Winnebago County Attorney for Personal Injury Lawsuits and Claims

Winnebago County covers 519 square miles in Illinois. The 2020 census found that there were 285,350 residents in the county, and that it is the seventh most populous county in the state. The county’s median income was $47,198. The median income for families was $59,814. Injuries often prove incredibly expensive for individuals and families in the county. Many families and individuals in the county cannot afford the costs of significant and unexpected medical expenses or to take time off to recover from their injuries. If you were injured in an accident caused by someone else, you should call the experienced Winnebago County personal injury attorneys of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. For 60 years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to fiercely and successfully representing clients in personal injury lawsuits, SSDI claims, and workers’ compensation claims.

Personal Injury Lawsuits and Claims in Winnebago County

Personal injury lawsuits can turn contentious, particularly if there are questions about who was at fault. Often insurance adjustors for a defendant have significantly more resources than an accident victim. They may make serious efforts to find ways in which you were to blame for the accident so that they can avoid paying damages on behalf of their insured. In order to recover damages on your behalf, our Winnebago County lawyers will need to show that another party or multiple parties were at fault for an accident.

Most personal injury lawsuits require us to prove negligence. This means we will need to show it’s more likely than not: (1) the defendant owed you a duty to use reasonable care, (2) breach of the duty to use reasonable care, (3) causation, and (4) actual damages.

Reasonable care varies depending on the circumstances. For example, a driver’s speed that would be appropriate on a sunny, warm summer day may not be appropriate when it’s hailing, and the roads are slick. Defendants may breach the duty of reasonable care by tailgating, weaving, failing to obey traffic signs and signals, driving aggressively, or driving while distracted.

In a premises liability case involving dangerous property conditions, we will need to show that the property owner or occupier knew or should have known about the dangerous property condition that caused your injuries and failed to make repairs or provide warnings.

Comparative Negligence

Many drivers who are accused of causing an accident turn around and try to point a finger at the accident victim. Unfortunately, there is incentive for them to do this. In Illinois, the modified rule of comparative negligence can lead to a plaintiff’s damages being reduced by an amount equal to her degree of fault. A plaintiff can be barred from recovering damages altogether if the defendant can show the plaintiff was 50% or more at fault for the accident. When multiple drivers or people are at fault, the jury will try to examine the situation to determine the relative responsibility of each of the parties and apportion fault.

SSDI and Workers’ Compensation Claims

Depending on the situation, it may be appropriate for us to pursue SSDI or workers’ compensation benefits [link to workers’ compensation] on your behalf. These are both benefits that provide monetary relief to those who have injuries or are disabled without regard to fault. To recover benefits through the SSDI system, we will need to show you meet the government’s definition of disability. To obtain benefits through the workers’ compensation system, we must be able to show that you were injured on the job or while doing something for work. These benefits do not fully compensate you for your losses, however, which is why it can be important to pursue damages and prove fault in a personal injury lawsuit.

Consult a Winnebago County Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were hurt through the fault of another, call the experienced Winnebago County personal lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca to figure out whether you have a viable legal claim. Call us at 312-724-5846 or fill out our online form.

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