Personal Injury Lawyer in Bradley, IL

Burger Law fights on behalf of those who are injured because someone else did no respect their safety. If you are seriously injured in an accident or incident caused by another person’s actions, Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers in Bradley, IL demand the recovery you are owed and fight for you every step of the way. Call Burger Law today at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online.

To calculate the value of your personal injury claim in Bradley, or anywhere in Illinois, complete our complimentary personal injury calculator.

Those who hurt you are responsible for compensating you for all of your damages, but they will not do it willingly. Burger Law’s personal injury lawyer team fights hard for our clients against anyone who is trying to keep them from the compensation they deserve. We handle a litany of cases, including suing large trucking companies, holding negligent physicians, product manufacturers, animal owners responsible, taking the fight to City Hall, to securing justice and financial security for a family after the wrongful death of a family member. If you would like to discuss the merits of your case further, what compensation you are owed or other questions regarding personal injury claims, call our personal injury lawyers in Bradley, IL today at (779) 800-HURT.

Why Choose Burger Law’s Bradley, IL Personal Injury Lawyers For Your Claim

It can be difficult to know how to choose the right personal injury lawyer for you. You want someone who has won your type of case before and who is not afraid to take your case all the way to trial if they have to. In order to gauge the abilities of an injury law firm, you need to take into account their previous victories, and what their clients and peers say about them:

Acclaimed Bradley, IL Personal Injury Lawyers

The many awards and honors Burger Law has received from other lawyers include:

• Martindale-Hubbell Award — AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® from NexisLexis® – a notable achievement awarded to not more than 5 percent of all lawyers in the United States
• Million and Multi-Million Dollar Advocate Honor — Members of the Million and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an honor only given to 1 percent of attorneys in the United States.
• Top 100 Trial Lawyers Honor — Selected to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only award that is made up of the most qualified lawyers in each state.
• Board Certified By the National Board of Trial Advocacy — Board certified in Civil Trial Advocacy and Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Less than 4 percent of all practicing attorneys are certified by an American Bar Association accredited certification board.

Personal Injury Lawyer Bradley, IL – Cases We Have Won

Our Bradley, IL personal injury lawyers fight for the full rights and recoveries of our clients. We fight all who have injured our clients, and we insist on nothing but maximum compensation. Our attorneys are dedicated to giving our clients amazing legal advocacy, and we have great pride in our hard-fought successes. Read about our recent victories in personal injury claims below:

• $5 Million Settlement – Father Killed By Reckless Truck Driver
• $3 Million Judgment – Son Murdered by Pam Hupp
• $2.5 Million Settlement for Father’s Fatal Car Accident
• From $0 to $2 Million Car Accident Settlement
• $2 Million Settlement – Injured Woman Settles Highway Crash Lawsuit
• $1.435 Million Settlement For Deck Collapse That Injured Couple
• $1 Million Settlement to Family of Man with Sepsis Infection
• Medical Malpractice Case Settles for Over $1 Million
• $900,000 Medical Malpractice Settlement
• $765,000 Settlement After Fatal Collision
• $600,000 Tractor-Trailer Crash
• $600,000 Settlement – Widow in ATV Accident Settles with Property Owner
• Class Action $600,000 Settlement Against the State of Illinois
• $495,000 Uninsured Motorcycle Verdict
• $400,000 Settlement in Employment Discrimination Case
• $350,000 Settlement in Ladder Case

It is important to remember that every injury comes with its own set of circumstances, and the financial recovery you are owed is going to depend on the your specific injuries. We fight for you so that there is no money left on the table.

Burger Law Reviews

Beyond the videos below, you can watch more client testimonials here.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim in Bradley, IL?

Under Illinois and U.S. law, you have a right to file a personal injury claim to get financial compensation for the injuries done by another person’s negligence, and to hold wrongdoers accountable. The recovery you receive is meant to make one whole. The goal is convert all the ways an injury affected you into a dollar amount.

In some cases, no lawyer, settlement or verdict is can truly “put back” all the things you lost in an injury. While you can be reimbursed for medical bills, lost wages and other financial losses, other damages cannot truly be expressed through dollar signs. If you lost a loved one, you lost a limb, are disfigured or will have to receive medical treatment for the rest of your life, no legal process can change that. What compassionate and skilled personal injury lawyers like those at Burger Law are able to do is secure you fair compensation in order to provide a sense of justice and recognition, and to provide you with relief from the financial losses resulting from your injuries.

Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer in Bradley, IL?

