Personal Injury Lawyer in Channahon, IL

Burger Law fights on behalf of those who are injured because of negligent and reckless actions. If you have sustained serious injuries because of someone else’s negligent behavior, Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers in Channahon, IL demand the recovery you are owed and fight for you every step of the way. Call Burger Law now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online.

If you want to know how much compensation you may be owed in Channahon, or anywhere in Illinois, use our complimentary personal injury calculator.

Those who harmed you are financially and legally responsible for taking care of your injuries and paying you all of what you are owed, but that does not mean they will do it willingly. Burger Law’s personal injury lawyer team fights back for our clients against whoever is standing in the way of justice. That includes anything from making claims against drunk drivers, holding negligent healthcare professionals, product manufacturers, dog owners accountable, suing the government, to getting justice and financial security for Channahon residents after a loved one passed too soon. If you would like to discuss the validity of your case further, the damages you may be able to recover or anything else about the personal injury claims process, call our personal injury lawyers in Channahon, IL immediately at (779) 800-HURT.

Why Burger Law Is The Channahon, IL Personal Injury Law Firm For You

It can be hard to know how to choose the right personal injury lawyer for you. You want someone with a history of winning similar cases and who you know will not back down from a fight. In order to have a good understanding of the abilities of a law firm, you need to look at their previous successes, and their reputation among their clients and other attorneys:

Premier Channahon, IL Personal Injury Lawyers

The numerous awards and accolades Burger Law has received from other lawyers include:

• Martindale-Hubbell Award — AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® from NexisLexis® – a significant achievement awarded to not more than 5 percent of all attorneys in the country
• 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 honor 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. Fewer than 4 percent of all practicing lawyers are certified by an ABA accredited certification board.

Personal Injury Lawyer Channahon, IL – Cases We Have Won

Our Channahon, IL personal injury lawyers have a demonstrated history of getting great results. We fight all who harm our clients, and we insist on nothing but maximum compensation. Our lawyers are devoted to offering our clients the highest standard of legal advocacy, and we have tremendous pride in our well-deserved successes. Read about our case results 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 worth pointing out that every injury comes with its own set of circumstances, and the financial recovery you are owed is going to be based entirely upon the circumstances of your claim. We calculate the full extent of your damages so that we get the maximum amount of compensation possible.

Burger Law Client Testimonials

In addition to the videos below, you can check out more client testimonials here.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim in Channahon, IL?

A personal injury claim is your right under Illinois law to get monetary reimbursement for the injuries someone else caused, and to hold them accountable for breaking the rules. The purpose of insurance settlements and civil litigation is to make one whole. The idea is convert all the ways an injury affected you into a dollar amount.

Sometimes, no lawyer or financial award can fully “put back” all the things you lost in an injury. While we can get compensation for the financial losses you sustained, other damages cannot truly be expressed through dollar signs. If a family member died, you are permanently disabled, are permanently scarred or will have to receive medical care for the rest of your life, no amount of money can make that go away. What compassionate and experienced 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.

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

That depends on the specifics of your case, but most of the time, yes, you will need a personal injury lawyer to get the full compensation you are owed in Channahon, IL. The thing to ask yourself is, can they add value to my claim? If your injuries were minor, you did not miss much time off work and the other party’s fault is clearly established, you may not need an attorney. But, you will need a lawyer in Channahon, IL if the following is true about your claim:

• There is a dispute over who is to blame, or the insurance company says the injuries are your fault
• The initial settlement offer is well below what you are owed
• Your injuries are serious and require extensive medical treatment
• There are multiple parties at fault
• Your damages are more than an insurance company’s policy limits

Our initial conversations and investigations are free, and we will always be honest with you about how much we can help 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 take on your claim 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 Channahon, IL?

