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Premises Liability Lawyer in Illinois

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Premises Liability Lawyer in Chicago and Illinois

Premises liability lawyer in Chicago and Illinois. If you were seriously injured on someone else's property, you are owed compensation under the law. Call the Chicago-based Illinois personal injury lawyers of Burger Law at 312-500-HURT or contact us online for justice and maximum compensation.

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If you were injured because a property owner did not keep their property safe in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois, see how much your case may be worth by using our free personal injury calculator.

If you were injured by a property owner's negligence, get medical treatment immediately. Then call Burger Law. Our attorneys have over 80 years of combined litigation experience getting maximum compensation for our clients throughout Illinois. You did not ask to be injured, but with our dedicated team and extraordinary level of legal advocacy, you can be made whole again. The decision to hire a premises liability lawyer is a big one; you only have one chance to get a full financial recovery for your injuries. You deserve it, and we will not stop fighting until you receive it. To date, we have secured over $200 million in compensation for our clients in a wide range of personal injury cases. Let us handle the legal battle so you can focus on healing. Call a Burger Law Illinois premises liability lawyer today at 312-500-HURT for a free consultation.

Award-Winning Premises Liability Lawyers That Get Results

Award-Winning Illinois Premises Liability Lawyers That Get Results

To ensure you get full compensation, you need to put your case in the capable hands of a premises liability lawyer who has earned the respect of the Illinois legal community and knows how to get results. The many awards, honors and accolades Burger Law has received from other attorneys include:

  • Martindale-Hubbell Award — AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® from NexisLexis® – a significant achievement awarded to less 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.

When choosing a lawyer, you need to know that they have gotten results in similar cases before. You want to know that you are giving your case to the best possible lawyer, and that they are going to fight hard to make sure you get 100 percent of the recovery and compensation you deserve. A premises liability lawyer can say just about anything, but proving they are qualified is another matter entirely. Some of our recent premises liability case victories include:

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With your future hanging in the balance, you need a law firm you can trust—one with the legal knowledge and expertise to meet your legal needs as well as the compassion and resources to support you as you go through your case.

Burger Law has proven itself time and time again through each carefully represented case. The choice is clear. Hear what our previous clients are saying about us.

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“I was on a very uncertain footing with a previous law firm and found myself doing most of the leg work and receiving poor legal advice. I had little to no contact with my actual attorney and when I …”

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What Are Illinois' Premises Liability Laws?

What Are Illinois' Premises Liability Laws?

Under The Illinois Premises Liability Act, "possessors" of a property, meaning whoever owns it or controls it, generally have a duty of reasonable care to protect visitors from foreseeable injuries due to dangerous conditions on their property, by either fixing the hazard or by warning of its existence. This includes dangerous conditions that they either explicitly knew about or should have discovered through reasonable diligence. If the dangerous condition was "open and obvious," for example, a massive hole in the floor, a property owner generally does not owe you a duty of care.

Examples of a dangerous condition or known hazard can include:

  • Spills that are not cleaned up or are not marked with a warning sign
  • Potholes and broken pavement
  • Loose railings
  • Unsecured flooring
  • Unsecured extension cords
  • Damaged steps
  • Faulty doors
  • Slippery surfaces due to ice, snow, or water
  • Uneven walking surfaces
  • Poorly designed or maintained playground equipment
  • Bad building craftsmanship
  • Poor lighting
  • Falling debris
  • Broken locks or insufficient security measures
  • Pools without fencing or lifeguards on duty
  • Unrestrained animals
  • Poor electrical wiring

If you were misusing the property, for example, sliding down a banister or being on a part of the property you were not allowed to be on, the property owner or manager generally does not owe you a duty of care.

