Premises Liability Lawyer in St. Clair County, IL

Premises liability lawyer in St. Clair County, IL. If you were seriously hurt on someone else’s property, you deserve a full financial recovery. Call the St. Clair County, IL personal injury lawyers of Burger Law at (618) 500-HURT or contact us online for a no-risk, no-obligation case evaluation.

If you were injured because a property owner did not keep their property safe in St. Clair County, IL, discover how much your case may be worth by filling out our free personal injury calculator.

If you were injured because of a property owner’s negligence, get medical attention immediately. Then, contact Burger Law. Our firm has over 30 years of litigation experience holding negligent people in St. Clair County, IL responsible for their actions. You did not deserve 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 an important one; you only have one chance to get a full financial recovery for your accident. You deserve it, and we will insist that you get it. Over our 30 years of practice, we have gotten more than $200 million in compensation for our clients in a wide range of personal injury cases. Let us deal with the insurance company so you can focus on your physical recovery. Reach out to a Burger Law St. Clair County, IL premises liability lawyer now at (618) 500-HURT for a free consultation.

Recognized Leaders in Premises Liability Claims

It can be hard to know how to choose the best personal injury lawyer for you. You want someone who has won your type of case before 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 take into account the cases they have won, and their reputation among their clients and peers. The numerous awards, honors and accolades Burger Law has received from other attorneys include:

• Martindale-Hubbell Award — AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® from NexisLexis® – a notable achievement awarded to less than 5 percent of all attorneys nationwide
• 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 American Bar Association accredited certification board.

Any premises liability lawyer can say they’ll fight for you, but having a proven track record of success is another matter entirely. Some of our recent premises liability case victories include:

• $1.435 Million Settlement Against Three Defendants For Deck Collapse That Injured Couple
• Widow in ATV Accident Settles with Property Owner – $600,000 Settlement
• $400,000 Settlement in Employer Sexual Harassment Case
• $350,000 Settlement in Ladder Case
• $300,000 Settlement for Slip and Fall Case
• $270,000 Settlement For Construction Site Bike Accident
• $250,000 Slip and Fall Settlement
• $250,000 Settlement in Icy Slip and Fall Suit
• $232,000 Workers’ Compensation Settlement
• $150,000 Settlement On the Eve of Trial
• $125,000 Slip and Fall Success
• $125,000 Settlement in Trip and Fall Case
• $125,000 Settlement in Auditorium Fall
• $120,000 Settlement For Gateway Arch Worker Injured on Tram
• $117,500 Slip and Fall Settlement
• $0 to $70,000 in Parking Lot Injury Claim

Elements in an Illinois Premises Liability Claim

Pursuant to The Illinois Premises Liability Act, the owner or occupier of a property typically has a duty of reasonable care to keep people legally on their property from foreseeable injuries due to dangerous conditions on the premises, by either repairing the dangerous condition or by notifying guests that its there. That can mean dangerous conditions that they either had direct knowledge of or should have discovered through reasonable diligence. If the dangerous condition was “open and obvious,” for instance, a massive hole in the floor, a property owner may not owe you a duty of care.

Examples of a dangerous condition are:

• Spills that are not mopped up or are not marked with a warning sign
• Potholes
• Loose railings
• Unsecured flooring
• Unsecured cables
• Damaged stairs
• Broken or malfunctioning doors
• Slippery surfaces due to ice, snow, or water
• Uneven walking surfaces
• Poorly designed or repaired playground equipment
• Poor building craftsmanship
• Insufficient lighting
• Falling debris
• Broken locks or inadequate security measures
• Pools without fencing or lifeguards on duty
• Aggressive animals
• Poor electrical wiring

If you were misusing the property, for example, sprinting through the property or being on a part of the property you were not allowed to be on, the property owner or manager usually does not owe you a duty of care.

To prove a premises liability claim in St. Clair County, IL, you must demonstrate 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

Are There Any Exceptions to to “Open and Obvious” in Illinois Premises Liability Laws

There are two exceptions to the “open and obvious” doctrine:

1. The “Distraction” ExceptionIn Ward v. K Mart Corp (185 Ill. App. 3d 153 (Ill. App. Ct. 1989)), the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the state would apply a “distraction exception.” If an owner should predict that you may not notice the danger because another aspect of the premises may be distracting, they still need to repair or guard against the hazard. For example, if a retail store has posters on the wall with information on their current discounts, and you tripped because you were not looking at the ground, you may still be able to file a claim. The exception does not apply self-created distractions, for example looking at your phone.
2. The “Deliberate Encounter” ExceptionThe second instance in which “open and obvious” does not apply is when the dangerous condition may be easily discovered, but the person on the property has good reason to proceed. In LaFever v. Kemlite Company (185 Ill. 2d 380 (Ill. 1998) 706 N.E.2d 441), the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the person in charge of a property owed a duty of care to a worker who fell because of slippery surfaces near a dumpster. The hazard was obvious, but because the man had to empty the dumpster as part of his employment, the owner should have known that it was necessary for him to encounter the material.

