Personal Injury Statistics

Outside of criminal law, personal injury litigation might be the biggest domain of our courts. It dwarfs most other variants of civil lawsuits and is easily one of the most recognizable fields of our legal system. But what is it? Most laymen only have a casual understanding and suffice it to use hackneyed terms like “ambulance chasers.”

However, a more meaningful understanding is necessary because personal injury litigation is so commonplace and consequential. That begins with knowing the facts and here are some of them:

• About half of all personal injury litigation involves automobile accidents.
• Nearly one in five personal injury cases involve medical malpractice.
• A little under 10% of all personal injury lawsuits involve product liability claims.
• In automobile accident cases, plaintiffs win well more than half the time; in intentional injury cases, plaintiffs win approximately half the time; and in medical malpractice cases, plaintiffs win a little under 20% of the time.
• In terms of case length, personal injury cases can take anywhere from one to two years roughly; car accident cases themselves take on average between 19 and 20 months; medical malpractice cases can take as much as two and a half years; and intentional tort cases take nearly two years.
• Trials for most personal injury lawsuits can take significant time and have seen to go on for as much as a few weeks.

• In terms of recovery, the median award is approximately $30,000 but that is nearly 20 times more for medical malpractice, product liability, and other kinds of personal injury lawsuits. Even intentional tort and premises liability cases average around $100,000.
• The median award for personal injury cases in Illinois is roughly 20% greater than it is for other states around the country.
• The rate of personal injury cases in Illinois is higher than in other states around the country.
• The most popular counties for personal injury litigation in Illinois are Cook County, Lake County, Will County, and McHenry County.
• The average recovery for plaintiffs in Illinois personal injury cases is more than $1,000,000.

If you have been injured because of the wrongdoing of another, whether it was intentional or accidental, then you need to speak with Illinois personal injury attorneys as soon as you can. They can help you conduct the investigation to gather the facts and evidence that will be needed to pursue your claim for relief.

Furthermore, they can expeditiously file your case. Don’t forget that you only have two years from the date of the injury to sue the appropriate parties. This time can go by faster than you think so it is important to have expert counsel swiftly moving to make your case.

Finally, they will be able to advise you of all of your rights as well as how to preserve them during the pendency of the suit so that they do not perish. This includes speaking with opposing counsel and any other relevant parties.