an accident, and in the days and weeks that follow:

• Get to safety if you can — If you can move and your car can drive, pull over to the side of the road to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. If your car will not drive, put on its emergency lights and wait until its safe for you to walk to the side of the road. If you are seriously injured and cannot move, wait for emergency personnel to arrive, as trying to move can make your injury worse. Assess whether anyone else in the vehicle is injured, and how seriously. Render aid if you are able and know how to.
• Call 911 for emergency medical assistance, or a non-emergency line for police — If someone needs emergency medical care, always call 911 and report the accident. Either way, call for police so they can interview you and the other driver and make their report. Police are trained to determine liability in an accident and their report is invaluable when making a claim. If you are not sure whether you should call 911 or a non-emergency line, always call 911 and let the operator decide if your accident is an emergency.
• Talk to the other driver — Once you can do so safely, exit your vehicle and get the other driver’s information. Take a picture of their license and insurance information. If the other driver says it was their fault or apologizes, ask a few more questions to try to get them to admit what happened. You do not have to be confrontational, you are just asking for information.
• Never admit fault — When talking to the other driver or the police, you can give a short, clear description of how things occurred from your perspective. But never say it was your fault. There may be details you do not know yet, and admitting fault will make it very hard to get a recovery.
• Collect evidence from the scene — Take pictures of both vehicles and the surrounding area, including any skid marks or any other property damage the accident caused. If there are eyewitnesses, get their contact information so they can corroborate your story down the road.
• Get medical attention — If you did not need an ambulance, go to an emergency room immediately after an accident or later that day, or see your primary care physician in the day or days after the accident. Medical treatment is not only necessary to ensure you recover physically, but you need documentation in order to make an injury claim.
• Consult with Illinois car accident attorneys — If you were injured in an auto accident, chances are you will need to an attorney to fight for you to get the full recovery you are owed. Ask them a series of questions, including what their fee structure is, if they have won your type of case before, how much they think your claim is worth and if they are willing to go to trial if they have to. Ask them what facts about the accident help your claim, and which ones may hurt it.
• Continue medical treatment — Get the full medical treatment you need to recovery, whether that includes surgery, physical therapy or chiropractic appointments. This is important not only so you can reach maximum medical improvement, but will lead to a greater recovery as your pain and suffering damages will be higher. You can learn more about how pain and suffering is calculated here.

Burger Law has helped hundreds of injured parties throughout Illinois navigate the confusing aftermath of a car accident claim. Speak to our car accident attorneys today at (314) 500-HURT if you have any questions about how to proceed with your claim.

What Kind of Issues Come Up In Illinois Car Accident Claims?

Ideally, the negligent driver’s insurance company would have enough insurance and the willingness to fairly compensate you for your injuries. But far too often complications arise and the other side does not want to do the right thing. Some of the issues our car accident attorneys see the most in Illinois are:

• The other driver has no insurance — Illinois requires drivers to have at least minimum liability insurance coverage. But some drivers do not follow the rules, and you may be left wondering how you are going to get compensation for your injuries. Our car accident attorneys have filed hundreds of uninsured motorist claims for our clients against their own insurance companies. However, just because it is your own insurance does not mean they will readily agree to pay you – you still need a lawyer to fight for your rights.
• The other driver does not have enough insurance — Each insurance policy has policy limits, which determine the maximum amount of coverage available after an accident. If your damages exceed the at-fault driver’s policy limits, we can file an underinsured motorist claim on your own policy. We can also look for other insurance policies that may cover your accident.
• The other driver will not admit fault — There are some reckless people out there who do not want to take responsibility for their actions. If the other driver will not admit fault or is trying to blame you for the accident, we will gather evidence and take depositions of all parties – under oath – to demonstrate how the other driver caused your injuries.
• The insurance company is trying to lowball you — Insurance adjusters use a lot of tricks to devalue claims, and most times an attorney is needed to get them to be fair. If they continue to lowball you after we send a settlement demand package, we will immediately file a lawsuit, litigate the case and prepare for trial. Often, simply the presence of tough and experienced trial car accident attorneys like those at Burger Law is enough to get the insurance company to make an offer that is truly fair; they know they will lose if we go to court. We have gotten a lot of great settlements on the eve of trial.

Our car accident attorneys always try to settle a case quickly. However, if there are issues at play and the other side does not want to pay you fairly, we are prepared to take them all the way through trial. We fight for our Illinois clients until there is nothing left to fight. We have dealt with all of these issues and more hundreds of times and have won countless Illinois car accident cases in jury trials. We know how to apply the law to injury claims and get our clients the recoveries they truly deserve.

Car Accident Attorneys in Chicago, Illinois — Resources to Help With Your Car Accident Claim

Our team has literally written the book on car accidents claims, which you can download below, reference and read through to understand your case better. You can also see our FAQs and legal glossary to better understand the claims process.