While some cases can be successfully navigated without a lawyer, most of the time you will need one to recover the full value of your claim in Bradley, IL. The question to ask when considering whether or not to hire a lawyer is, will I get more money with them? If your medical expenses are low, you have minimal lost wages and the insurance company is being mostly fair, you may not need an attorney. But, you will need legal representation in Bradley, IL if the following is true about your claim:

• There is a dispute over liability, or the insurance company says the accident are your fault
• The insurance company is denying they have to cover certain damages
• Your injuries are significant and require ongoing medical treatment
• There more than one party at fault
• Your damages exceed an insurance company’s policy limits

Our initial conversations and investigations are free, and we are always honest about how much value we can add your claim. Our personal injury lawyers work on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you do not pay until we win your case, and there is no reason for us to accept you as a client if we do not think we can significantly increase your final payout.

What Do You Need to Prove to Win a Personal Injury Claim in Bradley, IL?

While the legal literature concerning negligence and liability can be confusing, whether or not you can seek compensation depends on the answer to one essential question: did another person’s negligence cause you injuries? If so, legally speaking you need to prove the five elements of negligence:

1. Duty of care — You first need to demonstrate that the liable party owed it to you to value your safety. In some cases this is automatic, as Bradley, IL driver owe drivers, passengers and pedestrians a duty of care, or store owners need their properties to be reasonable safe for anyone who legally enters. Other times, a unique relationship must have formed, for instance a doctor-patient relationship or a vendor-patron relationship.
2. Breach of duty — Did the liable party neglect that duty? Did a driver crash into you you while they were running a red light? Did a doctor fail to diagnose a condition? Did a product manufacturer fail to recall a product they knew was dangerous?
3. Causation — You must demonstrate how the accident led to your injuries. For instance, you broke your arm when your car was t-boned, or had bad side effects from a prescription drug.
4. Proximate cause — This determines who needs to be held accountable. If you were hit by a vehicle, it is usually because another driver was not driving properly. But if the tires were defective, someone in the vehicle’s chain of distribution may be ultimately liable.
5. Damages — Finally, you have to show that you sustained some form of financial loss as a direct result of your injuries. In most cases damages are medical bills and lost wages. If you keep solid records of your medical expenses, damages are easy to prove with the help of an attorney. After proving economic damages, we can pursue a financial recovery for the other ways your injuries have affected you.

The only way to know for certain if you have an injury claim is to consult with an attorney who has handled your type of claim in Bradley, IL before. Call a personal injury lawyer now at (779) 800-HURT.

What Are Common Personal Injury Claims in Bradley, IL?

Practicing injury law in Bradley, IL requires that your lawyers and firm know how negligence laws apply to a wide range of cases. Knowing the difference between a car accident case and a truck accident case seems simple, but there are many different laws and statutes that can arise in a truck accident case that play a large role in whether or not the case is successful. A lawyer who only knows how to deal with car insurance companies may not have the experience to take on other cases. At Burger Law, we know how to secure justice for the injured whenever negligence results in an injury. We have won millions for our Bradley, IL clients in the following types of cases:

Auto Accidents

Statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that there are 300,000 to 500,000 personal injury claims annually. Just over half of those result from auto accidents, for instance:

• Car Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Bicycle Accidents
• Pedestrian Accidents

Truck accidents can be especially catastrophic because of the amount of force they carry in an accident, and motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians are all at increased risk of being severely injured as they do not have the same protection closed-vehicle occupants have. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1, all motorist must “exercise due care” to avoid colliding with anybody or anything else on the Illinois roads. If someone breaks the rules of the road and you end up hurt, you can file a claim.

Sometimes, a vehicle manufacturer, construction company or local municipality may be at fault. As part of our services, your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will conduct a complete investigation into your accident to find every liable party and hold them accountable.

Premises Liability

Property owners and managers have an obligation to take reasonable measures to make sure their property is not hazardous for people who are legally on it. If you are injured in a slip and fall because a property was unreasonably dangerous, you can make a premises liability claim. 740 ILCS 130/, also referred to as the Illinois Premises Liability Act, mandates that property owners owe a duty of care to entrants that is “of reasonable care under the circumstances regarding the state of the premises or acts done or omitted on them.” Basically, if there is a hazardous condition that is not obvious, the owner has a responsibility to either fix the condition or warn against it. Examples of hazardous conditions are:

• Spills
• A recently mopped floor
• Broken concrete on a walkway
• Broken stairs
• Broken decks and balconies
• Potholes
• Overly steep inclines
• Ledges
• Poor lighting
• Icy or snow-covered concrete
• Wet concrete
• Debris such as litter, fallen leaves and branches, rocks, etc
• Uneven rugs
• Wiring
• In-ground sprinklers or hardscape features hidden in the grass
• Absence of safety rails

Not all injuries on a property lead to a valid premises liability claim. If you were trespassing, ignored warning signs, such as a “wet floor sign,” or were running or not acting in a safe manner, you likely do not have a slip and fall claim. Successful premises liability claims depend on the following:

• The owner or manager created the unsafe conditions; or
• The owner or manager was aware of the danger and failed to fix it; or
• The owner or manager tried to fix the danger and repaired it negligently; or
• The owner or manager should have known about the condition, either because it happens often, had been there for an extended length of time or due to other complaints

A store or insurance company in Bradley, IL may tell you they are not liable for your slip and fall injuries because they should not have been reasonable expected to repair or warn against the accident or because you are to blame. That is not true, and always speak with a personal injury lawyer before accepting any settlement.

Medical Malpractice

Based on research from John Hopkins University, medical errors cause over a quarter of a million deaths a year. While not all of those constitutes negligence, when it does, you can make a medical malpractice claim.

Your medical malpractice cases will come down to what is referred to as the standard of care. The standard refers to how a prudent physician, in a specific field and specific location, would treat whatever ailment you saw them for.

Under 735 ILCS 5/2-622, any medical malpractice suit needs to be filed along with an affidavit from a health professional who:

• is knowledgeable in the relevant issues of the claim
• practices or teaches the same field as the doctor you are suing, or has practiced or taught in that field within the last six years
• is qualified to review the facts of your case, and determines your claim is “reasonable and meritorious”

It is vital that the physician corroborating your claim has the same training and practices in the same area as the health professional you are suing. A neurologist in Chicago is held to a different standard of care than a general practitioner in Decorah, Iowa. Burger Law has a network of expert witnesses in Bradley and all over Illinois who can help verify that your medical malpractice suit is valid.

Common instances of medical malpractice in Bradley, IL include:

• Nursing home negligence
• Birth injuries
• Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnosis
• Leaving objects in during surgery
• Hospital system errors
• Failure to secure consent
• Not ordering tests that a prudent doctor would
• Blowing off a patient’s complaints
• Not seeking a second opinion or recommending a different treatment plan when theirs is not working
• Prescribing the wrong medication or the wrong dosage

Dog Bites

Each day, almost 1,000 people seek emergency care for dog bites, and every year about 12,600 people are hospitalized. According to a Chicago Tribune article, Illinois has the second-highest rate of dog bites in the country.

510 ILCS 5/, the Illinois Animal Control Act, mandates that the owner of a dog is strictly liable for your damages if it bit you, assuming you did not provoke it and were not trespassing. “Strict liability” means that the owner is liable as a matter of law and you do not have to prove negligence. This means, the owner cannot get out of paying you by saying they did not know the dog was aggressive, or that it was not their fault the animal got free.

While some dog bites only lead to minor injuries, others result in reconstructive surgeries or lifelong disfigurement. Regardless of the severity of your injuries, you likely need an experienced and skilled Bradley, IL personal injury lawyer to ensure you get the full compensation you deserve.

Product Liability

Like dog owners, anyone in the chain of distribution of a product is strictly liable for the damages a defective product causes. There are three categories of product liability claims in Bradley, IL:

1. Design defect — This is a defect that was present when the product was initially conceptualized. This could include tables or furniture that naturally tip over, or an electrical appliance that melts when turned on high.
2. Manufacturing defect — This type of defect affects several individual products instead of an entire line of products. Examples include rat droppings getting caught in packaging, or improperly attached electrical outlets.
3. Marketing defect — This refers to a product that did not carry sufficient warnings when it was put to foreseeable use. For example, a medication that does not include certain side-effects in the labeling.

In order to make a product liability claim, you must show that the product was “unreasonably dangerous” when used in a foreseeable manner, that it was the proximate cause of injuries and that the product had not been “substantially” changed from its state at the initial sale.

Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers will take on any case in which a rule breaker injured someone else. One of the benefits of choosing a Burger Law Bradley, IL personal injury lawyer is that we are not limited to any one type of claim, and have won your type of claim before. We understand that case types often overlap, and having experience with each type of claim gives our team the perfect understanding of how to fight for our clients’ rights and recoveries.

What Is the Personal Injury Claims Process in Bradley, IL?

