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Legal Counsel After A Personal Injury

A serious accidental injury is a major challenge in anyone’s life. Pain and suffering are compounded by a major disruption to ordinary rhythms of life and general financial stress. Often, the injured person is no longer able to work, so there is a loss of income, as well. Mounting pressures regarding the cost of living become burdensome and make it difficult to find the path back to wholeness.

Fortunately, there are often legal ways to pursue and recover compensation to cover medical costs, replace lost wages and acknowledge the injured person’s pain and suffering. These ways are available for an injured person who can demonstrate the seriousness of their injuries and someone else’s negligence that caused those injuries. Determining and documenting liability are essential components for success in a personal injury claim.

Our Clients’ Accidents And Injuries

The number one type of accident that we investigate is a vehicle accident. Car, truck and motorcycle accidents injure and kill thousands of people on Illinois streets and highways every year. We often handle claims involving serious, catastrophic and fatal injuries, including the following:

  • Spine injuries, such as cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral injuries
  • Whiplash and other types of head, neck and shoulder injuries
  • Complete and incomplete nerve damage
  • Orthopedic injuries

In addition to motor vehicle accidents, we take cases resulting from falls and other types of injuries on dangerous premises. Dog bites and sexual abuse liability cases may fall into this category. We also evaluate cases involving the following:

If your serious injury or your loved one’s fatality resulted from another type of accident, such as an explosion, please give us a chance to evaluate your case and recommend a course of action by which to pursue maximum compensation.

Top Reasons To File A Personal Injury Claim

Filing a personal injury claim becomes crucial when you’re injured due to someone else’s negligence. It’s not just about seeking compensation; it’s about getting the support you need to recover physically, emotionally and financially.

Time is of the essence in these situations, as delays can result in crucial evidence being lost or memories fading. Enlisting the services of a seasoned personal injury attorney can significantly increase your chances of securing full and fair compensation and obtaining real justice for your injuries. With our expertise, we can advocate to ensure your rights are protected throughout this legal process.

  • The need to cover expenses: The financial repercussions of an injury resulting from someone else’s negligence can be overwhelming. Your medical bills, property damage, lost wages and ongoing rehabilitative treatment costs may quickly accumulate. You are entitled to the expenses you have already incurred as well as those you will incur in the future, like the cost of a future surgery. Filling a personal injury claim can enable you to seek compensation to cover these expenses, providing financial relief during a challenging time.
  • The insurance company is unreasonable: Insurance companies often employ tactics to minimize payouts, eventually offering settlements far below what victims deserve. Adjusters may downplay the extent of injuries or undervalue property damage. This can leave victims with inadequate compensation to cover their expenses. An experienced attorney knows what your case is worth and what you are entitled to, but even more importantly, they know how to fight for it to make sure the outcome is fair for you.
  • The at-fault party denies responsibility: Following an accident, the at-fault party may attempt to evade responsibility or shift blame to avoid their legal responsibility. As a victim of this legal circumstance, you need skilled legal representation to protect your rights and navigate complex legal proceedings.
  • The statute of limitations is close: Illinois has strict deadlines for filing personal injury claims. As a person filing a personal injury lawsuit, you typically need to do so within two years of the accident to seek compensation for financial losses. Sometimes the statute of limitations is shorter, like when suing a municipality or state entity. Sometimes the statute of limitations is longer, like if the injured person is a minor or disabled person. Because every case is different, consulting with an experienced injury attorney can help you identify the statute of limitations that applies to your case. Failing to file within the designated time frame can result in the forfeiture of your right to seek compensation.
  • There are concerns that evidence might disappear: Gathering evidence and establishing facts can be challenging, especially in cases involving premises liability, medical malpractice or disputes against large corporations. Defendants may obstruct investigations or withhold crucial information, further complicating your pursuit of justice. Surveillance footage that would help prove your case can be overwritten in as little as 24 or 48 hours.
  • You need someone to champion your experience: Fair settlements and verdicts in injury cases come down to knowing what a fair recovery would be and knowing how to fight for it. Although you can never get your health back, our system says you are entitled to be paid to fix what can be fixed, help what can be helped, and compensated for what can neither be fixed nor helped. The question we ask ourselves in assigning a value to a case is, “What amount of money could you pay me to go through what our client has gone through?” We often tell clients; you only get one shot to get a fair amount of money that compensates you for your harms and losses – and sometimes those harms and losses extend for a person’s entire life. The insurance company and their lawyers do all they can to minimize what you went through and how it will affect your life. It is the honorable job of our attorneys to educate and persuade the insurance representatives, opposing attorneys, judges, and sometimes a jury that health is priceless and your harms and losses require full and fair compensation.

Finally, you need someone on your side throughout this process. It can be hard enough recovering from an injury, but add to that the complicated process of paying for medical bills, using health insurance, case liens, lost wages, and an adjuster whose job it is to save their employer money on your case. Hiring an attorney means you get to focus on getting better and leave the rest of the case in our qualified hands. Emotional support and experienced guidance through the legal process are invaluable during this challenging time. By enlisting our legal services, you can alleviate the burden on your family and friends.

