If you’re like most people, when you think about personal injury cases, you probably think about car and truck accidents, but you may also be entitled to compensation if you were injured because:

• You became a victim of medical malpractice while receiving medical treatment.
• A property owner negligently disregarded a hazard on his or her property.
• You used a defective consumer product that caused your injury.
• Someone’s dog or other pet bit or attacked you.

Retaining the right personal injury lawyer in these situations can make all the difference. A Chicago, Illinois personal injury attorney at Phillips Law Offices will protect your legal rights and hold the party or parties who injured you accountable.

If you sustain a catastrophic injury in a traffic crash, a medical malpractice incident, or any other accident scenario, you should know that the attorneys at Phillips Law Offices are considered among the top catastrophic injury attorneys by personal injury lawyers across Illinois.

Catastrophic injuries include traumatic brain injuries, nerve damage, burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, blindness, and fractures. The physical and financial cost of a catastrophic injury can be overwhelming. Catastrophic injuries require lengthy or lifelong medical care.

If you are catastrophically injured or permanently disabled because someone else was negligent, or if you need multiple surgeries, extensive physical therapy, and long-term care, you will need the maximum compensation that is available to you to compensate you for your injuries.

For over seven decades, the personal injury attorneys at Phillips Law Offices have helped the injured victims of negligence in this state recover the compensation – and win the justice – that is rightfully theirs.

To prevail with a personal injury claim, the injury victim and the plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer must be able to prove that:

• The negligent party or “defendant” owed a duty of care to the plaintiff.
• The defendant was negligent or breached a duty of care.
• The defendant’s negligence caused damages or harm to the plaintiff or their family.

Along with financial losses, individuals or families who sustain personal injuries also face considerable emotional, physical, and personal challenges. The team at Phillips Law Offices is committed to helping clients and their loved ones move ahead positively and constructively after a personal injury or wrongful death.

We work hard to make a genuine difference in the lives of our clients and their families. With our substantial experience, the accident attorneys at Phillips Law Offices bring their unique personal backgrounds, strengths, and insights to every client and every case.

When injuries happen, it is often because someone was careless. Whether it’s a traffic crash injury, a slip-and-fall injury, or an injury caused by medical malpractice, the primary question about any accident that results in an injury or a wrongful death is “Who was at fault?”

The traditional legal rule is that the party at fault should pay for any damages suffered by the injury victim. If both parties were partly at fault, the more negligent party should pay at least a percentage of the other person’s damages.

Most victims receive compensation without a courtroom appearance because most personal injury claims in Illinois are resolved when the lawyers for both sides negotiate an out-of-court settlement that is agreeable to both the plaintiff and the defendant.

However, when no acceptable settlement amount is offered in negotiations, Phillips Law Offices will take your personal injury or wrongful death case to trial and explain to a jury why they should order the payment of your compensation.

When someone negligently causes someone else’s death, even with no premeditation or intent to harm anyone, the death is legally a wrongful death. Nothing is more tragic than suddenly and unexpectedly losing someone you love because someone else was careless.

In cases of wrongful death, although it may be quite difficult, surviving family members must speak as quickly as possible to a Chicago wrongful death attorney at Phillips Law Offices. No one expects a wrongful death to happen, but it can happen to anyone – when it’s least expected.

No amount of money can assuage the grief of grieving family members, but a wrongful death claim can help a family to avoid the financial hardships they might otherwise suffer after the sudden, wrongful death of a member of the family.

Wrongful death cases are legally comparable to personal injury cases. Plaintiffs in wrongful death cases have to prove essentially the same “elements of the case” that injury victims must prove when they bring personal injury claims:

• The defendant owed a duty of care to the wrongful death victim.
• The defendant acted negligently or breached the duty of care.
• The wrongful death was a result of the negligence of the defendant or breach of the duty of care.

Workers’ compensation is an insurance program established and managed by the state. With few exceptions, Illinois requires employers to buy workers’ compensation insurance to cover their employees.

If an employee is injured on the job, he or she may file a claim and receive workers’ comp benefits while recovering. To receive those benefits, injured employees do not have to take legal action or prove that an employer – or anyone else – was responsible for an accident or injury.

Injured employees who are covered by workers’ compensation in Illinois are entitled to receive all necessary and reasonable medical treatment for a job-related injury as well as temporary disability benefits which partially compensate for lost wages.

If a work-related injury results in a permanent disability, and the injured worker cannot continue in the same job or do similar work in the future, the amount of permanent disability benefits will depend on the worker’s age, physical restrictions, and earnings at the time the injury occurred.

If you sustain an injury at your place of work, an Illinois workers’ compensation team attorney at Phillips Law Offices can work to ensure that you’re not victimized by the workers’ compensation process and that you receive everything that you are entitled to under Illinois law.

Scores of personal injury attorneys and law firms represent clients in the Chicago area. At Phillips Law Offices, we are a personal injury law firm that prefers to let our track record – and the outstanding achievements of our personal injury attorneys – do the speaking for us:

• Phillips Law Offices has represented injury victims in the Chicago area for 75 years.
• We have obtained more than $500 million in damages for our personal injury clients.
• Attorney Stephen D. Phillips is a past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
• He is ranked as a Top 100 trial lawyer in Illinois by The National Trial Lawyers.
• He secured more million-dollar-plus settlements in a year than any other Illinois lawyer.
• He has received a 10/10 rating from Avvo.com, an independent lawyer rating service.
• Illinois lawyers rank Phillips Law Offices as among the state’s top personal injury firms.
• Stephen D. Phillips has obtained record jury verdicts and settlements in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

When someone is injured by someone else’s negligence, the legal challenges that insurance companies and other defendants can present in a personal injury case often make it difficult for victims of negligence to acquire the compensation that is rightfully theirs.

Let an attorney at Phillips Law Offices guide you through the legal process and fight for the full compensation amount that you and your family need. We will bring to your case the extensive experience, skill, and legal knowledge that you’ll need to obtain the compensation you deserve.

What can a personal injury victim expect from a personal injury settlement or verdict? Each case is different. You and your Chicago personal injury lawyer will determine your measurable financial losses and then calculate an additional amount to seek for personal pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disability, disfigurement, loss of society, and other human loss elements of damage.

You will need medical bills, related receipts, and verification of your lost wages to help prove that your compensation claim is both reasonable and fair. “Compensatory” damages – what you receive as compensation – may include:

• Medical costs: Personal injury victims whose claims prevail are almost always compensated for their medical care and treatment. Reimbursement should include the reasonable, projected costs of any necessary future treatment as well.
• Lost wages: Successful personal injury plaintiffs may expect compensation for income lost because of the injury and for any lost future earning capacity.
• Pain and suffering: Plaintiffs may also expect compensation for the pain and suffering they experienced during and after an injury. If pain is persistent, that persistence, as well as personal suffering and emotional distress, should be a factor in a settlement or verdict.
• Disfigurement: When a plaintiff has been disfigured, scarred or if an amputation had to be performed, the plaintiff may expect “fair” compensation for the change of appearance and the effects of that change.
• Loss of normal life or disability: How the injury has affected their day to day activities and impaired their abilities to function.
• Loss of Society: love, affection, care, attention, instruction, training, companionship, comfort, advice and guidance, and protection.

In addition to “compensatory” damages, if a personal injury case goes to trial, a plaintiff may ask jurors to order the payment of “punitive” damages if the plaintiff and his or her lawyer can prove a defendant’s actions were fraudulent, intentional, willful, and/or wanton.

Punitive damages are not awarded frequently and are not considered compensation. Juries order punitive damage awards only in the most egregious cases to punish defendants for their behavior and to deter such behavior in the future.