To prove a premises liability claim in Illinois, you must fulfill four conditions:

  1. That the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care
  2. That there was a dangerous condition on the premises
  3. That the party in possession of the property knew or should have known about it
  4. That they did not use reasonable care to warn, fix or discover the dangerous condition
  5. That the dangerous condition caused you injuries
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Two Exceptions to "Open and Obvious" in Illinois Premises Liability Laws

There are two exceptions to the "open and obvious" doctrine:

  1. The "Distraction" Exception

    In Ward v. K Mart Corp (185 Ill. App. 3d 153 (Ill. App. Ct. 1989)), the Illinois Supreme Court adopted a "distraction exception." If an owner thinks you may not appreciate the danger because you may be distracted by something else on the property, they still owe you a duty of reasonable care. For example, if a grocery store has signs on the wall promoting their sales, and you fell over an "obvious" condition because you were looking at the sign, you may still be able to receive compensation. The exception does not include self-created distractions, such as looking at your phone.

  2. The "Deliberate Encounter" Exception

    The second exception is when the danger may be open and obvious, but the benefits to proceeding outweigh the risks. In LaFever v. Kemlite Company (185 Ill. 2d 380 (Ill. 1998) 706 N.E.2d 441), the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that a property owner owed a duty of care to a man who slipped on slippery material near a dumpster. The condition was known to the injured man, but as it was the man's job to empty the dumpster, the owner should have known that it was necessary for him to encounter the waste.

If the hazard that injured you was open and obvious, but one of the above exceptions applies, you can still make an injury claim. Speak to a premises liability lawyer as soon as possible if you think one of the exceptions apples to your injuries.

Types of Visitors in Illinois Premises Liability Claims

Types of Visitors in Illinois Premises Liability Claims

The extent of the duty the possessor owes you depends on what type of visitor you are. In general, there are three types of visitors:

Invitees and Licensees

Invitees are people that are on the premises for business purposes, for example customers in a store or attendees of a sporting event, amusement park or movie theater. In short, invitees are there for the property owner's benefit. An invitee can also be someone on property open to the public.

A licensee is someone who is allowed to be on the premises, but not for the express financial benefit of the possessor. Common examples include social guests, a utility technician working on your property, someone you allow to hunt on your land for free or someone stopping into a restaurant just to use the bathroom.

Illinois law used to distinguish between invitees and licensees — and many states still do. However, since the current Illinois Premises Liability Act when into effect on September 12, 1984, that distinction has been abolished. Licensees are owed the same duty of care as invitees.

Trespassers

A trespasser is someone who enters a property without permission or an invitation. Because the possessor did not invite them to the property, the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions states that owners owe no duty to a trespasser, with some exceptions:

  • Once the trespasser's presence is known or should be known, an owner has a duty not to injure the trespasser willfully or wantonly.
  • If an owner knows there was an artificial structure that could cause serious bodily injury or death, and the owner knows or has to reason to believe trespassers would be on the property, they have a duty to warn against the condition.
  • If the owner is conducting activities, for example construction, and knows there is a trespasser who could become injured by the activity, they have a duty to try to avoid injuring the trespasser.
  • Under the common law concept of attractive nuisance, in some states, property owners can be held strictly liable – or automatically liable – if a dangerous condition entices a child onto the property and injures them. Examples of an attractive nuisance include swimming pools, trampolines, ladders or power tools. In Kahn v. James Burton Co. (5 Ill. 2d 614 (Ill. 1955) 126 N.E.2d 836), the Illinois Supreme Court rejected strict liability in attractive nuisance cases. Instead, owners could be held liable based on standard negligence and the relative cost of fixing the issue. To make a premises liability claim for a child under attractive nuisance, you must show that:
    • The owner had reason to believe a child may come onto the property,
    • The nuisance could cause harm to a child
    • A child would not be expected to understand the risks, and
    • The cost of remedying the danger or restricting access was relatively low

If you are unsure what your visitor status was at the time of the accident or are unclear about whether the possessor of the property met their duty of care to you or if they were negligent, your knowledgeable premises liability lawyer with Burger Law will help you make sense of your situation and get you the best possible legal outcome in your situation. Speak to an Illinois premises liability attorney about your case today at 312-500-HURT or fill out our online form.