Experienced Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys

A spinal cord injury happens when the bundle of nerves in the spinal canal is damaged, resulting in different degrees of sensory and motor function loss below the injury site. Common symptoms include:

  • Paralysis
  • Numbness
  • Tingling sensations or shooting/radiating pain – known as radiculopathy
  • Loss of bowel or bladder control
  • Muscle atrophy
  • Weakened grip strength

The spine is divided into distinct regions, each susceptible to specific types of injuries and symptoms. Common spinal cord injuries include:

  • Cervical spine injuries: Located from the base of the skill to the top of the ribcage in the neck region and can lead to symptoms in the shoulders, arms, hands and legs.
  • Thoracic spine injuries: Located from the top of the ribcage to the bottom of the ribcage, injuries to the mid-back region can cause symptoms in the ribcage, abdominal muscles and legs.
  • Lumbar spine injuries: Located from the bottom of the ribcage to the tailbone, low-back injuries may cause symptoms in the buttocks, groin, legs, feet, and bowel or bladder.
  • Sacral spine injuries: Involves damage to the base of the spine and can affect bowel, bladder and sexual function.

Spinal cord injuries can vary widely in severity, ranging from mild to severe and even catastrophic. Total injuries to the spinal cord cause a complete loss of sensation and motor function below the location of the injury. On the other hand, incomplete injuries allow for some degree of movement and sensation. The extent of impairment can depend on the location and severity of the injury. Spinal injuries are often permanent and get worse over time.  Our team of lawyers can help identify the future medical care you will require and secure the money to make sure you are able to get the treatment you need down the road.

If you are a victim of a spinal cord injury due to someone’s negligence, do not try to resolve your case without consulting with an experienced injury attorney.  We only accept cases where we truly believe our value will exceed the cost of retaining us (contingency fee of 1/3 of the recovery). Enlist our experienced Illinois spinal cord injury attorney to advocate for full compensation for your financial, physical and emotional damages.

The Prevalence Of Orthopedic Injuries Accidents

According to an article in the Journal of Surgical Research, a total of millions of patients are diagnosed with orthopedic injuries each year. Those diagnoses result in over 1 million emergency orthopedic surgical procedures, which come with expensive medical bills in addition to the pain.

Orthopedic injuries are serious health issues that can affect the rest of your life. Whether you experienced a dislocation, fracture, break, sprain or another ailment, an orthopedic injury can have a damaging impact on your overall health.

Suffering from an orthopedic injury that was caused by an accident that wasn’t your fault is a frustrating experience. Our team from Marker & Crannell will visit you at home or in the hospital and help you determine the best course of action to take. We’re proud to serve clients in and around Naperville, as well as Bolingbrook, Aurora, Romeoville and Joliet.

Injury Lawyers In Aurora Advise On Common Orthopedic Injuries

Any injury to the musculoskeletal system is considered an orthopedic injury, a type of personal injury. These injuries are usually a result of an accident or trauma to the body and require extensive physical rehabilitation to get back to everyday functioning.

Examples of orthopedic injuries include:

  • Sprains, fractures and breaks
  • Overuse injuries (such as tennis elbow)
  • Dislocations and hernias

Carpal tunnel syndrome, stress fractures, sprained ankles and rotator cuff tears are examples of common orthopedic injuries.

Let A Personal Injury Attorney In Naperville Evaluate Your Orthopedic Injury Case

While there are many reasons why someone may suffer from an orthopedic injury, these are some of the most common causes.

  • Car accidents: A common cause of orthopedic injuries is car crashes. In a car accident, your bones may break or fracture, you may experience sprains, or you may suffer a combination of both. Injuries from a car accident may change your life forever.
  • Falling: Falls are another common cause of orthopedic injuries. Many older individuals have balance disorders and weaker bones. Both of these factors can cause falls.
  • Bike accidents: When a cyclist is hit by a vehicle, another cyclist, or another object, or when a cyclist falls, he or she can suffer serious orthopedic injuries.

Healing a broken bone or another serious orthopedic injury can be an arduous process. You may experience pain for weeks, months or years after the initial injury.

Symptoms And Long-Term Effects Of Orthopedic Injuries

The symptoms of an orthopedic injury will depend on the type of trauma. Pain, weakness, inflammation and swelling are common. Long-term effects will depend on the severity of the injury.

Sometimes, serious complications after the injury happen. In extremely severe cases, some patients get bone infections after trauma. The infection will kill the bone and prevent fractures from healing. This severe situation requires the patient to go through surgery to remove the infection. This is one reason it is important not to accept an immediate low settlement offer from the insurer of a liable party. Before agreeing on an amount, stay in close communication with your doctors, who will let you know when your healing is likely complete.

Depending on many factors, your case may be resolved through litigation and a trial or an alternative, such as:

  • A pretrial settlement conference
  • Mediation
  • Arbitration

Let our experience guide you to the most promising method for maximizing the compensation you receive after an orthopedic injury or any other type. We will also advise you as to how to minimize losses to your settlement or verdict through taxation, if any.

Free Consultations With Injury Attorneys In Naperville

There is no fee for our initial consultations. If your car accident personal injury case results in a police report, we will obtain that for you and give you a copy whether or not you choose to work with our injury firm.

Schedule your free meeting with members of our team at Marker & Crannell. Put your name on our calendar by contacting us in Naperville at 630-912-6009 or by sending an email inquiry. If you wish to skip the initial intake process, you have the option of completing this form prior to our meeting.