Latest from Rhatigan Law Blog - Page 2

Accidents can be tough to deal with, especially when you have serious injuries and high medical bills. If your medical debt is too high to handle, call a lawyer and talk about how you might reduce this debt.
Your attorney might be able to contact hospital officials and work out a way to reduce your bills. This might involve reviewing itemized lists of procedures and treatment costs, disputing erroneous charges, or working our agreements for smaller payments. Your attorney might instead help you file insurance claims. Some hospital bills are overwhelming because health insurance providers fail to step up when
Continue Reading Can a Lawyer Reduce Your Medical Bills After an Accident in Illinois?

Footage from traffic cameras can serve as valuable evidence in a car accident case. However, these cameras may not store footage for very long. Further, the process for obtaining traffic camera footage can be complicated.
To request traffic camera footage after a car accident in Chicago, you must first identify the accident’s location and contact local authorities for guidance. Afterwards, you must submit a request to the agency responsible for the relevant traffic camera recording. It’s advisable to seek legal assistance when making this request. The team at our firm can help recover your footage and review it for evidence
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The aftermath of taxi accidents can be very distressing. Victims regularly incur injuries that cause immense physical pain, emotional distress, and financial hardship. Further, their roads to recovery can appear highly complicated.
Fortunately, you can sue an at-fault party after a taxi accident in Chicago. There are several parties who may be responsible for such an accident. Thankfully, after your free case review, the team at our firm can help determine liability and build your claim for compensation.
Get assistance from our experienced Chicago car accident lawyers by calling the Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502.
Suing for a Taxi
Continue Reading Can You Sue After a Taxi Accident Injury in Chicago?

After a crash, a lot of drivers will not want to “get insurance involved.”  They think that, by working around insurance, they can save money and avoid having their rates go up for causing a crash.  However, these drivers are often putting you at risk, and you might not be able to get full compensation if they refuse to provide insurance.
Illinois law requires drivers to carry insurance so that it can be used in the event of a crash.  If the driver refuses to provide you with their insurance info after a crash, the police can often help.  You
Continue Reading What Happens if the Other Driver Refuses to Provide Insurance in Illinois?

Being injured in Chicago is complicated enough, legally speaking. Being injured in Chicago when you live in a different state can be very confusing. You should talk to a lawyer about your legal options in such a situation.
If you were injured in Chicago but do not live in Illinois, you can still sue for damages, but your case might be more complex. You can begin your case in Illinois, where you were injured. You might also sue the defendant in their home state if they do not live in Illinois. Under certain circumstances, you can file the case in
Continue Reading What to Do if You Were Injured in Chicago But Live in Another State

Many cases are settled out of court without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom. When negotiating a settlement, the goal is to get the best deal possible. What makes a good settlement for brain injuries largely depends on circumstances unique to your case.
Settlement in brain injury cases can be quite high, especially when the brain injury is permanent and debilitating. As with any settlement, the more severe your injuries are, the higher the settlement should be. Your attorney can help you go over numerous factors that might influence the outcome of your case, including compensatory damages, the duration
Continue Reading What’s a Good Settlement for a Brain Injury in Illinois?

Damage to your nerves may be extremely painful and lead to a myriad of medical complications. Nerve injuries are somewhat unpredictable, and how much money may be paid to an injured plaintiff can be difficult to determine.
The average payout for nerve damage cases is hard to say, as nerve damage may range from mild to extreme. The average payout may be very high for severe cases where damage is long-lasting and carries numerous complications. Your specific nerve damage claims might be worth a large sum if the injuries are severe, complications are long-term, or your nerve damage leads to
Continue Reading What’s the Average Payout for Nerve Damage in Chicago

The education system is a huge part of children’s lives. It is where they spend important formative years and learn important life lessons. Unfortunately, schools are not perfect places, and kids sometimes get hurt.
If your child is injured at school, you can sue the school, teachers, other staff members, and even the school district. However, doing so tends to be difficult because public schools are governmental entities with a certain degree of immunity. Even private schools are protected to an extent. Although it might be difficult, an attorney can help you sue your child’s school for injuries. Examples of
Continue Reading Can You Sue Your Child’s School for Injury in Chicago?

