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When Should You Hire a Personal Injury Attorney?

Victims of personal injury accidents should hire an attorney when they want to maximize their settlement award. Without a Chicago personal injury attorney, claimants are left to face insurance companies and their lawyers alone. These parties do not have the victim’s best interests at heart. A personal injury attorney with Ankin Law will work with medical experts, investigators, and accident reconstruction specialists to help you pursue maximum compensation.

How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help Your Case

The Chicago personal injury lawyers at Ankin Law will substantially increase your chances of obtaining the best outcome in your personal injury case. Our law firm will do this by:

  • Providing you with a FREE consultation to evaluate the strength of your claim and start you off on the right track.
  • Calculating the value of your injury claim by digging through all the financial and emotional costs you incurred as a result of the accident.
  • Negotiating with the insurance company on your behalf using curated strategies gained through decades of experience protecting injured victims.
  • Aggressively representing you at trial when the at-fault party refuses to take accountability for his or her actions.

 

Determining Liability in a Personal Injury Case

Sometimes, determining liability in personal injury cases is a challenge, especially if multiple parties are involved. Motor vehicle accidents, for example, might be caused by negligent drivers, poor road design, faulty equipment, or a combination of all three. Hospital injuries are often caused by a combination of negligent healthcare providers, defective products or dangerous medications, and facilities that don’t have patients’ best interests in mind. And third party entities that contribute to a work-related accident can be held liable in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

 Recognized as some of the best personal injury lawyers in Chicago, Ankin Law uncovers details another personal injury law firm might miss. We identify the entities that may be liable for the injuries of our clients, and we make sure they pay for the damages they cause. Our injury lawyers have earned a reputation for taking on some of the most complicated personal injury lawsuits in Illinois- and winning.

What Is Negligence in a Personal Injury Case?

Negligence is the primary element in personal injury law that empowers victims to prove fault and recover compensation. There are a few key elements that must be present to prove negligence in your injury case:

The defendant owed you a duty of care.

Generally, people owe a duty to one another to refrain from causing harm. This duty applies to the average person, as well as medical care professionals, landlords, business and property owners, and other individuals. The duty of care is identified by considering how a reasonable person or professional would have acted under the same or similar circumstances.

The defendant violated the duty of care owed.

When a person or professional fails to act in a way that aligns with the expected standard of care, this is considered a breach of the duty of care. These violations can occur through action or inaction, and usually involve negligent behavior. Violating the duty of care can occur through a variety of acts, such as intoxicated, reckless, or distracted driving, causing avoidable harm to a patient during a medical procedure, or failing to remove hazards from a business’s property.

The breach of the duty of care was the proximate cause of your injuries.

It is not enough to simply prove that a duty of care existed, or that a defendant violated this duty through action or inaction. Instead, a plaintiff must also demonstrate that he or she suffered harm as a result of the violation of the standard of care. Typically, this harm is represented by injuries.

You suffered damages as a result of your injuries.

Though establishing that a victim suffered injuries due to a negligent party’s action or inaction helps provide grounds for a personal injury lawsuit, accident victims need to take things a step further if they want to recover fair compensation. Plaintiffs need to show that they suffered damages as a direct result of the injuries caused by the accident. Damages include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.

Personal Injury Lawyers at Ankin Law: