Personal Injury Lawyer in Hickory Hills, IL

Burger Law fights on behalf of those who get hurt because someone else did no respect their safety. When you has been injured all because someone else behaved recklessly or irresponsibly, Burger Law’s personal injury lawyers in Hickory Hills, IL demand the recovery you are owed and fight for you every step of the way. Reach out to Burger Law today at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online.

To calculate the value of your personal injury claim in Hickory Hills, or anywhere in Illinois, fill out our complimentary personal injury calculator.

The negligent parties that hurt you have an obligation to compensate 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 the injured against anyone who is trying to keep them from the compensation they are owed. That includes anything from making claims against large trucking companies, holding negligent physicians, product manufacturers, restaurant owners responsible, taking the fight to the government, to getting justice and financial security for Hickory Hills residents after a loved one passed too soon. If you would like to discuss the merits 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 Hickory Hills, IL immediately at (779) 800-HURT.

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

Choosing the right personal injury lawyer for you is crucial. 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 the cases they have won, and their reputation among their clients and peers:

Award-Winning Hickory Hills, IL Personal Injury Lawyers

The many awards and accolades 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 honor that is comprised of the most qualified attorneys 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 Hickory Hills, IL – Recent Successes

Our Hickory Hills, IL personal injury lawyers fight for the full rights and recoveries of our clients. We fight all who have hurt our clients, and we fight for a full recovery every time. Our attorneys are committed to offering our clients the highest standard of legal advocacy, and we have tremendous pride in our well-deserved victories. Read about 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 worth pointing out that every case is different, and what you may be eligible to recover is going to depend on the your specific accident. We fight for you so that there is no money left on the table.

Burger Law Client Testimonials

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

Definition of a Personal Injury Claim in Hickory Hills, IL

A personal injury claim is your right under Illinois law to get monetary reimbursement for the wrong another person caused, and to hold the rule breakers accountable. The recovery you receive is meant to make you whole. The idea is convert all the ways an injury affected you into a dollar amount.

In some cases, no attorney or financial award can truly 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 cannot truly be expressed through dollar signs. If a family member died, you lost a limb, are permanently scarred or will have to live the rest of your life in chronic pain, no legal process 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.

Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer in Hickory Hills, 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 Hickory Hills, IL. The important question is, can they increase my compensation? If your medical expenses are low, you did not miss much time off work and the insurance adjuster is being reasonable, you may not need an attorney. But, you should hire a lawyer in Hickory Hills, IL under the following circumstances:

• There is disagreement over who is at fault, 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 are multiple parties at fault
• Your damages exceed an insurance company’s policy limits

Our initial conversations and investigations are free, and we are always straightforward about how much we can help your claim. Our personal injury lawyers work on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you do not pay until we win your case, and we have no reason to accept you as a client if we do not think we can significantly increase the value of your claim.

How Do I Know if I Have a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Hickory Hills, 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 particular question: were you injured because someone else was negligent? 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 had a responsibility to care for your safety. In some cases this is automatic, as Hickory Hills, IL driver owe everyone else on the roads a duty of care, or dog owners owe it to others not to let their dog injure anyone. In other cases, a unique relationship must have formed, for instance the relationship between a doctor and patient or between a vendor and a buyer.
2. Breach of duty — Did the other party fail in that duty? Did a driver hit you while they were drunk? Did a doctor misdiagnose a condition? Did a trucking company force their employee to drive longer than regulations allow?
3. Causation — You must prove how the incident led to your injuries. For example, you sustained a whiplash injury after being rear ended, or were burned by a defective product when it overheated.
4. Proximate cause — This determines who needs to be held accountable. If you were injured in an auto accident, the liable party is usually the driver that hit you. But if the brakes were defective, someone in the vehicle’s chain of distribution may be ultimately liable.
5. Damages — Lastly, you have to demonstrate that the injuries led to economic harm. In personal injury cases, this is usually medical expenses and wages you could not earn while you were not able to work. With access to your medical records, an attorney will be able to establish your financial losses with an insurance company. Once we establish financial losses, we can also pursue a financial recovery for less tangible losses.

If you have any doubts about whether or not you have a case, speak to a lawyer in Hickory Hills, IL who has won a similar claim before. You can speak to a personal injury lawyer today at (779) 800-HURT.

What Are Common Personal Injury Claims in Hickory Hills, IL?

Being a personal injury lawyer in Hickory Hills, IL requires that your lawyers and firm have a vast knowledge of the different types of cases that people deal with. Knowing the difference between the laws and defendants applicable to different types of claims is paramount. 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 Hickory Hills 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 in any given year. Just over half of those are auto accident claims, such as:

• 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 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, anyone behind the wheel 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 can file a claim.

In some cases, a vehicle manufacturer, construction company or local municipality may have at least contributed to your injuries. As part of our services, your Burger Law personal injury lawyer will conduct an exhaustive investigation into your accident to find every liable party and hold them accountable.