If you were injured in an accident caused by a negligent semi truck driver, you can sue that driver for your injuries and damages. Before you begin, you should speak to a lawyer, as suing a semi truck driver might be more complicated than you realize.
In many semi truck accidents, the truck drivers are responsible for the crash. Trucker negligence is very often the root cause of these kinds of accidents. To prove your claims and get compensation for your injuries, you need to show how the tucker was negligent and how their negligence directly caused the collision. To
Continue Reading Can I Sue a Semi Truck Driver for Causing an Accident in Chicago?

Whiplash is a common neck injury in auto accidents. While the condition often heals with time, treatment to manage the pain and speed up recovery might be necessary.
Whiplash often occurs when someone’s head is quickly and forcefully rocked forward and back, or vice versa. It is common in car crashes where drivers and passengers have their heads whipped back and forth from the force of the impact. Treating whiplash varies based on the severity of the injury and your level of pain. Some people ice the painful area and take painkillers or muscle relaxants to manage the pain. Others
Continue Reading How to treat Whiplash After a Car Accident in Chicago

Amazon is one of the largest companies on the planet. They employ thousands of people and interact with millions of customers daily. Unfortunately, some people have reported being injured in accidents involving Amazon or Amazon products. If you are hurt, call a lawyer now.
It is possible to sue Amazon for your injuries, but you should know that doing so can be very challenging, and success is not guaranteed. In many cases, Amazon has found ways to shield itself from liability, and other parties might be liable instead. Common accidents and injuries people often try to sue Amazon for include
Continue Reading Can I Sue Amazon for an Injury in Chicago?

Settlements are common in civil lawsuits, so common that most cases end in a settlement rather than a jury verdict. Neck injuries sometimes lead to large settlements since the neck is a very sensitive area of the body, but settlements can be predictable.
Determining the average settlement for neck injuries is more complex than it sounds. Neck injuries vary from minor yet painful injuries to debilitating. As such, settlements vary as well. To help you understand how your potential settlement might turn out, consider the extent of your damages and any circumstances that might make your claims stronger or weaker.
Continue Reading What’s the Average Settlement for a Neck Injury in Chicago?

It is possible to recover damages in Illinois even if you were not wearing a seat belt during a car accident. However, it could possibly affect the amount of compensation you receive in a lawsuit.
Although you can still file a claim, your compensation might be significantly reduced if the insurance company or their lawyers can prove that your injuries would have been prevented or reduced had you worn a seatbelt. This is because Illinois follows a contributory negligence rule. As a result, the amount of compensation you eventually receive can be reduced by the percentage that not wearing a
Continue Reading Can I Claim Compensation if I Wasn’t Wearing a Seatbelt in IL?

In the event of an accident, your behavior can impact the amount of compensation you receive for a personal injury lawsuit, even if someone else is partially responsible. That is because Illinois has contributory fault laws that might prevent you from obtaining damages for your case.
When multiple parties are involved in an accident, each party might share some level of responsibility. To determine the strength of your case and the amount of compensation you might be entitled to, it is crucial to understand how comparative negligence laws work in Illinois. Just because you played a role in causing your
Continue Reading How Does Contributory Negligence Work in IL?

Punitive damages are awarded in cases where the defendant’s behavior is so outrageous that it warrants punishment. While not every state permits the award of punitive damages, Illinois does under certain circumstances.
Punitive damages are typically awarded in Illinois civil lawsuits where defendants are shown to have acted with an evil motive or with outrageously reckless indifference for the safety of others. Ordinary negligence is not enough to warrant punitive damages, and they are rarely awarded. In Illinois, only the injured person is eligible to claim punitive damages. However, lawmakers have recently pushed for punitive damages to be available to
Continue Reading Does Illinois Allow You to Sue for Punitive Damages?

In personal injury claims, plaintiffs typically claim some form of compensatory damages, including non-economic damages. Non-economic injuries are not based on money, making them somewhat difficult to measure and compensate.
Non-economic damages represent deeply painful experiences and account for how the accident negatively affected your life. Measuring these damages is inherently subjective, and juries might use your economic damages to assess non-economic compensation. For example, your total non-economic damages might be calculated by multiplying your economic damages or assigning a monetary value to each day of suffering. Non-economic damages must be claimed in your initial complaint, or you risk losing
Continue Reading What Are Non-Economic Damages in Illinois?