Types of Visitors in St. Clair County, IL Premises Liability Claims

How much responsibility the possessor owes you is based on what type of visitor you are. In Illinois, there are three types of visitors:

Invitees and Licensees

Invitees are people that are on the premises for business purposes, for example diners at a restaurant or people who go to a movie theater. People on public land, such as libraries or parks, are also considered invitees.

A licensee is someone that is on the premises with the consent of the possessor, but not for business purposes. Common examples include social guests, a utility company employee working on your property, someone you allow to hunt on your property for free or someone stopping into a store just to ask for directions.

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, invitees and licensees have the same protections under the law.

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:

• If a property owner knows or should know that a trespasser is on the premises, they cannot purposefully harm the trespasser.
• If an owner knew there was a man-made structure that could seriously injure a trespasser, and the owner knew or should have known of a trespasser’s presence, they have a duty to warn against the condition.
• If the owner is conducting activities, for example yard work, and knows that activity could harm a trespasser, they have a duty to try to avoid injuring the trespasser.
• According to the common law theory of attractive nuisance, in some states, property owners can be held strictly liable – or automatically liable – if a child comes onto the property because of a dangerous condition that might be attractive to a child and the child is hurt. Examples of an attractive nuisance include swimming pools, trampolines, abandoned wells or high-voltage power lines. In Kahn v. James Burton Co. (5 Ill. 2d 614 (Ill. 1955) 126 N.E.2d 836), the Illinois Supreme Court deemed that strict liability does not apply to 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 demonstrate:
  • 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 danger, and
  • The cost of protecting the child from the danger was relatively low

If you do not know what type of visitor you were when you were injured, 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. Talk to a premises liability lawyer in St. Clair County, IL about your claim now at (618) 500-HURT or fill in online form.

Common Premises Liability Injuries in St. Clair County, IL

We have gotten great results for our St. Clair County, IL clients with a variety of injuries sustained on someone else’s property, including:

• Broken bones
• Back, neck and spine injuries
• Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries
• Burns
• Electric shocks
• Ankle, knee and shoulder injuries

How Can a Premises Liability Lawyer in St. Clair County, IL Help Me?

Insurance companies fight back hard against premises liability claims. They may try to blame you for your injuries, or say that the possessor did not owe you a duty of care. A knowledgeable premises liability lawyer in St. Clair County, IL like those at Burger Law will not let that happen. A premises liability lawyer in St. Clair County, IL 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 the circumstances surrounding your injuries and ascertain who is liable
• Gather evidence such as depositions from witnesses and others who know of the dangerous condition, accident reports, photographs, video surveillance and depositions from expert witnesses
• Determine how a property owner or manager did not take reasonable steps to ensure their property was safe
• Compute how much your claim is worth, including your medical expenses, wages you lost from time off work recovering, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering and mental anguish, to ensure you get the best compensation possible
• Resist dishonest tricks from the insurance adjuster attempting to avoid paying you
• Negotiate a settlement with the insurance company
• Answer any questions you may have at any any point in the process
• Take the fight in front of a judge and jury if we cannot get you the fair financial recovery you deserve in negotiations

We have earned both our distinguished reputation and our clients’ great recoveries through hard work diligence and a “never back down” mentality. We do not stop fighting until there is nothing left to fight.

Resources to Help With Your Premises Liability Claim in St. Clair County, IL

Most people who come to us have never had to seek compensation for an injury before, and do not know how to go about making their claim, or even how to the right attorney for their case. Fortunately, we have literally written the book on the essential questions for a personal injury claim, which you can download for free below.

We also offer a variety of other free resources on our website.

• Illinois Personal Injury Resources
• How a Lawsuit Works
• Legal Glossary for Personal Injury Claims
• Legal Podcasts
• Premises Liability Blog

What Are the Most Common Types of St. Clair County, IL Premises Liability Claims?

Types of Premises Liability Claims We See Most Frequently in St. Clair County, IL

At Burger Law, we fight for the rights of people seriously injured in a variety of premises liability claims in St. Clair County, IL, including:

• Slip and falls
• Negligent security
• Claims against restaurants
• Assault and sexual assault
• Elevator and escalator accidents
• Fire and smoke injuries
• Grocery or retail store injuries
• School and daycare accidents
• Claims against bars and restaurant
• Claims against landlords
• Claims against hotels
• Swimming pool accidents
• Amusement park accidents
• Exposure to toxic chemicals or substances
• Dog bites and other animal attacks

If you were injured on someone else’s property because of the owner or manager’s negligence, you deserve to be compensated, no matter where or how your injuries occurred. Never believe an insurance company or property owner when they say they do not have to pay you.

St. Clair County, IL Premises Liability Lawyer: Frequently Asked Questions

How Much is My Premises Liability Claim Worth?

