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 with respect and negotiate directly with the insurance claims adjusters on their behalf 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, residents of the city nonetheless find themselves in need of 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 legal 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 serves an essential role in getting back on track during and after the healing process. 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 is the case worth?

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?

In some cases, the victim slipped and 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 only 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 developing the best strategies to pursue a case.

The injured party should never enter into a signed or verbal agreement for financial settlement without first discussing the case's actual 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 instead 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, truck manufacturer, tire maintenance crews, or others.

In a medical malpractice case, potential defendants 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 that 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 yet determined the full extent of their injuries and losses and will not be receiving any 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 is true for any family member filing a wrongful death lawsuit after losing a loved one through someone else's negligence.

Time is of the Essence Pursuing an Accident Case

Were you injured in an automobile accident in or around Chicago Heights? The Illinois statute of limitations restricts the length of time you have 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 to obtain a monetary recovery for damages and injuries from a vehicle accident no later than two years after the collision.

However, some 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 in this regard.

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 the state of Illinois.

With that noted, certain types of compensation for injuries and damages typically exist in the aftermath of a car crash. A victim of another motorist's negligence may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses as well as 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 is the case with medical expenses, this can include existing lost wages and earnings that reasonably can be expected to be lost in the future. Any person sustaining permanent injuries resulting from the negligent actions of another motorist may not be able to return to their job in the future.

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

Punitive damages represent an additional amount of compensation above and beyond that awarded for actual losses (like medical expenses and so forth). As the name implies, this additional compensation is designed to punish 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.

Who can file a personal injury lawsuit?

A personal injury attorney, working on behalf of their client, can file a claim or lawsuit seeking compensation from every party responsible for causing the harm. A legal guardian or family member can file a civil lawsuit on behalf of a mentally incompetent or deceased loved one.

Others indirectly harmed through another person's negligent or intentional actions might have a cause of action in civil court. A personal injury lawyer can review the victim&'s case and determine what parties could be potential defendants in a civil lawsuit.

Can I file a personal injury case months after the accident?

The Illinois State Legislature has enacted the statute of limitations that controls the length of time the victim can file a personal injury lawsuit. Once the time restriction has expired, the court will likely dismiss the lawsuit and provide no additional method or recourse for the victim to obtain monetary recovery.

A personal injury attorney can evaluate the claim's merits, review the evidence, and assess when the accident victims' clock would expire past the statute of limitations. In some cases, especially medical malpractice lawsuits and childhood abuse, the potential plaintiff may have extended time to file a lawsuit based on their case&'s unique circumstances.

How is a personal injury victim compensated?

Typically, a personal injury attorney working on behalf of their client will ensure they receive compensatory damages from every party listed as a defendant in the case. Usually, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer will calculate the victim's compensatory damages, including hospitalization costs, medical bills, lost wages, future lost earnings, pain, and suffering.

Monetary recovery is usually available for victims who have been injured in car accidents, medical malpractice, slip and fall cases, defective products, dangerous medications, or accidents involving job-related work injuries.

An indirect victim can also be compensated for their damages, like a spouse that files a lawsuit to recoup their losses that might include losing their spouse's contribution to the family and household, a loss of affection, or loss of consortium.

What are punitive damages?

While compensatory damages provide monetary recovery to victims that covers their actual losses, punitive damages awarded by the court punish the perpetrator of the victim's personal injury. However, it does not compensate for the injured party's personal injury but serves as punishment for the defendant to change their harmful behavior.

Awarding punitive damages is rare in the justice system, except when the perpetrator egregiously harmed accident victims and failed to take action without legal intervention.

Do most insurance companies pay accident victims quickly?

Insurance companies tend to be notorious for attempting to delay the settlement of automobile accident claims. Typically, the claims adjuster will attempt to settle a car crash claim for a dollar amount well below what is necessary to compensate an injured motorist appropriately.

For these reasons, together with the complicated nature of Illinois personal injury laws, an injured motorist is wise to seek the professional assistance of personal injury lawyers to handle their case.

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

Were you injured by another's negligent actions, or did you lose a loved one through a preventable death? At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, the personal injury lawyers can serve as your legal advocates to ensure you receive 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.

We understand that many families cannot afford to hire a personal injury attorney. Because of that, every personal injury attorney accepts all cases through contingency fee agreements, meaning no upfront fees are required until we successfully 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.

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★★★★★

Jonathan Rosenfeld was professionally objective, timely, and knowledgeable. Also, his advice was extremely effective regarding my case. In addition, Jonathan was understanding and patient pertaining to any of my questions or concerns. I was very happy with the end result and I highly recommend Jonathan Rosenfeld. Michonne Proulx

Extremely impressed with this law firm. They took control of a bad motorcycle crash that left my uncle seriously injured. Without any guarantee of a financial recovery, they went out and hired accident investigators and engineers to help prove how the accident happened. I am grateful that they worked on a contingency fee basis as there was no way we could have paid for these services on our own. Ethan Armstrong

This lawyer really helped me get compensation for my motorcycle accident case. I know there is no way that I could have gotten anywhere near the amount that Mr. Rosenfeld was able to get to settle my case. Thank you. Daniel Kaim

Jonathan helped my family heal and get compensation after our child was suffered a life threatening injury at daycare. He was sympathetic and in constant contact with us letting us know all he knew every step of the way. We were so blessed to find Jonathan! Giulia

Jonathan did a great job helping my family navigate through a lengthy lawsuit involving my grandmother's death in a nursing home. Through every step of the case, Jonathan kept my family informed of the progression of the case. Although our case eventually settled at a mediation, I really was impressed at how well prepared Jonathan was to take the case to trial. Lisa

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