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When Should You Contact a Personal Injury Attorney?
If another party injures you in the Chicago area – in a car accident or any other accident scenario – because that party was negligent, you will need the services and advice a Chicago personal injury attorney provides. You will also need to contact that attorney as quickly as possible.
In personal injury cases, comparative negligence determines how much compensation an injured victim may recover. What is comparative negligence, how does it work in Illinois, and how will it apply to your personal injury case?
Comparative negligence is the legal principle that determines what damages you may recover after an accident if you are partially responsible. If you qualify for compensation, you will need the assistance of a Chicago personal injury lawyer to help you recover that compensation.
What is Comparative Negligence?
Comparative negligence reduces the compensation that an injury victim may recover with a personal injury claim if the victim is partially at fault for an accident. The states use three different versions of comparative negligence.
Four states and the District of Columbia use “pure contributory negligence.” If you are even one percent at fault for an accident in a pure contributory negligence state, you cannot recover any compensation after the accident.
A “pure comparative fault” system, which is essentially the opposite of a pure contributory negligence system, is used by thirteen states. Under pure comparative fault, even if you are ninety-nine percent responsible for an accident, you may collect one percent of your damages.
In other words, under pure comparative fault, an injury victim’s damages after an accident are reduced by that victim’s percentage of fault for the accident.
How Does Comparative Negligence Work in Illinois?
Thirty-three states use a “modified comparative fault” model, and there are two versions. Illinois uses the version with the fifty-one percent rule. Under that rule, a plaintiff may recover damages only if the plaintiff is deemed less than fifty-one percent at fault for an accident.
If a plaintiff and defendant are deemed equally at fault, under the fifty-one percent rule, the plaintiff may recover fifty percent of the damages. But if the plaintiff’s share of the fault is fifty-one percent or higher, the plaintiff may not recover damages.
In other states, under the fifty percent rule, a plaintiff may not recover damages if that plaintiff is deemed fifty percent or more at fault for an accident. In other words, the plaintiff must be less at fault than the defendant to recover any damages.
How Does Comparative Negligence Limit the Compensation You May Recover?
An Illinois court or insurance company assesses each party’s percentage of fault for an accident, and your percentage of fault then reduces your compensation. Let’s say that your damages after an accident are $100,000, but you are deemed thirty percent at fault for the accident.
Your damages in this case would be reduced by thirty percent, so you would be allowed to recover only $70,000. However, if you are deemed fifty-one percent or more at fault for an accident in Illinois, you cannot recover any damages, and you’ll have no personal injury claim.
How Will an Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer Handle Your Claim?
Take your case to a Chicago personal injury attorney immediately after a medical provider treats you for your injury. Do not speak to the other party’s insurance company. That is your injury attorney’s job. The insurance company could twist anything you say and use it against you.
Your personal injury attorney will determine how and how seriously you were injured, examine the evidence and the medical records, and speak to any witnesses. Your injury attorney will then begin negotiations for the insurance payout you are entitled to by Illinois law.
Most personal injury claims in the Chicago area are resolved in out-of-court negotiations, but if the fault for an accident is in dispute or if no acceptable settlement amount is offered in the private negotiations, your Chicago personal injury lawyer will take your case to trial.
What Happens at a Personal Injury Trial?
To prove a defendant’s negligence at a personal injury trial, the plaintiff and his or her lawyer must demonstrate that:
- Under Illinois law, the defendant owed a “duty of care” to the plaintiff.
- The defendant negligently breached that duty.
- The defendant’s negligence caused the plaintiff’s injury or injuries.
- The defendant should compensate the plaintiff for his or her damages.
At trial, your personal injury lawyer will explain to a jury why the defendant should be held liable for your injuries. Your lawyer will then ask jurors to order the defendant’s insurance company to compensate you for your medical expenses, lost wages, and related damages.
What is the Deadline for Taking Legal Action?
With several narrow exceptions, the statute of limitations for injury claims in Illinois is two years from the date of the injury, but you must not wait two years – or even two weeks – to schedule an appointment with an Illinois personal injury lawyer.
Schedule a legal consultation immediately after a medical provider has examined, treated, and released you. Your lawyer needs to examine any evidence before it is contaminated, altered, or lost, and your lawyer also needs to meet with any witnesses before their memories fade.
But if you can’t work due to an injury and your medical expenses are mounting, how can you afford a personal injury lawyer? Do not let finances stop you from seeking justice. You will pay no lawyer’s fee to an injury attorney until you recover the compensation you need and deserve.
Take Your Injury Claim to Abdallah Law
If you are the injured victim of another party’s negligence, now or in the future, let Abdallah Law represent you. With decades of legal experience, we are award-winning injury lawyers who advocate for the rights of the injured and disabled in the Chicago area and across Illinois.
If you have been injured because another party was negligent – a driver, property owner, business, or government agency – a personal injury lawyer at Abdallah Law will fight effectively and forcefully for the compensation you are entitled to and the justice you need.
You can learn more – or begin the personal injury process now – by calling Abdallah Law at 312-229-0008 to schedule a no-cost, in-depth legal consultation. The team at Abdallah Law is prepared to handle your personal injury claim and advocate aggressively for your rights.