Common Premises Liability Injuries

Common Premises Liability Injuries in Illinois

We have gotten maximum compensation for our Illinois clients with a variety of premises liability injuries, including:

How Can an Illinois Premises Liability Lawyer Help Me?

How Can an Illinois Premises Liability Lawyer Help Me?

Premises liability claims are vigorously defended against by Illinois insurance companies. They may try to blame you for your injuries, or say that the possessor did not owe you a duty of care. An experienced premises liability lawyer in Illinois like those will not let them get away with avoiding their obligation to compensate you. An Illinois premises liability lawyer can help level the playing field against a powerful insurance company. When you hire us, we will immediately get to work demanding full compensation. As part of our legal services we will:

  • Fully investigate your accident and determine who is at fault
  • Obtain evidence such as employee and eyewitness testimony, accident reports, photographs, video surveillance and expert testimony
  • Identify how a property owner or manager did not take reasonable steps to ensure their property was safe
  • Take depositions of employees, eyewitnesses and other people whose testimony may aid in your claim
  • Calculate the full extent of your damages, including your medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering and emotional distress, to ensure you get the best compensation possible
  • Fight back against dishonest tactics from the insurance company trying to devalue your claim
  • Negotiate a settlement with the insurance company
  • Keep you up-to-date on the status of your case and answer any questions you may have
  • Take the fight to trial if we cannot get you the full compensation you deserve in negotiations

We have earned both our stellar reputation and our clients' great recoveries through hard work, diligence, extraordinary ethics and a "never back down" mentality. We do not stop fighting until there is nothing left to fight.

Results

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$113,714,632 Missouri Correctional Officers Class Action

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FLSA Fair Labor Standards Act

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$5,000,000 Settlement - Father Killed by Reckless Truck Driver

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$5 Million


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$3 Million Judgment - Son Murdered by Pam Hupp

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Wrongful Death

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$2.5 Million Settlement for Father's Fatal Car Accident

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$2.5 Million


Wrongful Death

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Multi-Car Crash Caused by Debris from Commercial Truck - $2,000,000 Settlement

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$2 Million


Truck Accident

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Injured Woman Settles Highway Crash Lawsuit - $2,000,000 Settlement

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$2 Million


Truck Accident

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Resources to Help With Your Illinois Premises Liability Claim

Resources to Help With Your Illinois Premises Liability Claim

Most people who come to us have never had to deal with making an injury claim before, and are not sure how to proceed, or even how to know which lawyer to hire. Fortunately, our firm has literally written the book on essential questions to ask before picking a lawyer or settling your case, which you can download for free below.

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Essential Questions


When you have a personal injury case, it is important to hire an experienced lawyer you can trust. Make sure you are asking the right questions to help you make your decision.

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We also provide a number of other free resources on our website.

Premises Liability FAQS

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What Are the Most Common Types of Illinois Premises Liability Claims?

What Are the Most Common Types of Illinois Premises Liability Claims?

At Burger Law, we fight for the rights of people seriously injured in a variety of premises liability claims in Illinois, including:

If you were injured on someone else's property because of the possessor's negligence, you need to be compensated, no matter the circumstances. Never believe an insurance company or property owner when they say they do not have to pay you.

Illinois Premises Liability Lawyer: Frequently Asked Questions

Illinois Premises Liability Lawyer: Frequently Asked Questions

How Much is My Premises Liability Claim Worth?

How Much is My Premises Liability Claim Worth?

The true value of your claim depends on the specifics of your claim:

  • The extent of your injuries and how much they have affected you financially, physically and mentally
  • If your injuries resulted in permanent or long-lasting consequences
  • Whether you will need future medical treatment
  • Whether or not you contributed to your injuries
  • The insurance coverage's policy limits, and whether there is more coverage available

Your Illinois premises liability lawyer at Burger Law will be able to ensure that no money is left on the table when settling your claim.

