PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS WHEN YOU A LOVED ONE ARE INJURED
Car Accident Attorneys in Westmont, IL
Car accident attorneys in Westmont, IL. Injuries from car accidents create immediate financial, emotional and physical hardships. You need an aggressive Westmont, IL car accident lawyer that you can trust to secure you the fair financial recovery you deserve. Call Burger Law‘s car accident attorneys now at (312) 500-HURT or complete our online form for a complimentary case review.
If a negligent driver hurt you in Westmont, IL see what compensation you may be eligible for by using our free personal injury calculator.
It is difficult to know what to do after somebody crashes into you. You might be unsure what the best treatment options are for you, how to file a claim and if there is anything else you can do to make sure that you get justice for your injuries. Call the police, then get medical attention. 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.
We know it seems like no one will treat you fairly. Speak to a lawyer at (312) 500-HURT or fill out our online form now. Our auto accident law firm, does not charge you until you have your settlement check or verdict in hand, and we never accept anything but full compensation. Never agree to a settlement offer that is not what you truly are owed.
Westmont, IL Car Accident Attorneys With a Proven Track Record of Victories
In any type of legal case, the outcome matters. You want to have trust in your lawyer’s abilities, and that they will not back down until you get 100 percent of the recovery and compensation you deserve. Any personal injury 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. It is imperative to take the right steps after an accident, however, a lot of people have never had to go through the injury claims process before. The following what you should do both immediately following an accidentto make sure you recover both physically and financially:
Get to the side of the road if you can — The golden rule is, if you and your car can both move, pull over to the side of the road. If not, stay where you are. 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 hurt. Render aid if you can.
Call 911 for emergency medical assistance, or a non-emergency line for police — If someone needs emergency medical care, always call 911. Either way, call for police so they can interview you and the other driver and make their report. Police are trained to ascertain liability in a crash and their report is an essential piece of evidence. If you are not sure whether you should call 911 or a non-emergency line, always call 911 and let the operator decide how to proceed.
Talk to the other driver — After it is safe to do so, communicate with the other driver. Take a picture of their license and insurance information. If the other driver apologizes, 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 asking for information.
DO NOT admit fault — In conversations with police, the other driver and an insurance company, you can offer a short, clear description of how things occurred from your point of view. But never admit fault. There may be contributing factors you do not know yet, and admitting fault will bring complications when you are trying to seek a recovery.
Gather whatever evidence you can — Take pictures of both vehicles and the surrounding area, including any tire marks or property damage to nearby structures. If any bystanders saw the crash, get their contact information so they can back up your story down the road.
Seek out medical treatment — If you were not treated at the scene or taken to an emergency room by ambulance, get to urgent care quickly, 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 Westmont, IL car accident attorneys — If you were injured because someone else broke the rules of the road, 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, for example how they accept payment, if they they have experience with similar types of accident, what they think the value of your injuries is and if they are willing to go to trial if they have to.
Continue medical treatment — Make sure you go to every appointment, whether that means surgery, physical therapy or spinal adjustments with a chiropractor. You need to do this not only so you can achieve 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.
Most people in Westmont, IL have never had to deal with a auto accident claim before, and we help guide them through the entire process. Speak to our car accident attorneys today at (312) 500-HURT if you have any questions about what the next steps are after an accident.
What Kind of Complications Come Up In Westmont, IL Car Accident Claims?
Ideally, you would not have to fight to get the compensation you deserve. But far too often complications arise and the other side does not want to do the right thing. Some of the complications our car accident attorneys see most frequently in Westmont, IL include:
The other party was uninsured —Illinois has minimum insurance requirements for all drivers. But some people are irresponsible and do not pay for it, 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, 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 secure a full recovery.
The insurance policy does not cover your full damages — Each insurance policy has policy limits, which determine the maximum amount of coverage available after an accident. If are owed more money than what’s on 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 party denies doing anything wrong — Unfortunately, it is not surprising that some negligent people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. If the other driver 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 you will need an attorney to fight back against them. If they continue to lowball you after we send a settlement demand letter, we will not hesitate file a lawsuit, litigate the case 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 make an offer that is truly fair; they know they have no chance if we go to court. Many high settlements are offered right before a trial is set to begin.
Our car accident attorneys know that you want to be compensated quickly. However, if you have a more complicated case and the other side does not want to pay you fairly, we are prepared to take them all the way through trial. We do not stop fighting for our Westmont, IL clients until they are compensated. There is not type of car accident claim we have not seen before.
