Car Accident Attorneys in Wheeling, IL

Car accident attorneys in Wheeling, IL. Injuries from car accidents create unexpected economic, emotional and physical burdens. You need an experienced Wheeling, IL car accident lawyer to fight for you to to truly recover from every way that your injuries have affected you. Call Burger Law‘s car accident attorneys today at (312) 500-HURT or contact us online for a complimentary consultation.

If a reckless driver injured you in Wheeling, IL 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, what the process for seeking compensation is and how to secure the sense of justice you deserve. Call the police, then get medical attention. Then call Burger Law.

The last thing on your mind after an accident should be worrying about court dates or understanding legal jargon. 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 a brave and dedicated team fight for your rights during your car accident claim. Reach out to an attorney at (312) 500-HURT or complete 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 never leave any money on the table for our clients. Never accept a settlement offer that is not what you truly are owed.

Wheeling, IL Car Accident Attorneys With a Proven Track Record of Victories

In any type of tort case, the outcome matters. You want to have full confidence in your lawyer’s abilities, and that they will not back down until you get the full compensation you deserve. Any personal injury lawyer can say they will fight for you, but not all of them can prove it. Click the links below to read about some of our recent victories:

• $2.5 Million for Father’s Fatal Car Accident
• $0 to $2 Million Settlement
• $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

Steps to Take After a Car Accident in Wheeling, IL

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 a crash, and in the days and weeks that follow:

• Get to the side of the road if you can — If you can move and your car is function, pull over to the side of the road. 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. Moving can make some injuries 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 EMTs and/or an ambulance, always call 911. Either way, call a non-emergency line and request for police to come so they can make a report. Police know how to ascertain negligence in a crash and a police 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 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 admits fault, ask some follow-up questions to see if they will offer up how they were negligent. You do not have to be confrontational, you are just asking for information.
• Never admit fault — In conversations with police, the other driver and an insurance company, you can give a brief description of how things occurred from your perspective. But never admit fault. There may be contributing factors you are not immediately aware of, and admitting fault will make it very hard to seek a recovery.
• Obtain whatever evidence you can — Take pictures of all the vehicles involved 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 version of events when you make a claim.
• Get medical care — 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 as soon as possible. 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.
• Consult with Wheeling, 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. Write down a list of questions beforehand, such as how they accept payment, 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.
• Continue medical treatment — Make sure you go to every appointment, whether that means surgery, physical rehabilitation or spinal adjustments with a chiropractor. You need to do this not only so you can achieve maximum medical improvement, but will lead to a greater recovery as your pain and suffering damages will be higher. You read about how pain and suffering is calculated on our blog.

Most people in Wheeling, 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 immediately at (312) 500-HURT if you have any questions about what the next steps are after an accident.

What Kind of Issues Arise In Wheeling, IL Car Accident Claims?

Ideally, the negligent driver’s insurance company would have enough coverage and the willingness to fairly compensate you for your injuries. But far too often there are difficulties that come up and the insurance adjuster refuses to fulfill their obligation to compensate you. Some of the issues our car accident attorneys see on a daily basis in Wheeling, IL are:

• The negligent party has no insurance — Illinois has minimum insurance requirements for all motorists. 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 in the event that a negligent driver does not have insurance . 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 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 your damages exceed the at-fault driver’s policy limits, we can file an underinsured motorist claim against your own insurance. We can also look for other insurance policies that may cover your accident.
• The negligent party will not admit doing anything wrong — Unfortunately, it is not surprising that some negligent people refuse to take accountability for their wrongdoing. If the other driver will not admit fault, we will gather evidence and take sworn depositions to demonstrate how the other driver caused your injuries.
• The insurance company is offering something far below a fair settlement — Insurance adjusters utilize a lot of tricks to avoid paying out claims, and you will need an attorney to fight back against them. If they still will not be fair after our settlement demand letter, we will immediately bring a claim against them in court, litigate the case and start getting ready to present your case to a jury. 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 will not get a favorable outcome if they make us go in front of a judge and jury. Many high settlements are offered on the eve of trial.

Our car accident attorneys always try to get fair compensation as soon as possible. However, if you have a more complicated case and the negligent driver and their insurance company do not want to pay you fairly, we we will fight for your rights at trial. We fight for our Wheeling, IL clients until there is nothing left to fight. There is not type of car accident claim we have not seen before.

Car Accident Attorneys in Wheeling, IL — Resources for The Injured

Our team has literally written the book on car accidents claims, which you can download below, reference to have a better understanding of how to proceed. You can also see our FAQs and legal glossary to better understand the claims process.

