An injury caused by someone else can impact work, family routines, and finances in a matter of moments. You should not have to sort out the insurance claim alone while you recover.
At Abels & Annes, P.C., our Evanston personal injury lawyers represent people hurt in Evanston and the surrounding areas after car crashes, pedestrian and bicycle collisions, rideshare accidents, falls on unsafe property, and other injuries caused by another person's carelessness.
Our Evanston office is at 2822 Central St #300, and our attorneys handle cases filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, including the Skokie courthouse that serves Evanston. We offer free consultations 24/7. No Fee Unless You Win.
Call (312) 924-7575 to talk with our team about what happened.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation Today!
Table of contents
- Types of Injury Cases We Handle in Evanston
- What Makes an Evanston Injury Claim Different?
- How Does a Personal Injury Claim Progress When You Work With Abels & Annes, P.C.?
- What Compensation Can You Pursue After an Injury in Evanston?
- Why Choose Abels & Annes, P.C. for an Evanston Injury Claim?
- FAQs About Evanston Personal Injury Claims
- Talk to an Evanston Personal Injury Lawyer at Abels & Annes, P.C. Today
Types of Injury Cases We Handle in Evanston
If your injury arose from a vehicle crash, an unsafe property condition, or another person's negligence in or around Evanston, our attorneys can review it. We represent people hurt in car crashes in Evanston, including collisions with rideshare drivers and commercial trucks.
We also represent pedestrians struck in Evanston by drivers who failed to yield, and people who suffered slip-and-fall injuries on icy walkways, broken stairs, or poorly lit property. Here’s a quick summary of our Evanston practice areas and the types of claims we handle.
| Type of claim | Evanston practice area |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle crashes | Car accidents, truck accidents, bus accidents, motorcycle accidents, drunk driving accidents, distracted driving accidents |
| Rideshare | Uber accidents, Lyft accidents, ridesharing accidents |
| People outside a vehicle | Pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, train accidents |
| Unsafe property | Slip and fall, premises liability |
| Serious injuries | Traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, burn injury, catastrophic accidents |
| Family members | Child injury, wrongful death |
If your situation does not fit neatly into one category, call us anyway. Many claims involve more than one type of harm, such as a bicycle crash that leads to a brain injury, and we look at the full picture to explain your rights during our first conversation.
What Makes an Evanston Injury Claim Different?
An Evanston personal injury claim follows the same Illinois injury law as a Chicago claim, but the details of where it happened and who was involved often change how the case is built. Four issues often arise in Evanston cases:
- Which courthouse hears the case
- Whether a public body is involved
- Whether a rideshare driver was on the clock
- How the city's mix of drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians shapes the evidence
Where Is an Evanston Injury Lawsuit Heard?
Evanston sits in the Circuit Court of Cook County's Second Municipal District, which is based at the Skokie Courthouse on Old Orchard Road. This district hears civil suits for damages, including a personal injury lawsuit, with Law Division cases above $100,000 and Civil Division cases up to that amount.
Venue rules can place a case elsewhere in Cook County depending on the parties involved, so we confirm the right filing location before anything is filed. For you, the practical point is that your personal injury case stays in the local court system, and our attorneys travel to it.
What Changes When the City or a Transit Agency Is Involved?
Claims against public bodies follow a separate set of rules. The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act covers cities, park districts, school districts, and similar local government bodies, and it gives them defenses and a filing deadline that private parties do not have.
These are some Evanston situations where those rules can apply:
- A fall caused by a broken public sidewalk or a defect in a city street
- A crash involving a city vehicle, such as a maintenance truck or police car
- An injury on a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Purple Line platform or train, since the CTA has its own short filing deadline under Illinois law
- An injury at a public school, park, or beach facility
Under Section 3-102 of the Act, a local public entity must use ordinary care to keep its property reasonably safe, but it is liable only if it had actual or constructive notice of the unsafe condition in time to fix it. That notice question is often a key factor in how these cases are decided, so we move quickly to request maintenance records, prior complaints, and inspection logs.
Does It Matter If an Uber or Lyft Driver Caused the Crash?
Yes. The Illinois Transportation Network Providers Act sets insurance requirements that vary based on what the rideshare driver was doing at the time of the crash, so the first question in any Evanston rideshare case is the driver's app status.
| Driver's app status | Minimum liability coverage under 625 ILCS 57/10 |
|---|---|
| Logged on and waiting for a ride request | $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injury or death, plus 25,000forpropertydamage |
| Rideisacceptedthroughtheendofthetrip | 1,000,000 primary coverage for death, personal injury, and property damage |
Rideshare companies hold the trip records that answer this question, and they rarely share them without a formal request. We request the data early, along with the driver's own policy information, because the applicable coverage can determine how much is available to pay your claim.
How Do Campus, Lakefront, and Corridor Traffic Affect a Claim?
Evanston combines a large university campus, lakefront routes, and busy commercial corridors in a compact city, and that mix shows up in the evidence. Sheridan Road carries heavy traffic alongside Northwestern University's campus and the lakefront, while Green Bay Road and Central Street draw commuters, shoppers, and riders heading to transit stops.
