Illinois Personal Injury Claims
Stewart J. Guss handles a variety of personal injury claims throughout Illinois. Those twenty years of experience mean a lot of time spent dealing with a wide variety of claims that span from car accidents to construction site accidents.
#1. Auto Accidents
On the streets of Illinois, you may find yourself dealing with everything from snow and ice (with an average of 22 inches of snow per year) to dangerous drivers who simply fail to exercise adequate precautions out on the road. If you suffer injuries in an auto accident, you may think that you can rely on the insurance company to provide you with a reasonable settlement offer.
All too often, however, the insurance company will come back with an offer that does not even come close to reflecting the real compensation you deserve. Having an attorney on your side can prove critical to establishing your real right to compensation and fighting to help you get what you really deserve.
#2. Pedestrian Accidents
In Illinois, pedestrians have right of way-which means that when a driver ignores the pedestrian’s right of way and you suffer a serious injury as a result, you may deserve substantial compensation.
When you have an accident as a pedestrian, you may find yourself dealing with severe injuries. You had no protection from the car that hit you or from anything around you, from the ground you hit to any obstacles in the way. Pedestrians may suffer a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries, or multiple broken bones, including highly severe long-term injuries that can permanently limit their lives.
If you suffer injuries in a pedestrian accident, you need an attorney who will fight to help you maximize the compensation the driver that hit you has to pay out for your injuries.
#3. 18-Wheeler Accidents
Big trucks take up a lot of room on the road. When they end up involved in an accident, they may also cause a great deal of damage. Because of their much larger size, 18-wheelers can quickly crush smaller passenger vehicles, leading to severe injuries for everyone inside. Victims of 18-wheeler accidents often suffer from severe injuries, from traumatic brain injury to multiple broken bones, and may have a long road to recovery ahead of them.
18-wheeler accident victims need to ensure that they have an experienced personal injury lawyer on their side. 18-wheeler accidents often involve a much longer, more complicated investigation process than the average personal injury claim, and addressing those challenges quickly can prove essential to ensuring that you can maximize your compensation.
#4. Drunk Driving Accidents
Do you deserve punitive damages after an accident with a drunk driver? What happens if the police mishandle the evidence that another driver drove while intoxicated, and you find it more difficult to prove that you deserve compensation?
Drunk driving accidents may involve substantial injury due to the drunk driver’s inability to control his vehicle, his slowed reaction times, and the challenges associated with predicting his behavior. Having an attorney on your side can make a big difference in your ability to establish your right to compensation following a drunk driving accident.
#5. Bicycle Accidents
Often, cyclists have a hard time sharing the road with the larger vehicles that seem to move all around them as they attempt to navigate safely through the streets of Illinois. While Illinois does have a broad network of bike trails and bike paths, including clearly-marked bicycle lanes, sometimes, drivers may encroach on those lanes or might ignore the rules of the road, pushing a cyclist in unsafe ways. Bicycle accidents may also lead to severe injuries since cyclists rarely have substantial protection from the road.
#6. Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle riders often face greater challenges out on the road than the average driver of a passenger vehicle. Motorcycles have a much smaller overall visual profile, which may make it more difficult for other drivers to spot those motorcycles out on the road. Motorcycles also offer no protection from other vehicles, which means that the motorcycle rider may take the brunt of a collision directly. Motorcycle riders frequently suffer severe injuries in accidents due to the negligence of other drivers around them.
#6. Construction Worker Accidents
Dealing with an accident that occurred on a construction site can prove tricky. Often, multiple people share liability for a construction site accident: the general contractor responsible for managing the entire scene as well as the subcontractors, for example. You may have to pursue an investigation into the manufacturer of faulty equipment, or into why equipment rented from another source malfunctioned at the time of the accident.
#7. Premises Liability Accidents
When you visit specific premises, whether you have entered a private homeowner’s house or you need to enter a business, you expect to have a safe experience. Unfortunately, some premises owners simply fail in their duty of care to you.
They may fail to maintain stairs or walkways. They may not clean up spills, especially not in time. They might allow things to fall around you. All those accidents can lead to substantial injuries in the blink of an eye, and you may deserve considerable compensation for those injuries.
You may also deserve compensation if an Illinois business owner fails to provide adequate security and, as a result, you suffer serious injuries in an attack or if a property owner has a dangerous dog that bites you.
#8. Slip and Fall Accidents
Dealing with the aftermath of a slip and fall accident can mean immense challenges. Some people may suffer severe injuries from what seems like a relatively minor fall, including loss of mobility from a spinal cord injury or severe traumatic brain injury that interferes with their ability to engage in many normal activities.
Having a lawyer on your side can make it much easier to navigate that critical road to compensation and pursue the assistance you really deserve for your injuries.
