Abels & Annes, P.C. Chicago Injury Blog

When you have been injured in an accident and the other person is at fault, you should retain a personal injury attorney to represent you ASAP. Illinois uses a tort system to legally determine fault when an accident causes injuries. After an accident, you can file a claim with your own insurance company or the defendant’s insurance company. However, you should always keep in mind that any insurance company, even your own, is in business to make money. The insurance company is going to pay the least amount possible to get you to settle.  For that reason, it is always best to retain a personal injury lawyer to help you navigate the claims process.

Before You Contact an Attorney

Illinois has many personal injury lawyers ready to help you. So, how do you choose the right lawyer? Before you contact an attorney, you should do some due diligence to make sure you pick the right attorney for your case. Most importantly, you should try to figure out whether the attorney has experience representing people who have had similar accidents or injuries, and whether they have a good reputation and track record.

When you suffer injuries due to someone else’s negligence, bills may quickly become a serious concern. You may have medical bills pile up. You might miss time at work, leaving you without the income you need to take care of your regular expenses, much less any extra bills related to your injuries. Depending on the extent of your injuries, you might not even know when you will be able to return to work.

With all those other financial burdens, hiring a personal injury attorney may seem completely out of reach, especially if you had an accident that resulted in a serious injury like spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, or amputation. Hiring a personal injury lawyer, however, typically costs nothing up front.  They only get paid if a financial recovery is made on your behalf.

Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer: Determining the Cost

You’ve been hurt or you lost a loved one in an accident and you know that you should find a personal injury lawyer to make sure your rights are fully represented. But how do you pick the right lawyer? Will the lawyer be good enough to get you the full amount of compensation you deserve? Does this lawyer handle cases like yours? Doing some research before you hire an attorney helps you make better choices when it comes to finding the right personal injury attorney.

Ask for Recommendations

Start by asking friends, relatives, and coworkers for recommendations. This doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily use any of the attorneys they recommend, but it gives you a place to start. Because there are so many attorneys to choose from, you’ll drive yourself up the wall trying to start without having some names to begin with. Try to gather the names of at least three or four personal injury attorneys.

If you were injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness, you have probably been told that you should speak to a personal injury attorney about your case. You may have even conducted some research and found a lawyer or two with whom you’d like to schedule an initial consultation. Now that you’re preparing for your consultation, you’re likely wondering what will happen at that consultation and what questions you should ask.

Don’t Fear the Initial Consultation

Before we get into the questions you should ask the lawyer at your initial consultation, let’s take a look at the initial consultation process, because many people are intimidated by the prospect of actually going to talk to a lawyer about their situation. The initial consultation is simply time that the lawyer will provide, typically for free, to evaluate your case and discuss your legal options. At the same time, it is a chance for you to speak to the lawyer, find out more about their experience with cases like yours, and to decide if this is a person that you feel confident about hiring to pursue your case throughout the legal process.

If you’ve been injured in an accident, you may be eligible for compensation for your injuries. But, as reported by the National Law Review, not every accident or injury requires the help of a personal injury lawyer. This blog post discusses some of the circumstances in which you should hire an attorney.

The Accident Was Caused by Someone Else’s Negligence

Personal injury claims hinge on the injured person’s ability to prove that the other party was negligent in causing their injury. Negligence is defined as the failure to behave with the level of care that an ordinary person would have exercised under the same circumstances. This failure is usually through taking some kind of negligent action, but can also sometimes be the person’s failure to act if they had a legal duty to do so. To establish negligence, the injured person must demonstrate that:

If you were injured because of someone else’s negligence, you may have the right to pursue a personal injury claim. That claim can provide valuable funds that make it possible for you to pay your medical bills, take care of your living expenses, and move forward with your life in the wake of the accident. Do you need a personal injury lawyer to help you with your case? Read on to learn more about the factors you should consider when you are thinking about hiring a personal injury lawyer.

When Do You Need a Personal Injury Attorney?

If you suffered serious injuries in an accident, a personal injury attorney can offer valuable advice about the compensation you should expect to receive based on the type of injury you suffered. Usually clients also find that a personal injury attorney can help them increase the compensation they receive for their injuries. Hiring a personal injury lawyer is more than just an added expense after an accident. An attorney is an advocate who can help the claims process move more smoothly.