Can I Still Receive Compensation if I Was Partially to Blame for Injuries?

Can I Still Receive Compensation if I Was Partially to Blame for My Injuries?

Yes. Your premises liability lawyer will still be able to help you get compensation, although the amount will be less. Illinois is a modified contributory fault state, which means that you will be compensated for the percentage of the accident that is not your fault.

Meaning, if a jury awards you $100,000 in damages, but finds that you share 30 percent of the blame for your injury, you will receive $70,000. It is important to note that 735 ILCS 5/ §2-1116 states that:

The plaintiff shall be barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is more than 50 percent of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought.

That means that if you are over 50 percent to blame for the accident, you will not be able to recover any compensation in Illinois. Your Burger Law premises liability lawyer will know how to prove that you are not responsible for the harm someone else caused.

How Long Do I Have to File a Premises Liability Claim?

How Long Do I Have to File a Premises Liability Claim in Illinois?

In Illinois, the statute of limitations is relatively short at two years for most personal injury claims, according to 735 ILCS 5/. That means you must file a claim within two years of when the injury occurred. However, there are two 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."

Following an injury that happened because of somebody else's negligence, there is no time to wait. You only have one opportunity to receive full compensation, and the clock is already ticking. Do not delay, call us today at 312-500-HURT.

What if I Was Injured at a Friend or Family Member's House?

What if I Was Injured at a Friend or Family Member's House?

If you were injured as a guest in somebody else's home, you should still file a claim with their insurance company. While the idea of "suing" a family member or friend is awkward at best, in reality you are merely insisting that their insurance cover the expenses related to your injuries as they are supposed to. The reason we have insurance and pay into it is to keep ourselves and those we love safe in the unfortunate event of an injury. Any close friend or family member should want to see you fairly compensated for your damages.

Can I Sue a Government Entity in Illinois for Premises Liability?

Can I Sue a Government Entity in Illinois for Premises Liability?

Generally, the Illinois State Lawsuit Immunity Act prohibits the state from being named the defendant in an injury claim. However, the Illinois Court of Claims Act allows you to make a claim against the state for damages that could also be sought against a private entity. So, the state has the same duty to warn against or fix dangerous conditions on public lands, such as sidewalks or parks, as any other property owner would be.

Instead of a two-year statute of limitation, claims against the government must be filed within one year of the injury. There are also special instructions for filing your claim with the State Attorney General and Clerk of the Court of Claims. By contacting an experienced premises liability lawyer, you can ensure your claim is filed correctly.


Speak to a Premises Liability Lawyer in Illinois Today

Hire Burger Law

Speak to Premises Liability Lawyer in Chicago and Illinois Today

Property owners and their insurance companies will not always be willing to fairly compensate you for the injuries their negligence caused. Burger Law knows how to fight back. We stand up to bullies like resistant insurance companies and people who do not want to take responsibility for their actions every day. We know you did not expect to be injured, but, with Burger Law, you can expect full compensation and the best possible results in your claim. We demand nothing but the highest financial recovery, and offer nothing but the highest standard of legal advocacy. Call a Burger Law Illinois premises liability attorney today at 312-500-HURT or fill out our online contact form for a free consultation.

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About BL Content Area

"I've dedicated my entire life to helping our clients receive full compensation for their injuries."

Gary Burger | Attorney


Gary K. Burger, Jr. stands up against bullies. He devotes his practice to helping the injured and their families recover. He protects the futures of those who have been injured due to other people's actions by demanding full financial compensation, holding reckless people accountable and making our community safer through advocacy and volunteer work.

Gary Burger has tried and won many complex civil litigation cases for his clients in many areas: medical malpractice, products liability, employment discrimination, auto crashes, motorcycle and truck cases, premises liability, class actions and consumer fraud. He also tries and wins cases in commercial litigation, probate, workers compensation and administrative and arbitration hearings.

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