Personal Injury Lawyer in Calumet City, IL

Burger Law fights on behalf of people who get hurt because someone else broke the rules. When you or a loved one has been injured because of someone else’s negligent behavior, Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers in Calumet City, 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 how much your personal injury claim may be worth in Calumet City, or anywhere in Illinois, fill out our complimentary personal injury calculator.

Those who harmed 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 are owed. We handle a variety of cases, including suing large trucking companies, holding negligent doctors, product manufacturers, business owners accountable, suing the government, to securing justice and financial security for a family after a loved one passed too soon. If you have questions about your case, what compensation you are owed or anything else about the personal injury claims process, speak to one of our personal injury lawyers in Calumet City, IL now at (779) 800-HURT.

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

It can be hard 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 of a fight. In order to gauge the abilities of an injury law firm, you need to look at their previous victories, and what their clients and peers say about them:

Premier Calumet City, IL Personal Injury Lawyers

The numerous awards and recognition Burger Law has received from other attorneys include:

• Martindale-Hubbell Award — AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® from NexisLexis® – a noteworthy achievement awarded to not more than 5 percent of all attorneys 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 Calumet City, IL – Cases We Have Won

Our Calumet City, IL personal injury lawyers fight for the full rights and recoveries of our clients. We take on all who harm our clients, and we insist on nothing but full compensation. Our attorneys are committed to giving our clients the highest standard of legal advocacy, and we take tremendous pride in our hard-fought successes. Check out some of our recent victories for our personal injury clients 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 no two cases are the same, and the compensation you are owed is going to be based entirely upon the your specific injuries. We calculate the full extent of your damages so that we get the maximum amount of compensation possible.

Burger Law Client Testimonials

Beyond the videos below, you can see our full list of client testimonials here.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim in Calumet City, IL?

Under Illinois and U.S. law, you have a right to file a personal injury claim to get monetary reimbursement for the injuries another person caused, and to achieve justice. The purpose of personal injury claims is 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 return you to how things were before the injury. While you can be reimbursed for the financial losses you sustained, other damages are harder to quantify. If you lost a loved one, you are permanently disabled, are disfigured or will have to receive medical treatment for the rest of your life, no amount of money can change that. What empathetic and skilled personal injury lawyers like those at Burger Law can do is secure you fair compensation in order to provide a sense of justice and acknowledgment, and to provide you with financial security as it relates to your injuries.

Is it Worth Hiring Personal Injury Lawyer in Calumet City, 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 Calumet City, IL. The question to ask when considering whether or not you need a lawyer is, can they increase my compensation? If your injuries were not significant, you have minimal lost wages and the insurance adjuster is being reasonable, a lawyer might not be necessary. But, you should hire a lawyer in Calumet City, IL if the following is true about your claim:

• There is a dispute over liability, or you are being blamed for your injuries
• The initial settlement offer is well below the cost of your damages
• Your injuries are serious and require extensive care
• There more than one party that is liable for your injuries
• Your damages are more than an insurance company’s policy limits

We offer consultations for free, and we will always be honest with you about how much value we can add your claim. Our personal injury lawyers take on cases based on a contingency-fee, 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 the value of your claim.

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

While state statutes can be hard to navigate, whether or not you can seek compensation generally depends on one particular question: did someone else’s negligence cause you injuries? If so, legally speaking you have to prove the five elements of negligence:

1. Duty of care — You first need to demonstrate that the person you are making a claim against owed it to you to value your safety. Sometimes, a duty of care is assumed, as motorists all owe everyone on the Calumet City, IL roads a duty of care, or store owners need their properties to be reasonable safe for anyone who legally enters. Other times, a special relationship must have been agreed to, for example a doctor-patient relationship or a vendor-buyer relationship.
2. Breach of duty — Did someone fail in that duty? Did a driver crash into you you while they were looking at their phone? Did a doctor misdiagnose a condition? Did a dog owner let their dog roam unleashed?
3. Cause-in-fact — You must demonstrate how the incident resulted in your injuries. For instance, you broke your arm when your car was t-boned, or were burned by a defective product when it overheated.
4. Proximate cause — This determines who ultimately is to blame. If you were injured in an auto accident, it is usually because another driver was not driving properly. But if the tires were faulty, a manufacturer or mechanic may be the one who is ultimately liable.
5. Damages — Finally, you need to show that the accident led to economic harm. In most cases damages are medical expenses and lost wages. If you keep solid records of your medical expenses, this last part will be fairly easy to prove with the help of an attorney. Once we establish financial losses, we can also pursue a financial recovery for pain and suffering damages.