Most Common Types of Car Accidents in Illinois

Each car accident is unique, and they can happen for any reason, at any time or place. However, most causes and types of accidents can be broken down into a number of distinct categories. Those include:

• Backup Accidents — According to the National Safety Council, one out of four collisions can be blamed on poor backing techniques, and those crashes cause more than 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries every year, many of them to pedestrians, especially children in parking lots.If another vehicle backed into your vehicle, the insurance company will likely fight back against your claim, as the vast majority of rear to front accidents are the fault of the rear driver. Experienced car accident attorneys can find the evidence needed to prove the other driver’s negligence.
• Carpool and Rideshare Accidents — In general, accidents involving drivers from companies like Uber or Lyft are not substantially different from most auto accidents. However, while policy limits tend to be higher, when making a claim you will be going up against a large insurance company instead of just an adjuster. A car accident lawyer can help level the playing field.
• Distracted Driving Accidents — Distracted driving causes over 3,000 deaths per year. Looking at a phone for just under five seconds at highway speeds takes a driver’s eyes of the road for the equivalent of the entire length of a football field. Common distractions include:
  • Texting and driving
  • Eating and/or drinking
  • Looking for items in the car
  • Adjusting a radio, AC or navigation system
  • Grooming
  • Participating in an avid conversation
  • Daydreaming
• Drunk Driving Accidents — Drunk driving causes about a third of all traffic fatalities, killing about 32 people a day, or one person every 45 minutes. Every injury caused by drunk driving is preventable. Because of negligence per se, a drunk driver is automatically assumed liable for your injuries, but you will still need someone to fight for you to ensure all your damages are paid for.
• Fatal Car Crashes — There is no nightmare once can face than having a loved one taken away too soon. While no lawyer can bring back your loved one, a wrongful death claim can bring a sense of justice, and ease the financial burden their loss placed on you.
• Head-on Collisions — Head-on collisions are especially dangerous because both vehicles are usually moving at full speed, and the driver and front passenger are exposed to flying glass and debris. They make up just two percent of all car accidents, but account for 10 percent of all driving fatalities. Beyond fatalities, they can lead to incredibly serious injuries.
• Intersection Accidents — According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations’s report on intersection-related crashes, 40 percent of all motor vehicle accidents occur at intersections. Intersection accidents are often caused by distracted driving and drunk driving, failure to yield, and illegal or unsafe U-turns.
• Multi-Vehicle Accidents — Multi-vehicle accidents are often “chain reaction” accidents where more than one driver is at fault. Because of that, each driver’s insurance will try to point the finger at the others. Burger Law’s Illinois car accident attorneys will ensure that every liable party is held accountable.
• Rear-End Accidents — These are the most common auto accidents, making up about 29 percent of all auto accidents. Common injuries include whiplash and traumatic brain injuries.
• Road Construction Accidents — Construction companies are obligated to ensure their construction sites are safe for drivers, meaning there are proper warnings and dangerous locations are cordoned off. In addition to another driver, we can sue a construction company if they failed in that duty and you ended up injured.
• Speeding Accidents — In Illinois in 2020, speeding contributed to 31.9 percent of all crashes, 44.9 percent of fatal crashes and 37.3 percent of personal injury crashes. Speeding is dangerous because it increases the likelihood of a driver losing control of their vehicle, reduces their reaction time and dramatically reduces stopping distance.

Burger Law’s Illinois car accident attorneys have seen claims involving any conditions and circumstances imaginable — and won them. We know how to investigate them and prove liability on the part of the negligent driver.

How Is Compensation Calculated in Illinois Car Accident Claims?

Financial recoveries in car accident claims generally compensate you for two things: economic damages, such as your cost of treatment and lost wages, and non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and mental anguish. An important aspect of any car accident attorney’s job is properly calculating the full extent of someone’s damages. We will make sure the other side understands just how much their negligence has affected you, and demand they compensate you for all of it.

To calculate your damages, we will first add together all of your economic damages. This includes:

• Lost wages and lost earning potential
• Any medical appointments, surgeries, medications and/or testing
• Assistive devices such as wheelchairs
• Future medical expenses, such as additional surgeries, replacement wheelchairs, or eventual replacement of artificial joints
• Out-of-pocket expenses like help with household chores while you were recovering

In the event of future economic damages, we work with economic experts to value how much those will cost in the future, and adjust our settlement demand to incorporate expected inflation.

After we have calculated economic damages, we will put a monetary value on the less tangible ways your life has been affected. Usually, that is done by multiplying your economic damages by a number between 1.5 and five.

For example, say you have $30,000 in economic damages, and your injuries caused you to be in pain for two weeks. Your car accident attorney might demand a multiplier of three. Therefore:

$30,000 X 3 = $90,000

Your total damages would then be $120,000.

Three is the most common multiplier used, and multipliers of four and five are usually reserved for more serious injuries that greatly affect someone’s physical comfort, state of mind and their independence.

What Kind of Things Affect How Much My Claim Is Worth?

What Kind of Things Affect How Much My Claim Is Worth?

