Chicago Heights Personal Injury Lawyer

Chicago Heights Personal Injury Attorneys

Were you severely injured in a car accident or suffered harm by a defective product? Did you lose a loved one through a wrongful death caused by another’s negligence? You likely have the right to seek financial compensation.

The personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers represent injured victims and have helped them recover over $250 million on their behalf. We treat our clients respectfully and negotiate directly with the insurance claims adjusters for maximum monetary recovery.

Call our law offices today at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or through the contact form to schedule a free consultation. All information you share with our personal injury lawyers remains confidential through an attorney-client relationship.

Chicago Heights, Illinois Statistics and Facts

Calling itself the ‘Crossroads of the Nation’, Chicago Heights is a suburb Windy City community with a hometown flair in Cook County, Illinois.

During the 1890s, Charles Wacker and other Chicago developers established the industrial suburban Chicago Heights area and recruited Inland Steel and other heavy industries to build Hotel Victoria. By 1920, the population grew to nearly 20,000 due to community growth and development.

Chicago Heights residents included Irish, Lithuanian, Slovic, Polish, Italian, and African-American workers employed in the city’s heavy industries. The downtown area and a 15-mile radius bustled with entertainment, transportation, banking, and retail stores.

During the 1940s, Chicago Heights factories helped the war effort by producing chemicals and steel that launched a residential expansion on the west and north sides of the city.

Despite its relaxed and friendly style, the city’s residents nonetheless need qualified and experienced Chicago Heights personal injury lawyers from time to time. The fact is that a severe personal injury can occur in the blink of an eye.

For example, a law-abiding motorist can instantly face significant injuries and losses due to another driver’s negligence or carelessness. Such a traumatic event necessitates the services of Chicago Heights personal injury lawyers to protect an injured motorist’s rights and interests.

Defining Personal Injury

According to civil tort law, personal injury is a term built on tort law that provides a compensating avenue for the injured party to seek monetary recovery from those responsible for the harm.

Filing a personal injury lawsuit is essential in getting back on track during and after healing. The injured party can seek compensatory damages to cover their medical bills, lost wages, future lost earnings, and other expenses that should be paid by those who caused the accident, incident, or injury.

Any victim injured in an automobile accident, nursing home abuse, or through a medical mistake likely has two troubling questions including:

How much will a Chicago Heights personal injury attorney cost?

The short answers to both questions depend on the severity of the victim’s injuries and whether they are hiring a contingency fee attorney.

How severe are the victim’s injuries?

Sometimes, the victim slipped, fell outside the grocery store, and sustained minor bruises or scrapes. Maybe the victim was involved in a minor fender bender with no physical injuries and minimal cosmetic damage to the vehicle.

However, imagine falling on a hard surface, leading to concussions and broken bones, or a catastrophic accident that leaves the victim with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage (paralysis), and punctured organs.

All victims, including those that sustain minimal harm, have the right to seek a monetary recovery. However, the claims process can be complicated, requiring the skills of a personal injury attorney with years of experience in developing the best strategies to pursue a case.

The injured party should never enter into a signed or verbal agreement for financial settlement without discussing the case’s value with a personal injury lawyer.

A Chicago Heights personal injury attorney can ensure that the insurance company does not deny their client’s claim but makes a good-faith offer. The personal injury lawyer will investigate what happened, determine who bears liability, and file a claim against all potential defendants.

A personal injury attorney working on behalf of their client can establish every party at fault for causing the damage. In a truck accident case, potential defendants could include the truck driver, the trucking company, the truck manufacturer, tire maintenance crews, or others.

Potential defendants in a medical malpractice case could include the doctor, nurse, other healthcare professionals, hospital, medical center, pharmaceutical company, or medical device manufacturer.

Typically, the plaintiff’s Illinois legal team will base the extent of compensation on the defendant’s insurance policy limits, especially in cases involving egregious injuries and fatalities.

A Low Settlement Offer

It’s not uncommon for an insurance carrier to adhere to company policy while failing to consider the victim’s needs when making a settlement offer to resolve a case. The claims adjuster often contacts the injured victim within days after the accident or incident, providing a nearly immediate settlement offer.

However, the amount they offer is usually the minimum they can pay. If the victim accepts the offer in the days or weeks following the accident, they likely have not determined the full extent of their injuries and losses. They will not receive additional funds for future hospitalization costs, lost wages, or other expenses.

Alternatively, an injured victim that hires a personal injury lawyer can ensure that their interests are protected. The same applies to any family member filing a wrongful death lawsuit after losing a loved one through someone else’s negligence.

Time is of the Essence in Pursuing an Accident Case

Were you injured in an automobile accident in or around Chicago Heights? The Illinois statute of limitations restricts the time to file a claim or lawsuit against any potential defendant to two years from the time of the incident.

Allowing the statute of limitations to expire past the deadline forfeits your legal right ever to file a lawsuit or pursue a claim. Under Illinois law, a person generally must file a lawsuit for monetary recovery for damages and injuries from a vehicle accident no later than two years after the collision.

However, exceptions to this rule may exist in a particular situation, especially in medical malpractice and child abuse cases. Only experienced Chicago Heights personal injury lawyers can provide appropriate guidance.

Types of Compensation for Injury Claims

All automobile accidents present unique situations for an injured motorist. A qualified personal injury attorney is in the best position to spell out precisely the type of compensation available to a person following an automobile accident in Chicago Heights or elsewhere in Illinois.

With that noted, certain types of compensation for injuries and damages typically exist after a car crash. A victim of another motorist’s negligence may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, pain, and suffering.

The compensation may include existing or current medical bills, pain and suffering, and future medical expenses, pain, and suffering. In addition, a victim of another motorist’s negligence may obtain compensation for lost wages.

As with medical expenses, this can include existing lost wages and earnings that are reasonably expected to be lost. Any person sustaining permanent injuries resulting from the negligent actions of another motorist may be unable to return to their job.

In some cases in Illinois, an injured victim may be entitled to punitive damages if a driver’s negligent conduct was particularly reckless.

Punitive damages represent an additional compensation above and beyond that awarded for actual losses (like medical expenses). As the name implies, this additional compensation punishes the negligent motorist for their reckless conduct.

Chicago Heights Personal Injury Lawyer FAQs

Our Illinois personal injury lawyers understand many families have unanswered questions about speaking with insurance companies and handling personal injury claims. A Chicago Heights personal injury lawyer has answered some of those questions below.

For additional information or to schedule a free consultation, contact our law firm at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or through the contact form. Our personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys accept cases throughout the United States and Illinois, including Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, Lake County, and Will County.

Protecting Rights and Interests With Chicago Heights Legal Representation From Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC

Did another’s negligent actions injure you, or did you lose a loved one through a preventable death? At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, personal injury lawyers can serve as your legal advocates to ensure you receive a maximum monetary recovery.

Call our Cook County law firm today at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or through the contact form to schedule a free consultation.

Many families cannot afford to hire a personal injury attorney. Because of that, every personal injury attorney accepts all cases through contingency fee agreements. No upfront fees are required until we resolve your case through a jury trial verdict or negotiated settlement.

Jonathan Rosenfeld and the personal injury law firm provide legal services and various practice areas, including auto accidents, nursing home abuse, medical malpractice, job-related work injury, truck accidents, workers’ compensation benefits, construction accidents, and wrongful death.

Resources:

• The City of Chicago Heights Website
• Chicago Heights Wiki