Premises Liability

Property owners and managers have a responsibility to ensure their premises is not hazardous for people who are legally on it. If you are injured in a slip and fall because a property was unsafe, you may have a premises liability claim. 740 ILCS 130/, also called the Illinois Premises Liability Act, stipulates that property owners 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 something that is not obvious makes the property unsafe, the owner has a responsibility to either fix the hazard or warn against it. 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
• 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 in a part of a property you were not allowed to be, did not pay attention to warning signs, such as a “wet floor sign,” or were running or not behaving 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 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 Hickory Hills, 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. Do not believe them, and always speak with a personal injury lawyer before accepting any settlement.

Medical Malpractice

Based on research from John Hopkins University, medical errors are responsible for over 250,000 deaths annually. While not all of those amount to negligence, when it does, you can make a medical malpractice claim.

Your medical malpractice cases is based on what is known as the standard of care. The standard is how a prudent physician, in the same area and with the same training as the one you are suing, would treat a specific condition.

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 vital that the doctor corroborating your allegations is in the same practice area and geographic region as the health professional you are suing. A thoracic surgeon in Chicago has a different standard of care than a pediatrician in Rockport, Maine. Burger Law has a network of expert witnesses in Hickory Hills and in other parts of Illinois who can help verify that your medical malpractice suit is valid.

Common examples of medical malpractice in Hickory Hills, IL include:

• Nursing home negligence
• Birth injuries
• Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnosis
• Leaving objects in during surgery
• Hospital system errors
• Lack of consent
• Not ordering tests that a prudent doctor would
• Ignoring a patient’s complaints
• Not changing course when their treatment plan is not working
• Prescription errors

Dog Bites

Every day, almost 1,000 people require emergency care for dog bites, and annually dog bites lead to about 12,600 hospitalizations. 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 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 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 lead to only superficial wounds, others result in expensive surgeries or permanent disfigurement. Regardless of the severity of your injuries, trust in a Burger Law Hickory Hills, IL personal injury lawyer to secure you the maximum 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 Hickory Hills, IL:

1. Design defect — This is a defect that was present when the product was initially designed. 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. Insufficient instructions — This refers to a product that did not carry sufficient warnings when it was put to foreseeable use. For example, an electric shaver not mentioning that shock can occur if used in the shower.

In order to make a product liability claim, you must demonstrate that the product carried inherent risks when used in a foreseeable manner, 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 a wrongdoer injured someone else. One of the great parts of choosing a Burger Law Hickory Hills, 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 towards their clients’ advantage. 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 Hickory Hills, IL?

The path to getting a financial settlement or verdict for your injuries can be long and complex. While some cases only take a few months, others go completely through to a jury trial. Generally, the personal injury claims process includes:

• Seeking Medical Care — Get medical treatment immediately 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 reduce how much compensation you receive. Our personal injury lawyers have a network of reliable Hickory Hills, IL health professionals who can ensure you get the full treatment you need.
• Consulting 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 straightforward 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 carry out a complete investigation into the circumstances surrounding your injuries, determine every liable party and acquire the evidence they need to get you full compensation. You should also keep 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. Usually, the insurance company will counter our offer with a lower number, and there will be several back-and-forths until they agree to pay for all of your damages.
• Filing a Lawsuit — If the insurance company will not be fair in negotiations, we will proceed to litigating the case and setting up a trial. During this time, both parties continue negotiating.
• Mediation — Mediation is often the last option for a settlement before trial. In mediation, a neutral third party listens to arguments from both sides and tries to break the stalemate.
• Pre-Trial — If mediation fails, the “discovery” phase begins. In this phase, 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 just before trial begins. 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:
  • Voir dire
  • Opening statements
  • Testimony and cross-examination
  • Closing arguments
  • Jury instruction
  • Jury deliberation and verdict

Most people who speak with our Hickory Hills, IL personal injury lawyers have never been through the personal injury claims process 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 documentation, negotiation and litigation so you can spend your energy on healing.

What Types of Compensation Are Available in My Hickory Hills, IL Personal Injury Claim?

In general, there are two types of damages you can seek in a personal injury claim: economic damages and non-economic damages:

• Economic damages compensate you for your financial losses related to your injuries, including:
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning potential if your injuries do not allow you to earn a living as you used to
  • Medical costs, 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 liable harmed you intentionally or they were grossly negligent. 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 possible to get you the best possible financial recovery.

What Is the Time Limit for Personal Injury Claims in Hickory Hills, IL?

In Illinois, the statute of limitations is shorter than most states at just two years, under 735 ILCS 5/. That means the clock starts ticking when your accident occurs, and expires after two years. However, there are three notable exceptions:

1. If you were under 18 at the time of injury, you have two years to file a claim after your 18th 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 seem like a long time, thoroughly investigating an injury and developing a legal strategy takes time. Do not wait to contact an attorney. Call a personal injury lawyer today at (779) 800-HURT.

Other types of claims we get great results in in Hickory Hills, 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 Hickory Hills, IL Now

Burger Law’s Hickory Hills, IL personal injury lawyers hold ourselves to the standard of zealous representation. That means we start working for your recovery immediately, investigate your case thoroughly, stand up to insurance companies on your behalf and do not give up until you are awarded the full compensation you deserve. We offer the highest standard of legal advocacy; 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 Hickory Hills, 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 Hickory Hills, IL personal injury lawyer now at (779) 800-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation.