PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS WHEN YOU OR A LOVED ONE ARE INJURED
Car Accident Attorneys in Northbrook, IL
Car accident attorneys in Northbrook, IL. The physical, motional and financial damages you sustain because of being injured in a car accident can be staggering. You need a knowledgeable Northbrook, IL car accident lawyer to fight for you to to truly recover from every way that your injuries have affected you. Speak to Burger Law‘s car accident attorneys immediately at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online for a complimentary case evaluation.
If a careless driver hurt you in Northbrook, IL see what compensation you may be eligible for by completing 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 the only one. You might not be certain whether or not you should get medical treatment, how to file a claim and how to secure the sense of justice you deserve. First, get the immediate medical attention you require. Then call Burger Law.
The last thing on your mind after an accident should be worrying about how to battle an insurance company or understanding the personal injury claims process. Our law firm has a proven track record of defending our client’s recovery and holding negligent drivers and insurance companies accountable.
You deserve to have an outstanding team fight for your recovery during your car accident claim. Reach out to an attorney at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form now. Our auto accident law firm, does not take any fees until you have your settlement check or verdict in hand, and we insist on the best recovery possible. Do not settle for less than you deserve.
Northbrook, IL Car Accident Attorneys With a Proven Track Record of Victories
In any kind of tort case, results matter. You want to have full confidence in your lawyer’s abilities, and that they are going to fight hard to make sure you get 100 percent of the recovery and compensation you are owed. Any car accident lawyer can say they will fight for you, but not all of them can prove it. Below are several of our recent victories:
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. The following what you should do both right after a car wreckto make sure you recover both physically and financially:
Get to the side of the road if you can — If you are not too injured to move and your car is working, pull over to the side of the road. If your vehicle is not working, put on its emergency lights and wait to exit your vehicle until there is no oncoming traffic. Moving can make some injuries worse. Look to see if anyone else involved in the accident is hurt. Render aid if you can.
Call 911 or a police non-emergency line — If someone needs EMTs and/or an ambulance, always call 911. If not, call for police so they can interview you and the other driver and make their report. Police know how to ascertain blame in an accident and their report is invaluable when making a claim. If you do not know if you require emergency services or not, always call 911 and let the operator decide how to proceed.
Exchange information with other driver — After it is safe to do so, communicate with any other driver involved in the crash. Take a picture of their license and insurance information. If the other driver says it was their fault, ask some follow-up questions to try to get them to admit what happened. You do not need to feel like you are starting an argument, you are just trying to find out what happened.
Never admit liability — When talking to the other driver or the police, you can give a concise description of how things occurred as you saw them. But never admit fault. There may be details you do not know yet, and admitting fault will bring complications when you are trying to get a recovery.
Obtain evidence from the scene — Take pictures of both vehicles and the surrounding area, including any tire marks or property damage to nearby structures. If there are eyewitnesses, get their name and phone number so they can back up your version of events when you make a claim.
Get medical care — If you did not need an ambulance, get to urgent care quickly, or make an appointment with your general practitioner in the day or days after the accident. Medical treatment is not only necessary to ensure you recover physically, but you will need proof of an injury and your treatment to get compensation for your injuries.
Speak to Northbrook, IL car accident attorneys — If you were injured because of another driver, it is more likely than not that you will need to an attorney to fight for you to get the full recovery you are owed. Write down a list of questions beforehand, including how they take their attorneys’ fees, if they they have experience with similar types of accident, what they think the value of your injuries is and if they are ready to fight for you in a courtroom.
Do not skip out on medical treatment — Make sure you go to every appointment, whether that includes surgery, physical therapy or spinal adjustments with a chiropractor. This is important not only so you can reach maximum medical improvement, but can get the full extent of your damages once pain and suffering is taken into account. You discover how pain and suffering is calculated on our blog.
Burger Law has helped hundreds of injured parties in Northbrook and throughout Illinois navigate the confusing aftermath of a car accident claim. Get in touch with our car accident attorneys immediately at (314) 500-HURT if you have any doubts about what the next steps are after an accident.