If you have any doubts about the validity of your claim, speak to a lawyer in Calumet City, IL who has won a similar claim before. Call a personal injury lawyer today at (779) 800-HURT.

What Are Common Personal Injury Lawsuits in Calumet City, IL?

Being a personal injury lawyer in Calumet City, 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 can be the deciding factor in whether or not the case is successful. A lawyer who only knows how to deal with car insurance companies may not be the best choice to get you full compensation in a different claim. At Burger Law, we know how to hold the liable party accountable whenever negligence results in an injury. Cases we take on in Calumet City and throughout Illinois include:

Auto Accidents

Research from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that there are about 400,000 personal injury claims annually. The majority of those result from auto accidents, including:

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

Truck accidents can cause serious injuries because of the amount of force they carry in an accident, and motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians are all at heightened risk of catastrophic injury or death 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 a driver is negligent and you end up hurt, you have an auto accident claim against them.

Sometimes, a vehicle manufacturer, construction company or governmental entity may be fully or partially to blame for your injuries. Your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will carry out a comprehensive investigation into your claim 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 premises does not carry any risks for people who are legally on it. If you are injured in a slip and fall because a property was unsafe, you can make a premises liability claim. 740 ILCS 130/, also referred to as the Illinois Premises Liability Act, states that proprietors owe a duty of care to people who lawfully enter their property that is “of reasonable care under the circumstances regarding the state of the premises or acts done or omitted on them.” Basically, if something that is not obvious makes the property dangerous, the owner needs to either repair the hazard, post signage or rope it off. Examples of a dangerous condition on a property include:

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

You do not automatically have a claim just because a property had a dangerous condition. If you were in a part of a property you were not allowed to be, ignored warning signs, for example a “wet floor sign,” or were running or not acting in a safe manner, it might be hard to get compensation. The following must be true in order to make a claim:

• The owner or manager created the unsafe conditions; or
• The owner or manager knew about the risk and neglected to repair it; or
• The owner or manager tried to fix the hazard 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 property owner or insurance adjuster in Calumet City, IL may try to convince you that they do not owe you anything because they had no idea about the condition or because you are to blame. Do not believe them, and always speak with a personal injury lawyer before accepting any settlement.

Medical Malpractice

According to a 2016 study from John Hopkins University, medical errors cause over 250,000 deaths annually. While not every error constitutes negligence, when it does, a physician needs to pay for hurting you.

Proving a medical malpractice claim is based on what is known as the standard of care. The standard is how a prudent healthcare professional, in the same area and with the same training as the one you are suing, would treat whatever ailment you saw them for.

Under 735 ILCS 5/2-622, any medical malpractice claim 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 negligent doctor, 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 essential that the physician corroborating your allegations is in the same practice area and geographic region as the health professional you are making a claim against. A neurologist in Chicago is held to a different standard of care than a general practitioner in Camden, Maine. Burger Law knows numerous expert witnesses in Calumet City and all over Illinois who can corroborate your claim.

Common instances of medical malpractice in Calumet City, IL include:

• Nursing home negligence
• Birth injuries
• Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnosis
• Forgetting to remove objects during surgery
• Hospital system errors
• Failure to secure consent
• Failing to order tests that a prudent doctor would
• Ignoring 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

Every day, nearly 1,000 people seek emergency medical treatment for dog bites, and every year about 12,600 people are hospitalized. According to a Chicago Tribune article, Illinois is the second-highest dog bite state in the country.

510 ILCS 5/, the Illinois Animal Control Act, states that a dog owner is strictly liable for your the injuries their dog causes, as long as you did not provoke it and were not trespassing. “Strict liability” means that the owner is automatically liable, whether they were negligent or not. This means that the owner owes you a recovery regardless of how they acted.

While some dog bites are minor, others result in expensive surgeries or lifelong disfigurement. In any case, you likely need an experienced and skilled Calumet City, IL personal injury lawyer to secure you the best possible financial recovery you are owed.

