Articles Posted in Personal Injury

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Do you feel that your lawyer mishandled your personal injury case? If so, you may be able to pursue legal action against their law firm for Legal Malpractice.

Legal malpractice can take many forms…in general terms, it can be defined as negligent legal error, breach of contract, or breach of fiduciary duty by a lawyer or law firm.

If you or a family member are concerned your case may have been mishandled – or that you were in some way misrepresented or “cheated” – please contact our offices immediately.

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Three men who were badly injured during an explosion in a grain elevator in Chester, Illinois, were awarded $180 million.

The award was comprised of punitive damages totaling $100 million and compensatory damages for the remaining $80 million.

Compensatory damages will be roughly split among the victims in the following amounts: $41.5 million to John Jentz of St. Peter, Minnesota; $34 million to Justin Becker of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and $2.9 million to Robert Schmidt of Hutchinson, Minnesota.

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The family of one of the firefighters who died in a building collapse last year filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the buildings owners.

The building collapse claimed the lives of firefighters Corey Ankum and Edward Stringer last December. The firefighters had responded to a fire in an abandoned building on East 75th Street. The building’s roof sudden and unexpected collapse proved deadly.

Stringer’s daughter, Jennifer, 23, said “My dad, Edward Stringer, lost his life because of a negligent owner. Neither my father nor his comrade would have died that day if this building had been properly secured or better yet, torn down.”

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A personal injury lawsuit has been filed in response to an accident that occurred in a health club.

Olga Chernyavskaya claims that while she was exercising on September 26, 2009, at a Bally’s Total Fitness Club at 6821 W. Dempster Street in Morton Grove, Illinois, she was injured by a leg curl machine.

She claims in the lawsuit that the leg curl machine failed to stop when she stopped exercising, and it struck her in the face and shoulder.

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According to a story in today’s Chicago Sun-Times, titled “Man who lost leg in pothole crash may get $300k” a man who lost his leg after a car crash caused by a pothole may get a $300,000 settlement from the City of Chicago.

Zuriel Padilla was driving home on February 10, 2008 when the 1998 Chevrolet Camaro he was driving hit a pothole near Archer and Kedzie in the Southwest Side’s Brighton Park neighborhood.

The impact was severe enough to cause his car to jump the curb and crash into a fire hydrant. Padilla’s leg was severely injured from the accident and had to be amputated the following day.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry will sign the “loser pays” bill Wednesday. The measure, which will go into effect Sept. 1, will levy fees on unsuccessful plaintiffs and allowing meritless suits to be dismissed early in the process.

According to a July 27 CBS Local story on the subject, titled “Perry Signs ‘Loser Pays’ Bill Into Law” :

Perry made the measure a top priority for the Legislature, saying Texas needs to crack down on junk lawsuits.

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JERRY A. LATHEROW is the president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), P.O. Box 5000, Springfield, IL 62705, 800-252-8501. The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association is a statewide organization whose members specialize in representing injured consumers and workers. The objectives of ITLA are to secure and protect the rights of those injured in their persons or civil rights and defend trial by jury and the adversarial system of justice.

SOURCE Illinois Trial Lawyers Association:

We’ve all heard of the McDonald’s coffee case – the one where the elderly woman spilled coffee in her lap and sued McDonald’s for millions and won. This case happened nearly 20 years ago, but it’s still the butt of jokes and used as an example of how Americans supposedly take advantage of our legal system. It is the very case that tort reformers across the country refer to when making their case for civil justice “reform.”

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If you ever are in need of an Illinois Personal Injury attorney, choosing the right attorney can be a key determinant as to the outcome of your case.

Here are some questions you may wish to ask a Personal Injury attorney before hiring them to represent you:

  1. How long have you been a Personal Injury attorney? (It can take years of experience to get a valuable long-term perspective of case law interpretation in a geographic region. This experience can be a critical factor in determining how a case should be handled, as well as the possible worth of a case.)
  2. What is your niche or concentration within Personal Injury law? (Personal Injury law is broad – it can range from medical malpractice to auto injuries – so selecting a lawyer who is very familiar in your type of Personal Injury case is important.)
  3. Do you handle cases on a contingency fee basis?
  4. How much do you charge, and when will these fees be paid?
  5. What were some of your results in previous cases? (Although every case is different, it is good to ask this question to get a comfort level with previous settlements and monetary awards the lawyer has attained. Also, this question may help you greater understand how much your case may be worth)
  6. What are the most common types of compensation for the type of case that I have? (Each type of Personal Injury Case can have different types of compensation; it is important that you understand these different types.)
  7. How many current clients do you have, and how much time will you be able to spend on my case?
  8. Will you refer my case to another law firm once I become your client? (Some law firms will sign up cases and then refer them to other attorneys.)
  9. Who at your firm will I deal with, an attorney or a law clerk or paralegal? (Make sure you know how the firm operates, so that your case gets the attention it deserves from an actual attorney.)
  10. Does your law firm have extensive litigation experience? (Can the lawyer go before a jury and convince them of the merits of your case?)
  11. Is your law firm well-known in the legal community? Do defense attorneys respect (and fear) the lawyer?
  12. Is your firm aggressive? (Will they push to get the case resolved quickly – with just compensation – or will the case languish due to inaction as the statute of limitations erodes?)
  13. Will you come to my home or hospital room or do I have to travel to your offices regardless of the inconvenience this may cause me?
  14. From the start of my case, will you prepare the case for a trial or take the shorter path of a settlement?

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