What Kind of Hurdles Are There In Northbrook, IL Car Accident Claims?
In a perfect society, you would not have to fight to get the compensation you are owed. But far too often there are difficulties that come up and the other side refuses to be fair. Several of the problems our car accident attorneys see on a daily basis in Northbrook, IL include:
The negligent party has no coverage —Illinois has minimum insurance requirements for all motorists. But not everyone actually pays for it, and you may be left wondering where to turn. Our car accident attorneys now how to file uninsured motorist claims in the event that a negligent driver does not have insurance . However, filing a claim is not made easier because it is the insurance company you have been paying into – an attorney is usually still required to fight for your rights.
The insurance policy does not cover your full damages — Depending on the policyholder’s policy limits, they may not have enough to fully compensate you. If are owed more money than what’s on the at-fault driver’s coverage, 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 negligent party will not admit fault — Unfortunately, it is not surprising that some careless people refuse to take accountability for their wrongdoing. If the other driver is trying to pin your injuries on you or somebody else, we will gather evidence and take depositions of all parties – under oath – so their negligence is no longer in doubt.
The insurance company will not to be fair —Insurance adjusters utilize a lot of tricks to minimize claims, and most times an attorney is needed to get them to do the right thing. If they continue to lowball you after we send a settlement demand package, we will immediately bring a claim against them in court, proceed to discovery and start getting ready 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 offer you what we demanded; they know they have no chance if they make us go in front of a judge and jury. We have gotten a lot of great settlements right before a trial is set to begin.
Our car accident attorneys always try to get fair compensation quickly. However, if you have a more complicated case and the other side does not want to do the right thing, we we will fight for your rights at trial. We fight for our Northbrook, IL 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.
Car Accident Attorneys in Northbrook, IL — Resources to Help With Your Car Accident Claim
Our founder and principle has literally written the book on mistakes people make in auto accident claims, which you receive for free by filling out the form below, reference to have a better understanding of how to proceed. You can also check out our FAQs and legal glossary to better understand the claims process.
Causes and Types of Car Accidents in Northbrook, IL
No two car accidents are exactly alike, but they generally happen under similar circumstances. Common examples are:
Backup Accidents — According to the National Safety Council, 25% of accidents occur because of improper backing techniques, and those accidents are responsible for more than 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries every year, many of them to children in parking lots.If someone else backed into your vehicle, the insurance company will probably fight back against your claim, as the vast majority of rear to front accidents are the fault of the second driver. Experienced car accident attorneys will be able to demonstrate 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 will stand up for you and defend your rights.
Fatal Car Crashes — There is no nightmare once can face than having a family member taken away too soon. While it is impossible to bring back your loved one, a wrongful death claim can help provide a feeling of recognition, and ease the financial burden their loss placed on you.
Head-on Collisions — Head-on collisions are especially dangerous because both cars are usually moving at full speed, and the driver and front passenger are susceptible to debris and being flown from the car. They account for just two percent of all traffic accidents, but are responsible for 10 percent of all driving fatalities. Beyond fatalities, they can lead to horrible injuries.
Multi-Vehicle Accidents — Multi-vehicle accidents are often “chain reaction” accidents where multiple drivers are to blame. Because of that, each driver’s insurance will try to point the finger at the others. Burger Law’s Northbrook, IL car accident attorneys will ensure that every liable party is held accountable.
Road Construction Accidents — Construction companies are obligated to ensure their construction zones are safe for drivers, meaning there are sufficient warning zones and that dangerous locations are cordoned off. In addition to a negligent driver, we can sue a construction company if they failed in that duty and you ended up injured.
Burger Law’s Northbrook, IL car accident attorneys have seen claims involving any conditions and circumstances imaginable — and won them. We know how to gather the facts to substantiate your claim and prove how the other party is responsible for your injuries.
How Is Compensation Calculated in Northbrook, IL Car Accident Claims?