Causes and Types of Car Accidents in Wheeling, IL

No two car accidents are exactly alike, but they generally happen for similar reasons. Some examples are:

• Backup Accidents — According to the National Safety Council, 25% of crashes are due to improper backing techniques, and those collisions cause over 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries annually, many of them to pedestrians.If another vehicle backed into you or your car, the insurance company will likely dismiss your claim, as the trailing driver is almost always liable in rear to front accidents. Skilled car accident attorneys will be able to demonstrate the front 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, Uber and Lyft companies have more insurance coverage, when making a claim you will be going up against a large corporation instead of a single adjuster. A car accident lawyer can help level the playing field.
• Distracted Driving Accidents — Distracted driving is responsible for more than 3,000 traffic-related fatalities annually. Looking at a phone for 4.6 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 system controls
  • Combing, shaving or putting on makeup
  • Participating in an avid conversation
  • Daydreaming
• Drunk Driving Accidents — Drunk driving causes around a third of all traffic fatalities. Every injury caused by drunk driving is preventable. According to the legal principle of negligence per se, a drunk driver is liable for your injuries as a matter of law, but you will still need someone to fight for you to ensure all your damages are paid for.
• Fatal Car Crashes — There is nothing as tragic as having a family member taken away too soon. While no lawyer can bring back your loved one, a wrongful death claim can deliver a sense of recognition, and ease the financial burden their loss placed on you.
• Head-on Collisions — Head-on collisions are particularly dangerous because both cars are going fast, and the driver and front passenger are susceptible to debris and being flown from the car. They account for just two percent of all auto accidents, but account for 10 percent of all traffic-related deaths. In addition to fatalities, they can cause incredibly serious injuries.
• Intersection Accidents — According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations’s report on intersection-related crashes, one out of five motor vehicle accidents occur at intersections. Intersection accidents are often caused by drivers not paying attention and drunk driving and failure to yield.
• Multi-Vehicle Accidents — Multi-vehicle accidents are often “chain reaction” accidents where multiple drivers are at fault. Everyone’s insurance company will try to blame someone else. Burger Law’s Wheeling, IL car accident attorneys will prove how each negligent driver contributed to your injuries.
• Rear-End Accidents — These are the most common auto accidents, making up three out of 10 auto accidents. People often sustain whiplash and brain injuries like concussions.
• Road Construction Accidents — Construction companies are obligated to ensure their construction zones are safe for drivers, including having proper warnings and that 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 — Statewide in 2020, speeding was a factor in 31.9 percent of all crashes, almost half of fatal crashes and 37.3 percent of personal injury crashes. Speeding causes accidents because it increases the the probability that a driver will lose control of their car and reduces their reaction time.

Burger Law’s Wheeling, IL car accident attorneys have seen any type of auto claim you can think of — and gotten great results for our clients while working on them. We know how to investigate accident cases and prove liability on the part of the negligent driver.

How Much Compensation Will I Receive For My Wheeling, IL Car Accident Injuries?

Financial recoveries in car accident claims typically 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 every dollar someone is owed. We will demand justice in your case.

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 tests
• Assistive devices such as wheelchairs
• Medical costs you might incur in the future, such as additional procedures, replacement wheelchairs, or eventual replacement of artificial joints
• Out-of-pocket expenses like help with household chores while you were recovering

If you are likely to incur 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 letter.

After knowing the full extent of your economic damages, we will put a monetary value on the less tangible ways your life has been affected. 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 extreme discomfort for two weeks, your car accident attorney might decide your economic damages should be multiplied by three. Therefore:

$30,000 X 3 = $90,000

Your final compensation would be calculated as $120,000.

Three is the most common multiplier used, and higher multipliers are usually only for catastrophic or long-lasting injuries.

What Kind of Things Affect 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 in the future
• If your injuries resulted in disfigurement or disability
• 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 will not let them get away with that. In our more than 30 years of experience standing up to 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 Wheeling, IL?

Each state sets its own rules for how long to have a claim. Pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/13-202, Illinois’ is relatively short at just two years. There are three noteworthy exceptions:

1. For wrongful death claims you have two years from when your family member passed – not not from, when the crash occurred.
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 you were injured but before the statute of limitations ran out, 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 is not as long as it sounds. Do not wait to call a car accident attorney right away after your accident. 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 go over the specifics of your case.

Other claims we get great results for in Wheeling, IL include:

• Truck Crash Lawyers in Illinois
• Wrongful Death Lawyers in Illinois
• Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer in Illinois
• Car Accident Attorney in Illinois

Call Burger Law

Speak to Our Wheeling, IL Car Accident Attorneys Today

Burger Law’s car accident attorneys are committed devoted to getting justice for our Wheeling, IL clients. You did not want to be put in this situation, 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 case evaluation.

• 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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