In these areas, a single crash may involve a driver, a cyclist, a pedestrian in a crosswalk, and a rideshare vehicle. We look for traffic camera footage, business and residential security video, rideshare trip data, and witness accounts quickly, because private security video can be overwritten quickly.
How Does a Personal Injury Claim Progress When You Work With Abels & Annes, P.C.?
Our attorneys take over the legal work and the insurance contact so you can focus on medical care and your family. Every case moves at its own pace, but most follow the same basic path from the first call to a resolution.
- Free case review: you tell us what happened, and we explain whether you have a claim and what it would involve, at no cost.
- Investigation: we gather the police report, photos, video, witness statements, medical records, and any vehicle or property records that show who was at fault.
- Documenting your losses: we track medical bills, lost wages, and the ways the injury has changed your daily life, so the claim reflects the full harm.
- Insurance claim and negotiation: we present the claim to the at-fault party's insurer and negotiate for a fair settlement.
- Lawsuit, if needed: if the insurer will not make a fair offer, we file suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County and prepare the case for trial.
Throughout that process, you hear from your attorney directly. We meet by video, by phone, or in person at our offices, and our attorneys will travel to clients when getting to an office is hard.
What Compensation Can You Pursue After an Injury in Evanston?
An injured person in Illinois can seek compensation for financial losses and personal harm caused by someone else's negligence. A personal injury settlement may resolve the claim through compensation paid by the person or business responsible and their insurer. Illinois is an at-fault state, so the claim is made against the person or business responsible and their insurer.
Depending on the facts, a claim may include:
- Past and future medical bills, including surgery, therapy, and medication
- Lost wages and reduced ability to earn income in the future
- Pain and suffering and emotional distress
- Loss of normal life, such as giving up activities you could do before the injury
- Property damage, such as repairs to your car or bicycle
- In a death case, losses suffered by the surviving family
The value of any claim depends on the severity of the injury, the clarity of the evidence on fault, and the insurance coverage available. We explain those factors honestly at the outset rather than promising a number.
What If the Insurer Says You Share the Blame?
Insurers sometimes argue that the injured person was partly responsible in order to pay less. Illinois uses a modified comparative fault rule allowing an injured person to still recover some of their damages in many situations. We counter unsupported arguments with the evidence of what actually happened.
Why Choose Abels & Annes, P.C. for an Evanston Injury Claim?
Abels & Annes, P.C. is a Chicago personal injury firm with an office in Evanston, so clients on the North Shore have a local place to meet. Our attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay No Fee Unless You Win.
Our firm and our founder, Dave Abels, have been recognized by several prestigious groups:
- Super Lawyers Top 100 (Thomson Reuters)
- AVVO rating of 10.0, Superb
- Membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Our past case results include a $6,000,000 policy-limits recovery for the family of a cyclist struck by a garbage truck and a $4,500,000 recovery for a client who suffered a fractured femur and ankle when a commercial fence fell. Past results do not predict or promise the outcome of any future case, and every claim depends on its own facts.
If you were hurt in Evanston and want to know where your claim stands, call (312) 924-7575 for a free consultation.
FAQs About Evanston Personal Injury Claims
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost in Evanston?
At Abels & Annes, P.C., an Evanston personal injury case costs nothing up front. The firm works on a contingency fee, so there is No Fee Unless You Win, and the fee comes from the recovery. Your attorney explains the fee agreement in writing before you sign anything.
Do I have to come to the Evanston office to meet with a lawyer?
No. Abels & Annes, P.C. attorneys meet clients by video, by phone, and in person, and they will travel to clients who cannot easily come in. A first phone call is often enough to understand your options.
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Illinois?
The Illinois statute of limitations is short. The deadline is even shorter when a city, park district, school district, or transit agency is involved. Exceptions can extend or shorten the deadline depending on the facts, so call (312) 924-7575 now so our attorneys can confirm the deadline in your case.
What if the driver who hit me in Evanston had no insurance?
You may still have a claim through your own auto policy. Illinois law requires auto liability policies issued in the state to include uninsured motorist coverage, which also applies to hit-and-run crashes. Our attorneys can bring a claim against your insurer and fight for fair payment.
Will my Evanston injury case have to go to trial?
Not necessarily. Many injury claims resolve through negotiation with the insurer, but some do not, and the decision to settle is always yours. Abels & Annes, P.C. prepares each case as though it may be tried, which gives the insurer a reason to take the claim seriously.
Talk to an Evanston Personal Injury Lawyer at Abels & Annes, P.C. Today
You do not have to decide anything on the first call. Tell us what happened, ask your questions, and leave with a clear picture of your options and potential next steps.
It helps to have a few things ready when you call, though none of them is required to get started:
- The police report number or the name of the department that responded
- Photos of the scene, your injuries, or the vehicle or property involved
- Names and contact details for any witnesses
- Any letters, emails, or claim numbers from an insurance company
- A list of the doctors, hospitals, or clinics where you have been treated
If you do not have these items, that is fine. Gathering the records is part of the work our team does for you once you decide to move forward.
Abels & Annes, P.C. has an office at 2822 Central St #300, Evanston, IL 60201. Free Consultations Available 24/7. Call (312) 924-7575 or contact our team online to schedule your free case review.