The more your injuries affect your life both financially and personally, the more your financial recovery will be. Factors that help determine what your claim is worth include:

• The type and severity of your injuries
• The extent of your medical care, if you will need more treatment in the future
• If your injuries resulted in scarring or disability
• The amount of time spent off work
• If you can no longer work as you used to and have lost earning capacity damages
• If your injuries affected your quality of life and independence
• If you contributed to the accident in any way
• The at-fault party’s policy limits

Often, insurance adjusters try to devalue claims by saying they only have to six weeks of treatment, you waited too long to get treatment, they do not need to pay wage loss damages if you had sick leave available or by saying your injuries were your fault. We will not let them get away with that. In over 30 years of experience fighting back against insurance adjusters, and to date have recovered over $200 million for our clients.

How Long Do I Have to File a Car Accident Claim in Illinois?

Each state has its own statute of limitations for injury claims. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, Illinois’ is relatively short at just two years. There are three notable exceptions:

1. If you are making a wrongful death claim for the loss of a loved one, you have two years from the date of that loved one’s death – not the date of the accident.
2. If you or your loved one was a minor when the accident occurred, you have two years from the date of their 18th birthday.
3. If you or your loved one was under a “legal disability” at the time of the accident, you have two years from the date the disability was removed. If you came under a legal disability after than accident but within the two-year time limit, that time does not count against the statute of limitations. In Illinois, “legal disability” means:
   • Someone who, either by mental or physical impairment, is not able to manage their person or estate
   • A person with a mental illness or developmental disability that keeps them from managing their person or estate
   • Someone who, because of “gambling, idleness, debauchery or excessive use of alcohol or drugs,” cannot manage their estate to the extent that it causes them or their family to “want or suffer”

Two years may sound like a long time, but the clock starts ticking the second your accident happens. Do not hesitate to call a car accident attorney immediately. If you are wondering if any of the exceptions apply to you, speak to an attorney at Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT to go over the specifics of your case.

Speak to Our Chicago and Illinois Car Accident Attorneys Today

Burger Laws car accident attorneys are dedicated to getting each of our Illinois clients the best possible results in their claims. You did not ask to be injured, and you should not have to pay for another person’s mistakes. We will stand by your side throughout the duration of your claim and fight back against bullies like resistant insurance companies. To start on your true road to recovery, call our Illinois car accident attorneys today at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.

• Pedestrian Accidents
• Bicycle Accidents
• Hit and Run
• Drunk Driving
• Distracted Driving
• Texting and Driving
• Speeding Accidents
• Fatal Car Crash
• Head-On Collisions
• Rear-Ended
• Multi-Vehicle Accidents
• Intersection Accidents
• Road Construction Accidents
• Carpool Accidents
• Backup Accident
• Whiplash Injury
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Brain Injuries
• Underinsured Motorist Claims
• Uninsured Motorist Claims
• Phantom Motorist Claims

Client Reviews

What our clients are saying about us

Juanita Matthews

Year of 2023

This law firm is absolutely amazing. They took on my case, when nobody else would! They fought hard for me when it seemed there was no hope. They kept me informed and always asked for my input before making decisions on my case. Gary puts himself into every case unlike most law firm owners. Gary and his team really care about every one of their clients, and fights hard to get you a fair settlement. They actually won my case out of court, and then reduced my fees to make sure I could get my car fixed and be able to get back to some normality. I would recommend Burger Law over and above any other firm! If you go somewhere else you aren’t getting the best!

Shaunda S.

7 months ago

I am very happy with the staff at Burger Law. I mostly worked with Michael Sheldon, and he did an amazing job. I trusted him completely with my case, and he did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this team if your ever in need of good attorneys.

Emelia M.

3 months ago

Burger Law Firm is fantastic. Laura and Genevieve were so amazing and helpful throughout the entire process. They helped me with my personal injury case every step of the way and succeeded at getting me the results I desired.

Helen L.

a year ago

We had a great experience with Burger Law for representing us after a serious car accident. Truly impressed by how professional and supportive the entire team is. And, many thanks to Genavieve and Laura – you are amazing!

Judy M.

a year ago

They did an amazing job on my case! Communication with them was great!!! Kept me informed and in the loop with everything that was going on!!! Will definitely be the 1st ones I’ll call if ever I’m in another accident!!! Thank you very much!!!

Chelsea C.

5 months ago

Let me tell you something about Burger Law.. they are so attentive and kind. Jennifer is my savior!! I love the whole team!!! They are truly a miracle team!! I appreciate their business and would recommend it to others.

David D.

2 months ago

Absolutely the best law firm in the St. Louis area. No matter the size of your case you are treated as if you are the only client on the roster. Will explain anything thoroughly and they work around your availability. Very impressed and appreciative of the service.

Lisa B.

11 months ago

Gary and Casey took great care of me for 2.5 years as my lawsuit was finally settled. I feel he helped me achieve justice for me and my 4 children after their father died from medical malpractice and neglect. Thanks to Gary, my kids now have a great start to their college and adult lives. Thank you Gary and Casey, for fighting for us so hard at our most trying and difficult time in our lives thus far. Love and God bless from my family to yours!

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