How much your injuries are worth depends on the specifics of your injuries:

• How serious your injuries are and how much they have affected you financially, physically and mentally
• If your injuries led to long-lasting consequences
• Whether you will need further surgeries or other medical expenses in the future
• Whether or not you are partially to blame for your injuries
• The policyholder’s policy limits, and whether there is more insurance available

Your St. Clair County, IL premises liability lawyer at Burger Law will not accept anything but full compensation when settling your claim.

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

You can still make a claim for compensation, although it will not be as much as if you shared no blame. 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 accident, you will receive $70,000. Keep in mind 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 share more of the blame than the other party, you will not be able to recover any compensation in St. Clair County, IL. Your Burger Law premises liability lawyer will know how to prove that you are not responsible for the harm someone else caused.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Premises Liability Claim in St. Clair County, IL?

In Illinois, the statute of limitations is shorter than most states at two years, according to 735 ILCS 5/. That means you must file a claim within two years of when the injury occurred. However, there are a couple of notable exceptions:

1. If you were under 18 when the injury occurred, you have until your 20th birthday.
2. If you had a “legal disability” at the time of your injury, you have two years from the date you are no longer under the disability.

Following an injury that happened because of somebody else’s negligence, act as soon as you can. You only have one chance to get a full financial recovery, and the clock is already ticking. Do not delay, call us as soon as possible at 312-500-HURT.

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

If you were injured at a friend or family member’s home, you should still file a claim with their homeowner’s insurance. While the notion of “suing” someone you love is nothing anyone wants to consider, the truth is the reason we have insurance 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 damage.

Can I Sue the State of Illinois or a Local Municipality in St. Clair County, IL for Premises Liability?

Generally, the Illinois State Lawsuit Immunity Act gives immunity to government entities. 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 property, such as roads or libraries, as any other property owner would be.

Instead of having two years to make a claim, claims against the state of Illinois must be filed within one year of the accident. There are also special instructions for filing your claim with the State Attorney General and Clerk of the Court of Claims. By hiring a capable premises liability lawyer, you can ensure everything goes smoothly.

In addition to premises liability, other claims we take on in St. Clair County, IL include:

• Truck Crash Lawyers in Illinois
• Wrongful Death Lawyers in Illinois
• Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer in Illinois
• Car Accident Attorney in Illinois

Hire Burger Law

Speak to a Premises Liability Lawyer in St. Clair County, IL Today

Property owners and their insurance companies will not always be willing to fairly compensate you for the injuries their negligence caused. Burger Law fights against 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 best possible financial recovery, and offer nothing but the highest quality legal advocacy. Call a Burger Law St. Clair County, IL premises liability attorney today at 312-500-HURT or fill out our online contact form to discuss your case for free.

Client Reviews

What our clients are saying about us

Juanita Matthews

Year of 2023

This law firm is absolutely amazing. They took on my case, when nobody else would! They fought hard for me when it seemed there was no hope. They kept me informed and always asked for my input before making decisions on my case. Gary puts himself into every case unlike most law firm owners. Gary and his team really care about every one of their clients, and fights hard to get you a fair settlement. They actually won my case out of court, and then reduced my fees to make sure I could get my car fixed and be able to get back to some normality. I would recommend Burger Law over and above any other firm! If you go somewhere else you aren’t getting the best!

Shaunda S.

7 months ago

I am very happy with the staff at Burger Law. I mostly worked with Michael Sheldon, and he did an amazing job. I trusted him completely with my case, and he did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this team if your ever in need of good attorneys.

Emelia M.

3 months ago

Burger Law Firm is fantastic. Laura and Genevieve were so amazing and helpful throughout the entire process. They helped me with my personal injury case every step of the way and succeeded at getting me the results I desired.

Helen L.

a year ago

We had a great experience with Burger Law for representing us after a serious car accident. Truly impressed by how professional and supportive the entire team is. And, many thanks to Genavieve and Laura – you are amazing!

Judy M.

a year ago

They did an amazing job on my case! Communication with them was great!!! Kept me informed and in the loop with everything that was going on!!! Will definitely be the 1st ones I’ll call if ever I’m in another accident!!! Thank you very much!!!

Chelsea C.

5 months ago

Let me tell you something about Burger Law.. they are so attentive and kind. Jennifer is my savior!! I love the whole team!!! They are truly a miracle team!! I appreciate their business and would recommend it to others.

David D.

2 months ago

Absolutely the best law firm in the St. Louis area. No matter the size of your case you are treated as if you are the only client on the roster. Will explain anything thoroughly and they work around your availability. Very impressed and appreciative of the service.

Lisa B.

11 months ago

Gary and Casey took great care of me for 2.5 years as my lawsuit was finally settled. I feel he helped me achieve justice for me and my 4 children after their father died from medical malpractice and neglect. Thanks to Gary, my kids now have a great start to their college and adult lives. Thank you Gary and Casey, for fighting for us so hard at our most trying and difficult time in our lives thus far. Love and God bless from my family to yours!

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