Financial recoveries in car accident claims typically compensate you for two types of damages: economic damages, including medical expenses and lost wages, and non-economic damages, commonly called pain and suffering An important aspect of any car accident attorney’s job is properly calculating every dollar someone is owed. We will demand justice in your case.
To determine the full extent of your damages, we first need to total the entirety of your economic damages. This includes:
Money lost from time spent off work recovering and lost earning potential
Any medical appointments, surgeries, proscriptions and/or evaluations
Assistive devices such as wheelchairs
Medical costs you might incur in the future, such as additional surgeries, replacement wheelchairs, or eventual replacement of artificial joints
Out-of-pocket expenses like a nanny if your injuries prevented you from caring for your children for a time
If you are likely to incur future economic damages, we consult with economic experts to value how much those will cost in the future, and include estimated inflation in our settlement demand letter.
After knowing the full extent of your economic damages, we will calculate how much you should be compensated for for your non-economic damages. Typically, your attorney will use the “multiplier method,” multiplying your economic damages by a factor between 1.5 and five.
For instance, if you have $30,000 in economic damages, and your injuries caused you have limited independence 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.
Most claims use a multiplier of three, and higher multipliers are usually only 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?
More serious injuries result in more compensation. Things that increase or decrease your compensation include:
The type and severity of your injuries
The extent of your medical care, and if you will need more treatment down the road
If your injuries resulted in scarring or mental or physical impairment
The amount of time spent off work
If you can no longer earn a living 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
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 paid-time off or by saying your injuries were your fault. We fight back against bullies so they know that will not work. In our more than 30 years of experience fighting back against people who do not want to do the right thing, and to date have recovered over $200 million for our clients.
How Much Time Do I Have to File a Car Accident Claim in Northbrook, IL?
Each state sets its own rules for how long to have a claim. Pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/13-202, Illinois’ is shorter than most other states at just two years. There are three notable exceptions:
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.
If you or your loved one was a minor when the accident occurred, you have two years from the date of their 18th birthday.
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 you were injured but before the statute of limitations elapsed, that time is not counted against you. In Illinois, “legal disability” means:
Someone who, either by mental or physical disability, 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 wait 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 Northbrook, IL Car Accident Attorneys Today
Burger Law’s car accident attorneys are committed devoted to getting each of our Northbrook, IL clients the best possible results in their claims. You did not want to be put in this situation, and you should not have to pay simply because someone else broke the rules. We will stand by your side throughout the duration of your claim. To start on your true road to recovery, speak to Burger Law‘s car accident attorneys immediately at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a complimentary case evaluation.
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!
Genevieve and Laura have assisted me in my personal injury claim and have made the process so much less stressful. They are extremely knowledgeable, professional, and attentive. Laura is always on top of everything and very sweet. I had no idea how to navigate this process and they have made me feel at ease and like they truly cared about the outcome.
Cara Barton
It has been a long 4 years, but it is finally over! Burger law did a great job handling my case. Grant Doty answered all my questions, promptly returned my phone calls, frequently kept me updated and insured me that he was fighting for me. Jennifer Zini also did a wonderful job, great customer service. It was pleasure getting to know the Burger Law team!
S. Alred
After a driver unexpectedly pulled out right in front of my motorcycle & I suffered injuries, the at-fault driver’s insurance company offered me a $10,000 settlement. I hired Burger Law & they won a $109,000 settlement. I was very happy with the outcome. They were easy to work with & fully explained each step of the process & kept me informed along the way.
At Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer, we are a team of personal injury attorneys who have earned many distinctions and peer-reviewed awards for our civil litigation and trial work in Missouri and Illinois. A few of the honors we have earned include the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Top 100 Trial Lawyer Award, a Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, Super Lawyers selection as one of the top attorneys in the field of personal injury and board certifications in Civil Litigation.
Personal injury lawyers who demand justice in Southern Illinois. The role of a personal injury lawyer in Southern Illinois should be more than just getting you a great settlement…