The path to securing maximum compensation for your injuries starts the day you are injured. While some cases only take a few months, others can take several years before a jury finally renders a verdict. From beginning to end, the path to getting compensation includes:

• Getting Medical Care — Get medical care as soon as possible after an injury, and follow your doctor’s treatment plans to a “T.” If you delay, it could bring complications to your claim, and not getting the full treatment will reduce your final payout. Our personal injury lawyers know trustworthy Bradley, IL doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists who can help you in your recovery.
• Speaking With an Attorney — Even if you do not know if you need an attorney, you need to know what your options are as soon as possible. A good attorney will be honest with you about whether or not their services are needed.
• Investigation and Documentation — Once you have retained a lawyer’s services, your personal injury lawyer will perform a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding your injuries, ascertain who we need to hold accountable and acquire the evidence needed for the best possible financial recovery. You should also keep a record of every dollar you have spent because of your injuries, and how keeping a journal detailing how your injuries have affected your life.
• Settlement Demand and Negotiations — Once we know how much your claim is worth, we will send a settlement demand package to those who are liable for compensating you. In the package we will include how we calculated your damages, and demand a financial recovery for all the ways your injuries have affected you. Most of the time, they will respond with a lower offer, and we keep negotiating until they agree to pay for 100 percent of your damages.
• Filing a Lawsuit — If negotiations do not lead anywhere, we will proceed to litigating the case and setting up a trial. While the case is being litigated, both parties continue negotiating.
• Mediation — Mediation is often the last option for a settlement before trial. In mediation, an unbiased third party will try to get each party to accept the merits of the other side’s arguments.
• Pre-Trial — If mediation still does not result in a fair settlement, we will go into the pre-trial “discovery” phase. In discovery, we take depositions of eyewitnesses and expert witnesses, gather more evidence and share with and request documentation with the other side.
• Trial — It is rare that a personal injury claim makes it all the way to trial. Indeed, many times we have gotten the settlement we were seeking just before trial begins. However, if the insurance company refuses to do the right thing, we will defend your rights in front of a judge and jury. Trial consists of:
  • Jury selection
  • Opening statements
  • Testimony and cross-examination
  • Closing arguments
  • Jury instruction
  • Jury deliberation and verdict

Most of our Bradley, IL clients have never had to deal with seeking compensation for an injury before, and do not know what to expect. Burger Law will be by your side every step of the way, be there to answer all of your questions and oversee all the legal aspects of your case so you can focus on your physical recovery.

What Compensation Can I Recover In My Bradley, IL Personal Injury Claim?

Typically, there are two types of damages you can be compensated for in a personal injury claim: economic damages and non-economic damages:

• Economic damages compensate you for the economic harm resulting from your injuries, including:
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning potential if your injuries do not allow you to earn a living as you used to
  • Medical bills, past and future
  • Out-of-pocket expenses
• Non-economic damages compensate you for the less tangible aspects of your injuries, including:
  • Pain and suffering
  • Stress and anxiety
  • Loss of ability to enjoy life
  • Scarring and disfigurement
  • Inconvenience
  • Physical impairment
  • Loss of consortium

Sometimes, you may also be eligible for punitive damages if the negligent harmed you on purpose or they were incredibly reckless. Examples can include a drunk driver, or a doctor who performs surgery after drinking. While punitive damages are rarely awarded, your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will pursue every legal avenue available to maximize your compensation.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims in Bradley, IL?

In Illinois, the statute of limitations is relatively short at two years for most personal injury claims, under 735 ILCS 5/. That means the clock starts ticking when your accident occurs, and expires after two years. However, there are three noteworthy exceptions:

1. If you were under 18 at the time of injury, you have until your 20th birthday.
2. If you were under a “legal disability” when the injury occurred, you have two years from the date the disability was “removed.”
3. In medical malpractice cases, you have two years from the date you discovered the injury or should have discovered the injury. No medical malpractice claim can be made more than four years after the injury occurred, unless you were under 18. Then you would have until four years after your 18th birthday.

While two years may not cause immediate concern, your attorney will want as much time as possible to build your case. Do not delay in speaking to an attorney. Call a personal injury lawyer today at (779) 800-HURT.

Other types of claims we take on in Bradley, IL include:

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

Speak to Personal Injury Lawyer in Bradley, IL Now

Burger Law’s Bradley, IL personal injury lawyers hold ourselves to the standard of zealous representation. That means we get started on your case immediately, pursue every legal option we have, stand up to insurance companies on your behalf and do not give up until you receive the maximum recovery you deserve. We offer the highest standard of legal advocacy; all of our advice will be sincere and in your best interest, but we always leave the ultimate decisions on your claim to you and your Bradley, IL family. You do not have to pay for someone else’s careless actions. To start on your road to true recovery, call a Burger Law Bradley, IL personal injury lawyer now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.