Falls, poisoning and motor vehicle accidents consistently make up three of the top leading causes of preventable injuries and preventable injury deaths in the United States. These three types of injuries rank in the top ten causes of nonfatal emergency room visits in the United States for every age group, with falls coming in as the number one cause of non-fatal ER visits in every age group — from infants under the age of one to adults over the age of 65. Other common causes of preventable injuries and deaths include drowning, bites, being struck by something and assault. While not every single injury or visit to the emergency room qualifies for an Illinois personal injury claim, these preventable injury causes do reflect some of the most common types of personal injury claims made in Illinois and throughout the United States.

What Types of Cases Do Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers Take?

Personal injury cases arise from preventable injuries, which adds a layer of indignation or frustration for many. You would not be in this situation today had it not been for another person's carelessness or willfully harmful behavior. To get the closure and compensation you deserve, you need a competent and reputable personal injury lawyer in Chicago to represent your interests. As Chicago personal injury lawyers, we are here to lend our knowledge and talents toward getting you a great recovery and making you whole after being injured by someone else.

In our nearly thirty years as a leading personal injury law firm in Chicago, Burger Law has seen and heard legitimate personal injury claims of all kinds. Through our tenacity and expertise, the Chicago personal injury lawyers of Burger Law have successfully represented families and individuals in Chicago and throughout Illinois in personal injury claims and lawsuits caused by all manners of preventable accidents including auto accidents, construction accidents, dog bites, medical errors, defective products and more. Some of the most common types of personal injury cases we have taken in Chicago include:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents - traffic accidents involving one more more motorized vehicles

  This category of personal injury cases includes many different types of accidents and can involve cars, trucks, busses, motorcycles, pedestrians, bicycles and other modes of transportation.

• Construction Accidents - construction site accidents to workers or civilians

  Construction accidents are often dangerous incidents that can affect both workers and civilians near construction sites. Some of the most common types of injuries and fatalities on construction sites are falls, falling objects, being crushed or stuck between two objects and equipment failures.

• Falls - slip and fall and other fall-related injuries due to dangerous property conditions

  Slip and fall and other falling accidents can happen in any setting. When you are hurt because the owner or person in charge of a property failed to fix or provide warning of a dangerous condition and that hazard injures you, you have a premises liability personal injury claim in Illinois.

• Dog bites - when a pet or stray animal attacks by biting

  Dogs can bite when they feel scared, threatened or in pain. Dog bites can cause all kinds of injuries, and come with a high risk of complication due to infection. If you were bitten by a dog that you did not provoke, you may have a Chicago dog bite injury case.

• Medical errors - when a doctor, nurse or surgeon makes a mistake that costs you your well-being

  When you receive medical care from a professional, they must adhere to a certain standard of care. When your doctor, nurse, surgeon or other medical provider makes a mistake or careless error that causes you further injury or illness that could have been prevented, your Chicago personal injury is considered a case of medical malpractice.

• Defective products - manufacturer goods that are dangerous to consumers

  The Consumer Product Safety Commission is the U.S. agency responsible for regulating manufacturers of consumer products and recalling them when they are found to be unsafe. If you were injured because a product malfunctioned, you can make a recovery for your personal injury in a Chicago product liability case.

Burger Law's Chicago personal injury lawyers have 70 years of combined experience fighting for the rights of Chicago citizens and demanding compensation when they have been harmed. Your Burger Law personal injury lawyer in Chicago is committed to holding the negligent accountable and getting you maximum compensation for your damages. Whether it is a drunk driver traveling in the wrong lane or an aggressive dog that was let off of its leash, our Chicago injury lawyers will make it right and help you move beyond this accident and live the life you want.

How Much is My Chicago, Illinois Personal Injury Case Worth?

There is a reason you probably cannot get a straight answer to your question "how much is my Chicago personal injury claim worth?" It is difficult to put an objective number on such subjective experiences like pain and suffering — the stress, pain and other obstacles your injury has injected into your life. Also, your settlement amount depends on a long list of factors. How much you can get in your Chicago personal injury settlement depends on:

• the extent and severity of your injuries

  Though there is no real way to equate your suffering and injuries to a dollar amount, there are common practices used in Illinois personal injury cases to calculate a fair value for your claim. In Chicago and Illinois personal injury suits and settlements, we often use a multiplier method or per diem method. These are two commonly used formulas to value your non-economic damages by either multiplying your medical expenses by a certain number depending on how serious your injuries are or assigning a dollar amount per day and multiplying that by the number of days it takes you to recover physically. Learn more about how we calculate pain and suffering in Chicago personal injury cases.

• whether you carry any fault for the accident

  Each state has its own policies regarding negligence and fault in personal injury cases. Illinois has a modified comparative negligence policy. Comparative negligence refers to the fact that the insurance company of the at-fault party is responsible for the victim's damages rather than the injured person's own insurance policy. In many cases, though, it is not as clear cut as saying that Person A is 100% at fault and Person B is 0% at fault. In Chicago personal injury claims due to Illinois' modified comparative negligence rule, you can recover compensation from the at-fault party even if you share some — up to 50 percent — fault in the accident. Anyone with more than 50% of the blame for an accident will not be allowed to recover compensation from other parties, but someone with 20% of the fault, for example, would receive compensation for 80% of their damages (subtracting the degree to which they were at fault).

• your past and future medical needs

  A large part of your personal injury settlement is decided by your expenses like your medical bills and other necessary treatment costs. Rely on your Chicago personal injury lawyer to help you understand and convey not only the medical bills you have already acrued, but your need for future and ongoing medical care or treatment. Your lawyer will bring in medical experts to prove, to the Illinois standard of reasonable certainty that you will need additional medical care. You may need medication, surgery, physical therapy, a brace or something else in order to help you get back to your life as completely as is medically possible.

• the defendant's insurance policy

  Each state has its own laws regarding the minimum amount of insurance coverage a person must carry. For example, in Illinois auto insurance, a driver must carry insurance that pays at least $25,000 per person injured and $50,000 total per accident. Insurance policies have maximum amounts they will pay, known as policy limits. Your Illinois insurance policy cannot be capped at an amount less than $25,000 per person injured in an accident or a total of $50,000 for people injured in an accident. Sometimes the policy limit will not cover the extent of your personal injury damages. Learn more about how policy limits affect your case and the ins and outs of liens work under Illinois law.

Above all else, the settlement you get depends on the ability of your Chicago personal injury lawyer. You need a personal injury lawyer in Chicago who has the resources and experience to properly value your claim based on accepted practices and the skill and tenacity to demand full payment from the defendant's insurance company. Burger Law's team of Chicago personal injury lawyers get our clients the full available compensation. Consult an experienced attorney about your Chicago injury claim today at (314) 500-HURT or fill out the form now.

If you want a better idea of what your case might be worth before you speak to a lawyer in Chicago, check out our Chicago personal injury calculator.