While legal doctrine can be confusing, whether or not you can seek compensation depends on the answer to one essential question: were you injured because someone else was negligent? From a legal standpoint, you have to prove the five elements of negligence:

1. Duty of care — You first need to show that the person you are making a claim against owed it to you to value your safety. In some cases this is automatic, as motorists all owe everyone on the Channahon, IL roads a duty of care, or store owners need their properties to be reasonable safe for anyone who legally enters. In other cases, a special relationship must have been agreed to, for instance the relationship between a doctor and patient or between a vendor and a buyer.
2. Breach of duty — Did the other party neglect that responsibility? Did a driver crash into you you because they were running a red light? Did a doctor prescribe the wrong dosage? Did a product manufacturer fail to recall a product they knew was dangerous?
3. Cause-in-fact — You must prove how the incident caused your injuries. For instance, you received road rash after being thrown off your bicycle, or were burned by a defective product when it overheated.
4. Proximate cause — This determines liability. If you were injured in an auto accident, it is usually because another driver was not driving properly. But if the brakes were not safe, a manufacturer or mechanic may be the one who is ultimately liable.
5. Damages — Lastly, you have to demonstrate that you sustained some form of financial loss as a direct result of your injuries. In most cases damages are medical expenses and wages you could not earn while you were not able to work. If you hold onto your medical bills, this last part will be fairly easy to prove with the help of an attorney. Once we establish financial losses, we can also seek compensation for less tangible losses.

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

What Are Common Personal Injury Claims in Channahon, IL?

Practicing injury law in Channahon, IL mandates that your lawyers and firm have a vast knowledge of the different types of cases that people deal with. Knowing the difference between how the law applies to auto accidents, medical malpractice and slip and falls is essential. A lawyer that only specializes in a certain type of injury claim may not be the best choice to get you full compensation in a different claim. At Burger Law, we know how to get great results no matter the circumstances. Cases we take on in Channahon and throughout Illinois include:

Auto Accidents

Research from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that there are 300,000 to 500,000 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 be especially catastrophic because trucks emit an incredible amount of force, and motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians are all at heightened risk of being severely injured as they do not have the same protection closed-vehicle occupants have. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1, anyone behind the wheel 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 governmental entity may be fully or partially to blame for your injuries. Your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will perform an exhaustive investigation into your accident to find out who and what exactly caused your injuries.

Premises Liability

Proprietors have an obligation to ensure their property does not carry any risks for people who are not trespassing. If you sustain damages in a slip and fall because a property was unsafe, you deserve compensation. 740 ILCS 130/, also referred to as the Illinois Premises Liability Act, mandates that proprietors owe a duty of care to people who legally enter their property that is “of reasonable care under the circumstances regarding the state of the premises or acts done or omitted on them.” Essentially, if there is a hazardous condition that is not obvious, the owner has a responsibility to either repair the hazard, post signage or rope it off. Examples of hazardous conditions are:

• Spills
• A recently mopped floor
• Broken concrete on a walkway
• Broken stairs
• Broken decks and balconies
• Potholes
• Sudden changes in surface level
• Ledges
• Poorly lit stairs and walking paths
• Icy or snow-covered concrete
• Wet concrete
• Debris such as litter, fallen leaves and branches, rocks, etc
• Rugs that are not flat
• Electrical 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 trespassing, did not pay attention to warning signs, such as a “wet floor sign,” or were running or not acting in a safe manner, it might be hard to get compensation. Successful premises liability claims depend on the following:

• The owner or manager created the unsafe conditions; or
• The owner or manager knew about the hazard and failed to repair it; or
• The owner or manager tried to fix the risk and fixed 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 Channahon, IL may try to convince you that 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

According to a 2016 study from John Hopkins University, medical errors are responsible for over 250,000 deaths annually. While not all of those amount to malpractice, when it does, a physician needs to be held accountable for breaking your trust.

Proving a medical malpractice claim is based on what is called the standard of care. The standard refers to how a prudent doctor, in the same area and with the same training as the one you are suing, would treat a specific condition.

According to 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 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 who writes the affidavit is in the same practice area and geographic region as the health professional you are making a claim against. An anesthesiologist in Chicago has a different standard of care than a general practitioner in Decorah, Iowa. Burger Law knows numerous expert witnesses in Channahon and throughout Illinois who can help verify that your medical malpractice suit is valid.

Common instances of medical malpractice in Channahon, IL include:

• Nursing home abuse
• 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 sending you to a specialist or recommending a different treatment plan when theirs is not working
• Prescription errors

Dog Bites

Each day, nearly 1,000 people seek emergency care for dog bites, and every year dog bites lead to about 12,600 hospitalizations. According to a Chicago Tribune article, Illinois insurance companies pay out the second-most money for dog bites than any state in the country.

