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2114 Deerpath Road, Aurora, Illinois 60506
630-907-0909
Premises liability laws deal with injuries to welcomed persons due to dangerous conditions on a given premises. It is the duty of the party controlling the property to maintain the premises in a condition that is reasonably safe for visitors to the property, or otherwise to adequately caution visitors against conditions posing a potential risk of physical injury. In order to win a premises liability case in Illinois, a plaintiff must prove the existence of each of the four circumstances. The types of hazards and harms that may give rise to a valid premises liability claim are varied, and most frequently include accident types such as slip-and-fall incidents, staircase falls, swimming pool accidents, and in some instances, harms caused by animals, including canines. If you have suffered an injury on the premises of another, contact an attorney following the accident so that evidence can be promptly preserved.
Choosing to move an elderly family member into a skilled nursing facility can be difficult. This decision is often made out of concern for the senior’s safety. When a person can no longer live at home because they are no longer able to care for themselves, or because their care has become overwhelming for family members, placement in a nursing home may be the best option. Nursing home residents are supposed to be cared for in a safe environment by skilled, concerned caregivers. Unfortunately, not all nursing homes are of equal quality. There are a few known telltale signs that a particular nursing home may not be the best place for vulnerable elderly people. If you notice several of these signs in the nursing home that is caring for your loved one, you may want to do a little more digging to find out whether they have been receiving the appropriate care. If you find that they may have been harmed by a negligent nursing home, you may want to speak to an attorney.
We often hear about doctors who fail to diagnose and treat their patients in a timely manner. Those with rare or chronic illnesses may sometimes spend years fighting for a diagnosis and getting the treatment they need. Failing to treat a patient who needs treatment can be a form of medical malpractice. On the other hand, so can overtreating health issues or subjecting a patient to treatment they did not need. When applied well, medical science can do incredible things to make sick people well again. However, medical science can also do extreme harm to a person when care is administered negligently. Medications, tests, procedures, and surgeries can all do serious harm if they are not medically indicated. Some patients endure needless treatments for years before learning that their health care is actually making them sicker. If you have been harmed by unnecessary medical treatment, you may be entitled to compensation.
Right after you have been hurt in a car accident, you are left with the unenviable task of battling an insurance company or other liable party trying to get the compensation you need. You can be almost certain that the insurance company will be recording every phone call and ready to use your words against you in any way they can. It is very easy to inadvertently provide them with a sound byte that could hurt your case. These profit-driven companies are not above taking something out of context if it could save them money on a settlement. This is one of the big reasons why conversations with insurance companies are best handled by a lawyer. If all you need to say is, “please contact my attorney,” then there is little chance of having your well-intentioned words thrown back in your face.
In general, you will want to avoid saying anything that could possibly be interpreted in a way that reduces the other driver’s liability. Even innocuous phrases can be twisted here. You will need to carefully avoid saying things like:
Rear-end collisions can be exceptionally jarring. You probably never saw the impact coming when you were hit from behind. You may have had no chance to brace yourself or get out of the way. The injuries commonly caused by a rear-end collision can include whiplash, back injuries and head injuries, which can be serious. Rear-end collisions are likely the most common type of car accident. In Illinois, there is a legal presumption that the driver behind is at fault in a rear-end collision. The front driver can be at fault in rare instances, but for the most part, the driver who hit you from behind is going to be liable. If you were injured in a rear-end collision, you may be entitled to compensation. A lawyer can help you understand your rights.
Drivers love to make excuses after rear-ending someone. If the responsible driver got out of his car after the accident and went off on you as if this was your fault, your experience is not unique. Some of the most common reasons and excuses at-fault drivers give - and why they do not get them off the hook - include:
In some lines of work, getting hurt on the job is relatively likely. In others, it is rare. Whether you are dealing with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from typing at a desk all day or a serious neck injury after a construction site accident, you are likely eligible for workers' compensation if you sustained an injury at work. Many injuries keep you from returning to your job right away. In some cases, you may be able to perform a less physically challenging job for your employer while you are injured. In others, you may not be able to work at all during your recovery period. If you are hurt and unable to perform your normal work duties, you may be able to receive temporary disability payments. An attorney can help you understand what types of benefits you are eligible for.
Temporary total disability benefits are used when you are unable to perform any work for your employer. If your employer cannot offer you temporary light-duty work that you would be able to perform, then you may be considered totally temporarily disabled. This is often the case if a worker's injuries are severe, especially if they must remain in the hospital or a rehabilitation facility for some time.
Road rage has been on the rise since the end of pandemic-related lockdowns. For a long time, essential personnel were the only ones commuting. People were not doing much of anything outside their homes, and everyone got used to there being very little traffic. Then, stay-at-home orders lifted and suddenly, everyone was dealing with traffic like they had not seen in over a year. Since the roads first started to fill back up, road rage car crashes have only gotten worse and more frequent.
Now that we are right in the middle of summer, road rage levels may be even higher than usual. There is an undeniable link between heat and road rage, and traffic tends to be worse in the summer. If you are injured by a driver with road rage, you may be able to recover compensation.
The fact that high temperatures contributes to road rage incidents has been known for a very long time. Extreme heat tends to increase how a person responds to annoyances drastically. A minor irritation, like getting cut off in traffic, might be no big deal at all for a driver in pleasant weather. However, in extreme heat, that same driver may end up reacting quite aggressively, such as by trying to swerve around and cut off the other driver in an act of revenge.
You have probably heard a lot about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. Obviously, if someone is cruising down the highway with one hand on the wheel, one hand holding a cell phone, and two eyes looking at a screen, there is likely to be a car accident. Distracted drivers kill over 3,000 people and injure almost 500,000 each year in the U.S.
Cell phones are responsible for quite a large percentage of distracted driving accidents. Unfortunately, drivers of brand new vehicles may now have a completely new source of distraction - their own dashboards. Many car companies are now using built-in infotainment systems that are meant to reduce cell phone distraction. The question remains just how distracting these integrated systems may be.
New cars with integrated infotainment systems can do almost everything a cell phone can do, including helping the driver send a text message, navigate, or connect to the internet. Screens may be integrated into the dashboard so that drivers do not need to pick up their phones. Often, these infotainment systems are meant to be voice-controlled, but voice control is still far from a perfect technology.
There are certain safety standards that staircases should comply with, whether in residential buildings or in public places. Staircases can be dangerous when they are not kept in a reasonably safe condition. Things like having enough lighting and handrails are some of the most basic steps that a premises owner or manager should take to ensure that people are able to get up and down the stairs safely. When these very reasonable safety standards are violated, the likelihood that someone will suffer a serious fall, slip, or trip, skyrockets. If you were injured when you fell on a staircase, you may have a strong claim against the party who is liable for the safety of those on their premises. An attorney can help guide your next steps.
While people can fall down even the best-designed staircase, serious staircase accidents are often caused by the premises owner’s failure to use reasonable precautions. Some common safety issues on staircases include:
One of the main reasons people enter nursing homes is because they can no longer perform their normal activities of daily living and need help. People who reside in nursing homes can generally do very little to care for themselves and must rely on caregivers for assistance with everything from eating to dressing. When your loved one in a nursing home presses their call light, everyone should be able to expect that someone will come along in a timely fashion to see what they need. Whether a nursing home resident presses their call light because they need help making a phone call or because they have fallen out of their chair, they deserve a prompt response. If your loved one’s call light is going unanswered, they may be facing nursing home neglect. An attorney can advise you on what your next steps should be.
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2114 Deerpath Road, Aurora, IL 60506 630-907-0909