Car Accident Attorneys in Westmont, IL — Resources to Help With Your Car Accident Claim
Our team has literally written the book on car accidents claims, which you receive for free by filling out the form below, read through to understand your case better. You can also see our FAQs and legal glossary for more information.
Causes and Types of Car Accidents in Westmont, IL
No two car accidents are exactly alike, but they generally happen under similar circumstances. Those include:
Backup Accidents — Based on data from the National Safety Council, 25% of collisions are due to poor backing techniques, and those crashes are responsible for more than 500 fatalities and 15,000 injuries every year, many of them to pedestrians.If someone else backed into you or your car, the insurance adjuster will likely assume that you are at fault, 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 how the other driver caused the accident.
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 corporation instead of just an adjuster. A car accident lawyer will stand up for you and defend your rights.
Fatal Car Crashes — There is nothing as tragic as having someone you love taken away too soon. While nothing can truly compensate you for your loss, a wrongful death claim can help provide a feeling of justice, and cover the finances related to their funeral and the loss of a provider.
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 account for just two percent of all car accidents, but are responsible for 10 percent of all traffic-related deaths. In addition to fatalities, they can cause horrible injuries.
Intersection Accidents — According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations’s report on intersection-related crashes, four out of 10 motor vehicle accidents occur at intersections. Intersection accidents are often caused by drivers not paying attention and drunk driving and unsafe U-turns.
Multi-Vehicle Accidents — Sometimes there are “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 Westmont, IL car accident attorneys will ensure that every liable party is held accountable.
Road Construction Accidents — Construction companies have a responsibility to make sure their construction sites are safe for drivers, including having sufficient warnings and that dangerous locations are cordoned off. In addition to a negligent driver, we can sue a construction company if they were negligent and their negligence injured you.
Burger Law’s Westmont, IL car accident attorneys have seen claims involving any conditions and circumstances imaginable — and gotten great results for our clients while working on them. We know how to investigate accident cases and prove how the other party injured you.
How Is Compensation Calculated in Westmont, IL Car Accident Claims?
Financial recoveries in car accident claims typically compensate you for two things: economic damages, including medical expenses and lost wages, and non-economic damages, also referred to pain and suffering An important aspect of any car accident attorney’s job is properly calculating every dollar someone is owed. 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 first need to total the entirety of your economic damages. This includes:
Lost wages and lost earning potential
Any medical appointments, surgeries, medications and/or evaluations
Assistive devices such as wheelchairs
Future medical expenses, such as additional procedures, replacement wheelchairs, or eventual replacement of artificial joints
If you are likely to have future economic damages, we work with economic experts to value how much those will cost in the future, and include estimated inflation in our settlement demand package.
After we have calculated economic damages, we will put a monetary value on the less tangible ways your life has been affected. Most often, your attorney will use the “multiplier method,” multiplying your economic damages by a factor between 1.5 and five.
For instance, say you have $30,000 in economic damages, and your injuries caused you have limited independence for several weeks, your car accident attorney might decide your economic damages should be multiplied by three. So:
$30,000 X 3 = $90,000
Your final compensation would then be $120,000.
Most claims use a multiplier of three, 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 Factors Go Into How Much My Claim Is Worth?
The more your injuries affect your life financially, emotionally and physically, the more your financial recovery will be. Things that increase or decrease your compensation include:
The extent of your injuries
How much medical treatment you needed, and if you will have more medical expenses down the road
If your injuries resulted in scarring or disability
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 blaming your injuries on you. We will not let them get away with that. In over 30 years of experience standing up to people who do not want to do the right thing, and to date have secured over $200 million for our clients.
What Is the Statute Of Limitations For Car Accident Claims in Westmont, IL?
Each state sets its own rules for how long to have a claim. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, Illinois’ is shorter than most other states at just two years. There are three important exceptions:
For wrongful death claims 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 until their 20th 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 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 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 is not as long as it sounds. 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 (312) 500-HURT to discuss the specifics of your case.
Speak to Our Westmont, IL Car Accident Attorneys Today
Burger Law’s car accident attorneys are committed devoted to getting each of our Westmont, IL clients the best possible results in their claims. You did not want to be injured, and you should not have to pay simply because someone else was negligent. We will fight back against bullies like resistant insurance companies. To start on your true road to recovery, call Burger Law‘s car accident attorneys now at (312) 500-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.
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!
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…
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Gary Burger who has more than 30 years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury trial attorney. Gary’s robust legal knowledge is recognized by his peers as demonstrated by his industry awards and frequent Continuing Legal Education (CLE) lectures.
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