510 ILCS 5/, the Illinois Animal Control Act, stipulates that the owner of a dog is strictly liable for your the injuries their dog causes, as long as there was no provocation and you were legally allowed to be where you were. “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 only lead to minor injuries, others can lead to expensive surgeries or lifelong scarring. In any case, trust in a Burger Law Channahon, IL personal injury lawyer to secure you the best possible financial recovery you deserve.

Product Liability

Strict liability also applies to anyone involved in the chain of distribution of a defective product. There are typically three theories a personal injury lawyer will use to make a product liability claim in Channahon, IL:

1. Design defect — This is a defect that occurs even if the product is manufactured correctly. This could include an SUV that is susceptible to rollover accidents, or an electrical appliance that melts when turned on high.
2. Manufacturing defect — This type of defect usually occurs to only one or several individual products, instead of an entire line of products. Examples include rat droppings getting caught in packaging, or improperly attached electrical outlets.
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 demonstrate that the product was “unreasonably dangerous” when used in a foreseeable manner, that it was the proximate cause of injuries and that you had not significantly altered the product.

Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers will take on any case in which someone was injured through no fault of their own. One of the great parts of choosing a Burger Law Channahon, 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.

How Does the Personal Injury Claims Process Work in Channahon, IL?

The journey to securing a financial settlement or verdict for your injuries can be long and complex. While some accidents and injuries settle fairly early, others go completely through to a jury trial. Generally, the path to getting compensation includes:

• Getting Medical Care — Get medical attention as soon as possible after an injury, and follow your doctor’s treatment plans to a “T.” The insurance company will be harder to deal with if you wait, and not getting the full treatment will lower your final payout. Our personal injury lawyers know reliable Channahon, IL doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists who can ensure you get the full treatment you need.
• Discussing Your Case With an Attorney — Even if you are not sure you are going to need to hire a lawyer, it is best to consult with one as soon as possible so they can become familiar with your case. A good lawyer will be honest with you about whether or not their services are needed.
• Investigation and Documentation — Once you have legal representation, your personal injury lawyer will conduct an exhaustive investigation into your claim, determine every liable party and gather the evidence they need to get you maximum compensation. You can help by keeping detailed records of your expenses related to your injuries, and how they affect your day-to-day life.
• Settlement Demand and Negotiations — Once we know how much your claim is worth, we will send a settlement demand package to the liable party’s insurance company. In the package we will include how we calculated your damages, and insist that nothing but the full amount is acceptable. Most of the time, they will respond with a lower offer, and we keep negotiating until they decide to be truly fair.
• Filing a Lawsuit — If the insurance company will not be fair in negotiations, we will file a lawsuit in court, which begins the formal process of your claim going to trial. While the case is being litigated, 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 listens to arguments from both sides and tries to break the stalemate.
• Pre-Trial — If mediation fails, we will go into the pre-trial “discovery” phase. In discovery, we will speak to eyewitnesses and expert witnesses, obtain 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. Indeed, 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, the case will go in court. 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 Channahon, 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 by your side from our initial consultation to full compensation, keep you up to date on the status of your claim and handle all documentation, negotiation and litigation so you can spend your energy on your physical recovery.

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

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

• Economic damages compensate you for the economic harm resulting from your injuries, including:
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning capacity if your injuries result in permanent disability
  • Medical bills, past and future
  • Out-of-pocket expenses
• Non-economic damages compensate you for losses that are harder to quantify, such as:
  • 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 liable 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 maximize your compensation.

How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Channahon, 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 when the injury occurred, 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 could reasonably have been expected to discover 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 your 22nd birthday.

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

Other types of claims we take on in Channahon, 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 Channahon, IL Now

Burger Law’s Channahon, IL personal injury lawyers hold ourselves to the standard of zealous representation. That means we get started on your case immediately, investigate your case thoroughly, fight back against insurance companies on your behalf and do not let down until you receive the full compensation you deserve. We offer the highest standard of legal representation; 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 Channahon, 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 Channahon, IL personal injury lawyer now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.