Product Liability

Strict liability also applies to anyone involved in the chain of distribution of a defective product. There are three categories of product liability claims in Calumet City, IL:

1. Design defect — This is a defect that occurs even if the product is manufactured correctly. 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 every product with the same design. Examples include a bug getting caught in packaging, or a seatbelt with a loose screw that comes undone during impact.
3. Insufficient instructions — 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 carried inherent risks when it was used in a way a manufacturer could reasonably expect, that it caused your 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 someone was injured due to another’s negligence. One of the benefits of choosing a Burger Law Calumet City, IL personal injury lawyer is that we are not limited to any one type of claim, and this actually gives our lawyers exceptional experience that they can use to benefit all their clients. 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 Calumet City, IL?

The journey to getting maximum compensation for your injuries starts the day you are injured. While some cases only take a few months, others go completely through to a jury trial. From beginning to end, the path to getting compensation includes:

• Seeking Medical Treatment — Get medical attention as soon as possible after an injury, and do not miss any appointments with your doctor, chiropractor or physical therapist. Waiting too long could bring complications to your claim, and not getting the full treatment will lower how much compensation you receive. Our personal injury lawyers have a network of trustworthy Calumet City, IL doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists who can help you in your recovery.
• Consulting With an Attorney — Even if you do not know if you need an attorney, you need to consult with one as soon as possible so they can become familiar with your case. A good lawyer will be straightforward with you about the value of your claim and how they can help.
• Investigation and Documentation — Once you have retained a lawyer’s services, your personal injury lawyer will perform a comprehensive investigation into your claim, ascertain every liable party and acquire the evidence required 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 have determined the full extent of your damages, we will send a settlement demand package to the liable party’s insurance company. In the package we will include full documentation of all of your damages, and insist that nothing but the full amount is acceptable. Most of the time, they will respond with a lower offer, and there will be several back-and-forths until they decide to be truly fair.
• Filing a Lawsuit — If negotiations do not result in fair compensation, we will file a lawsuit in court, which begins the formal process of your claim going to trial. During this time, we will continue negotiating in an effort to avoid a trial.
• Mediation — If a settlement agreement still has not been reached, your personal injury lawyer and the liable party will likely pursue mediation. 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, the “discovery” phase begins. In discovery, we will speak to eyewitnesses and expert witnesses, gather more evidence and both parties will share with the other what they plan to bring up at trial.
• Trial — Most personal injury claims are settled before trial. In fact, many times we have gotten the settlement we were seeking in the weeks immediately before trial. However, if the insurance company refuses to do the right thing, we will fight for your compensation 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 people who speak with our Calumet City, IL personal injury lawyers have never had to deal with seeking compensation for an injury before, and are unsure of what lies ahead. Burger Law will be your advocate from our initial consultation to full compensation, keep you up to date on the status of your claim and oversee all the legal aspects of your case so you can focus on healing.

What Compensation Can I Get In My Calumet City, IL Personal Injury Claim?

Typically, your compensation will fall into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages:

• Economic damages compensate you for your financial losses related to your injuries, including:
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning capacity if your injuries result in permanent disability
  • Medical expenses, 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, we may also be able to pursue punitive damages if the at-fault party’s conduct was purposefully harmful or grossly negligent. Examples can include a drunk driver, or a doctor who performs surgery after drinking. While punitive damages do not apply to most personal injury claims, your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will pursue every legal avenue We can to get you the best possible financial recovery.

How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Calumet City, 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 a minor 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 a minor at the time. Then you would have until four years after your 18th birthday.

While two years may seem like a long time, thoroughly investigating an injury and developing a legal strategy takes time. Do not hesitate to contact an attorney. Call a personal injury lawyer today at (779) 800-HURT.

Other types of claims we take on in Calumet City, 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 Calumet City, IL Now

Burger Law’s Calumet City, IL personal injury lawyers fiercely believe in zealous representation. That means we get started on your case the moment you hire us, investigate your case thoroughly, fight back against insurance companies on your behalf and do not give up until you receive the maximum compensation you deserve. We offer the highest level of legal representation; all of our advice will be based on the facts of the case and our experience, but we always leave the ultimate decisions on your claim to you and your Calumet City, 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 Calumet City, IL personal injury lawyer now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.