Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me

Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me

People complain about their jobs all the time, but they are typically grateful to be gainfully employed and healthy enough to work. It only takes one accident to take away all the things you take for granted. An injury so severe that it requires you to leave the workforce, even temporarily, can be catastrophic for your finances. The law gives people injured in preventable accidents the right to recover compensation from the parties responsible for causing the accident. The Chicago personal injury lawyers at Saks, Robinson, and Rittenberg can help you get the money you need to cover your medical expenses and other accident-related financial losses if you suffered serious injuries in a preventable accident.

Important Concepts in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

In a personal injury lawsuit, the plaintiff (the person injured in the accident) tries to get the court to order the defendant (the person who caused the accident or the company responsible for the accident) to pay the plaintiff enough money to compensate the plaintiff for the money they lost as a result of the injuries caused by the defendant. These are some important legal concepts in personal injury cases:

• Duty of care – The duty of care is a legal responsibility not to cause injury to other people and not to place other people at high risk of injury.  You assume a duty of care when you engage in certain actions. For example, everyone who drives a car has a duty of care not to cause collisions. Physicians have a duty of care not to harm their patients, except when that harm is an inevitable part of a necessary medical treatment; for example, a physician may advise a patient to undergo chemotherapy if that is the only way to stop a patient’s cancer from spreading, even though the chemotherapy may have severe side effects. Business owners have a duty of care to keep their places of business safe so that customers do not get injured.
• Negligence – In ordinary speech, negligence just means carelessness. From a legal standpoint, negligence refers to any breach of a duty of care. It can include causing an accident, failing to prevent a preventable accident, or intentionally injuring someone.
• Damages – Damages are money that the defendant pays to the plaintiff to compensate the plaintiff for the money that the defendant caused the plaintiff to lose. In a personal injury case, the damages always include the cost of treatment for the plaintiff’s accident-related injuries. They can also include the income the plaintiff lost if the injuries required the plaintiff to retire early or take an unpaid leave of absence from work.

No two personal injury cases are alike, so a Chicago personal injury lawyer can advise you on whom to name as a defendant and how much money you can request in damages.

Contact a Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer

A Cook County personal injury lawyer can help you if you have suffered a serious injury in a car accident or a slip and fall. Contact Saks, Robinson & Rittenberg, Ltd. in Chicago, Illinois, to set up a consultation.