There are some basics you should know about personal injury law in Illinois. This article will get you up to speed on how a typical case works and what you need to know before calling an expert. 

Lawler & Lawler is a personal injury law firm with five locations throughout Illinois. From Carbondale to Harrisburg, we have your back.  

Let our personal injury law experts review your case and see what we can do to help you recover and get the compensation you deserve.

What exactly is personal injury law?

This form of law allows Illinois residents who have been injured to receive compensation. 

Whether it was intentional or simple negligence, you should be compensated financially. The goal is to make those accountable responsible for making you whole again. Personal injury law helps the victim get their life back.

Also known as “tort law”, personal injury law provides you with a legal solution to receive damages. This can include any loss from an incident or accident. This includes, but is not limited to:

How injury law cases are defined.

There are four main categories that fall under personal injury law. These can include, but are not limited to:

Accidents

This category is defined as someone who acts in a careless manner that causes injury or harm to another person. The most common to fall under this are car accidents, medical malpractice, slip and fall, and dog bites

Intentional Acts

These are situations where someone purposely intends to inflict harm. The most common of these incidents is assault and battery.

Defective Products

Manufacturers are the focus of this type of personal injury claim. This can include injury or harm from defective or unreasonably dangerous products. Medical, pharmaceutical, and consumer products as well as vehicle components are the most common.

Defamation

While often hard to prove, this is a form of personal injury that is not physical. Defamation can cause financial hardship as well as affect one’s reputation. Loss of revenue due to someone’s defamatory statement is the main focus of this type of lawsuit.

How a personal injury law case develops.

There is no real formula as to how personal injury cases progress. 

Each accident and incident has its own unique set of circumstances. However, there are common elements to all of them.

The very first thing is the incident, this where the injury occurs. Someone has been negligent or intentionally caused harm to another. Once this happens, it is best to consult with a reputable attorney as soon as possible. 

Next, the plaintiff and attorney determine that the defendant has breached a legal duty and/or obligation. This means that someone did not uphold the law in a way that caused injury or damage to another. 

For example, a manufacturer has a legal duty to provide only safe and non-defective products to their consumers.

Once it has been determined that a legal duty has been breached, settlement talks are usually the next step. Often it is an insurance company that represents the defendant during this phase. 

Most often, the defendant will desire to settle out of court. This can be for many reasons, but the cost is usually the main deciding factor.

This would entail an agreement of financial compensation in exchange for a lawsuit not being filed in court. If both parties agree to the terms, the matter is closed. The plaintiff receives financial compensation, and the defendant avoids a trial.

If both parties cannot agree to terms, a lawsuit will follow. The plaintiff will file a personal injury lawsuit to have the dispute settled in court. A settlement can still proceed after this happens. It is possible for an agreement to be reached before the jury has been assigned the task of determining liability.

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