Personal Injury Lawyer in Chester, IL

Burger Law defends the rights of people who get hurt because of negligent and reckless actions. If you or a family member are seriously injured all because someone else behaved recklessly or irresponsibly, Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers in Chester, IL demand the recovery you are owed and fight for you every step of the way. Reach out to Burger Law now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online.

If you want to know the value of your personal injury claim in Chester, or anywhere in Illinois, use our free personal injury calculator.

The negligent parties that harmed you are responsible for compensating you for all of your damages, but that does not mean they will do it willingly. Burger Law’s personal injury lawyer team fights back for our clients against anyone who is trying to keep them from the money they are owed. We handle a variety of cases, including making claims against large trucking companies, holding negligent healthcare professionals, product manufacturers, pet owners responsible, taking the fight to the government, to getting justice and financial security for Chester residents after a loved one passed too soon. If you would like to discuss the validity of your case further, what compensation you are owed or other questions regarding personal injury claims, call our personal injury lawyers in Chester, IL today at (779) 800-HURT.

Why Burger Law Is The Chester, 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 who has won your type of case before and who is not afraid of 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 what their clients and peers say about them:

Award-Winning Chester, 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 noteworthy 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 award that is comprised 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 American Bar Association accredited certification board.

Personal Injury Lawyer Chester, IL – Cases We Have Won

Our Chester, IL personal injury lawyers have a demonstrated history of getting great results. We take on all who harm our clients, and we fight for a full recovery every time. Our firm is committed to giving our clients amazing legal advocacy, and we take tremendous pride in our well-deserved victories. 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 no two cases are the same, and the compensation you are owed is going to be based entirely upon the circumstances of your claim. We fight for you so that we get the maximum amount of compensation possible.

Burger Law Client Success Stories

In addition to the videos below, you can see our full list of client testimonials here.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim in Chester, IL?

Under Illinois and U.S. law, you have a right to file a personal injury claim to get financial compensation for the wrong someone else caused, and to achieve justice. The purpose of insurance settlements and civil litigation is to make you whole. The idea is convert all the ways an injury affected you into a dollar amount.

Sometimes, no attorney or financial award can fully return you to how things were before the injury. While you can be reimbursed for medical bills, time spent off work recovering and other financial losses, other damages are less tangible. If a family member died, you lost a limb, are permanently scarred or will have to receive medical care for the rest of your life, no legal process can make that go away. What compassionate and talented personal injury lawyers like those at Burger Law are able to do is ensure your injuries are recognized, and to provide you with financial security as it relates to your accident.

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

While some cases can be successfully navigated without a lawyer, most of the time you will need one to ensure no money is left on the table in Chester, IL. The thing to ask yourself is, can they increase my compensation? If your medical expenses are low, you have minimal lost wages and the other party’s fault is clearly established, a lawyer might not be necessary. But, you will need a lawyer in Chester, IL if the following is true about your claim:

• There is disagreement about who is to blame, or you are being blamed for your injuries
• The initial settlement offer is well below the cost of your damages
• Your injuries are significant and require extensive medical treatment
• There more than one party that is liable for your damages
• Your damages exceed an insurance company’s policy limits

We offer consultations for free, and we are always straightforward about whether or not it is in your best interest to hire our services. 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 get you substantially more money.

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

While the legal specifics concerning negligence and liability can be confusing, whether or not you can seek compensation depends on the answer to one specific question: did someone else’s negligence cause you injuries? From a legal standpoint, you need 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 had a responsibility to care for your safety. In some cases this is automatic, as Chester, IL driver owe everyone else on the roads 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, such as the relationship between a doctor and patient or between a vendor and a buyer.
2. Breach of duty — Did the liable party neglect that duty? Did a driver hit you while they were running a red light? Did a doctor not take into account your medical history? Did a store owner not salt the ice in front of their property sufficiently?
3. Cause-in-fact — You must demonstrate how the breach of duty caused your injuries. For example, you received a concussions after being thrown off your bicycle, or had bad side effects from a prescription drug.
4. Proximate cause — This determines liability. If you were rear ended, the liable party is usually the driver that hit you. But if the tires were defective, someone in the vehicle’s chain of distribution may be ultimately liable.
5. Damages — Finally, you must demonstrate that the accident led to financial losses. In personal injury cases, this is usually medical bills and lost wages. If you hold onto your medical bills, an attorney will be able to establish your financial losses with an insurance company. Once we establish financial losses, we can also seek compensation for the other ways your injuries have affected you.

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

Types of Cases Our Chester, IL Personal Injury Lawyers Take on

Being a personal injury lawyer in Chester, 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 have the experience to take on other cases. At Burger Law, we know how to hold the liable party accountable in any type of claim. Cases we take on in Chester and throughout Illinois include:

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 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 being severely injured due to their relatively limited protection. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1, all motorist must “exercise due care” to keep everyone else on the road safe. If someone breaks the rules of the road, causes an accident and injures you, you have an auto accident claim against them.

In some cases, a vehicle manufacturer, construction company or governmental entity may have at least contributed to your injuries. Your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will perform a full investigation into your claim to find every liable party and hold them accountable.

Premises Liability

Proprietors have a responsibility to take reasonable measures to make sure their premises is safe for invitees and licensees. If you are injured in a slip and fall because a property was unsafe, you deserve compensation. 740 ILCS 130/, also known as the Illinois Premises Liability Act, mandates that proprietors have 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.” Generally, if there is a hazardous condition that is not obvious, the owner needs to either fix the condition, post signage or rope it off. Some hazardous conditions include:

• Spills
• A recently mopped floor
• Broken concrete on a walkway
• Broken stairs
• Broken decks and balconies
• Potholes
• Sudden changes in surface level
• Ledges
• Poor lighting
• Black ice
• Wet concrete
• Debris such as litter, fallen leaves and branches, rocks, etc
• Uneven rugs
• Electrical cords
• In-ground sprinklers or hardscape features hidden in the grass
• Absence of 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 acting dangerously, it might be hard to get compensation. The following must be true in order to make a claim:

• The owner or manager created the dangerous conditions; or
• The owner or manager was aware of the danger and neglected to repair it; or
• The owner or manager tried to repair the hazard 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 store or insurance adjuster in Chester, IL may tell you they do not owe you anything because they should not have been reasonable expected to repair or warn against the accident or because the accident was your fault. That is not true, and do not accept any settlement offer until you have spoken to a personal injury lawyer.

Medical Malpractice

Based on research from John Hopkins University, medical errors are responsible for more than 250,000 deaths annually. While not every error amount to malpractice, when it does, a doctor needs to pay for hurting you.

Proving a medical malpractice claim is based on what is referred to as the standard of care. The standard is how a prudent doctor, in a specific field and specific location, would treat whatever ailment you saw them for.

Pursuant to 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 who writes the affidavit has the same training and practices in the same area as the health professional you are making a claim against. A thoracic surgeon in Chicago is held to a different standard of care than a family doctor in Kadoka, South Dakota. Burger Law knows numerous expert witnesses in Chester and all over Illinois who can corroborate that your doctor violated the standard of care.

Common instances of medical malpractice in Chester, IL include:

• Nursing home negligence
• Birth injuries
• Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnosis
• Forgetting to remove objects during surgery
• Hospital communication errors
• Failure to secure consent
• Not ordering tests that a prudent doctor would
• Ignoring a patient’s complaints
• Not changing course when their treatment plan 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 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, states that a dog owner is strictly liable for your the injuries their dog causes, 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 that the owner owes you a recovery even if they did not necessarily do anything wrong.

While some dog bites only lead to minor injuries, others result in expensive surgeries or lifelong scarring. Regardless of the seriousness of your injuries, you likely need an experienced and skilled Chester, IL personal injury lawyer to secure you the best possible financial recovery you deserve.

Product Liability

Like dog owners, the designers, manufacturers, distributors and vendors of a product are strictly liable for the damages a defective product causes. There are three categories of product liability claims in Chester, IL:

1. Design defect — This is a defect that occurs even if the product is manufactured correctly. This could include an SUV that is prone 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 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. Marketing defect — This refers to labeling that does not mention certain risks when the product is put to foreseeable use. For example, a medication that does not include certain side-effects in the labeling.

In order to have a successful claim, you must show that the product carried inherent risks when it was used in a way a manufacturer could reasonably expect, 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 someone was injured through no fault of their own. One of the benefits of choosing a Burger Law Chester, 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.

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

The journey to getting a financial settlement or verdict for your injuries begins the second you are injured. While some cases only take a few months, others go completely through to a jury trial. Generally, the path to getting compensation consists of:

• Seeking Medical Care — Get medical care as soon as possible after an injury, and keep attending all treatments that your physician recommends. Waiting too long could bring complications to your claim, and not getting the full treatment will lower both your economic and noneconomic damages. Our personal injury lawyers work with several reliable Chester, IL doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists who can ensure you recover physically as best as possible.
• Speaking 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 attorney will be straightforward with you about the value of your claim and how they can help.
• Investigation and Documentation — Once you have hired an attorney, your personal injury lawyer will conduct a complete investigation into the circumstances surrounding your injuries, determine every liable party and obtain the evidence needed for full compensation. You should also keep detailed records of your expenses related to 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 full documentation of all of your damages, and demand a financial recovery for all the ways your injuries have affected you. Usually, they will respond with a lower offer, and there will be several back-and-forths until they offer full compensation.
• Filing a Lawsuit — If negotiations do not result in fair compensation, we will proceed to litigating the case and setting up a 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, a neutral third party will try to get each party to accept the merits of the other side’s arguments.
• Pre-Trial — If mediation fails, the “discovery” phase begins. In discovery, we will speak to eyewitnesses and expert witnesses, acquire more evidence and both parties will share with the other what they plan to bring up at trial.
• 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 in the weeks immediately before trial. However, if the insurance company refuses to do the right thing, the case will go 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 Chester, IL clients have never been through the personal injury claims process before, and are unsure of what lies ahead. Burger Law will be by your side every step of the way, be there to answer all of your questions and manage all the legal aspects of your case so you can spend your energy on your physical recovery.

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

In general, there are two types of compensation available in a personal injury claim: economic damages and non-economic damages:

• Economic damages compensate you for your financial losses related to your injuries, for instance:
  • 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 put a dollar figure on, 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 party’s conduct was purposefully harmful or incredibly reckless. 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 Chester, IL?

In Illinois, the statute of limitations is shorter than most states at just two years, under 735 ILCS 5/. That means you must file a claim within two years of when the injury occurred. However, there are three notable 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 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 a minor at the time. 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 hesitate to contact an attorney. Call a personal injury lawyer today at (779) 800-HURT.

Other types of claims we handle in Chester, IL include:

• Survival Action Lawyer in Illinois
• 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 Chester, IL Now

Burger Law’s Chester, 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 are awarded the full compensation you deserve. We only give our clients the highest level 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 Chester, 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 Chester, IL personal injury lawyer now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.