Suffering a serious injury in an accident can be a traumatic experience. Hospital visits, medical bills, missed work, and adjusting to permanent changes in lifestyle can be a lot to handle. The last thing you need is a fight with an insurance company to get compensation for your losses. A South Elgin personal injury lawyer could make your life easier. A compassionate attorney could take over the job of seeking an appropriate settlement and allow you to focus on readjusting to your life.
It is not only car crashes and truck accidents that can result from negligence. People can be injured while riding a bicycle, a motorcycle, or while walking across the road. A workplace accident can lead to a workers’ compensation claim, while a medical mistake might lead to malpractice. Other common accidents include defective products, hazardous property, dog bites, and catastrophic injuries that leave life-threatening or permanent harm.
If someone else’s negligence caused or contributed to the accident that injured a claimant, the negligent parties could be liable to pay the claimant’s damages. Damages are the objective and subjective losses the claimant suffered due to their injury.
Objective damages are called economic damages. These include medical expenses and lost income, as well as expenses the claimant incurred that they otherwise would not have had to pay if not for their injury. Projected future expenses could be included in an economic damages award if the injury will require medical care in the future or if the claimant’s condition will prevent them from returning to their job.
The subjective damages are called non-economic damages. These are awards of money to compensate for the suffering an injury caused, such as physical pain, disfigurement, mental anguish, or lost opportunities to enjoy life. A South Elgin civil suit lawyer could present testimony and other evidence showing how the injury impacted the plaintiff and their family in order to support a claim for non-economic damages.
Each state has laws restricting the timeframe in which a person may bring a lawsuit. For personal injury actions, 735 Illinois Consolidated Statutes §5/13-202 allows a potential plaintiff two years from the date of their injury to file a suit seeking damages. Failure to file on time will terminate a plaintiff’s right to sue.
Even injured people who hope to avoid bringing a lawsuit need to pay attention to the statute of limitations. The threat of a lawsuit is a powerful motivator for negligent parties and their insurers, and could induce them to offer a reasonable settlement to avoid going to court. Once the possibility of a lawsuit has expired, there is no longer any incentive for the negligent parties to treat a claimant fairly.
Sometimes an injured person wishes to put the experience behind them as soon as possible. They are not interested in drawing matters out with a long and tough negotiation over a settlement or a lawsuit. These feelings are understandable but they put that person at a disadvantage.
Negligent parties and their insurers will take advantage of claimants who do not want to fight. On the other hand, if a claimant has an aggressive local personal injury lawyer representing them, insurers might instead engage in good-faith negotiations that result in an equitable settlement.
Efficiency also favors working with a professional advocate. While negotiations are ongoing, a lawyer could investigate an accident and gather evidence that supports a strong negotiating position. If a lawsuit becomes necessary, they could use this information to further the client’s claim for damages.
If someone’s negligence has caused you harm, it is important to hold them to account. Seeking monetary damages is a way to ease your recovery while also making the negligent party take responsibility for hurting you.
A South Elgin personal injury lawyer could guide you through the process of identifying negligent parties and negotiating with them to secure an appropriate settlement, or taking the matter to court, if necessary. Schedule a case review with us today.
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