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Recent Blog Posts
Am I at Fault if You Slip and Fall on My Snowy Sidewalk?
Snowfall puts us a little closer to the holiday season. The colder weather also makes it tempting to stay indoors and forget about shoveling the snow. You may opt to have packages and food dropped off at your front door so you never have to leave home. But what if the delivery folks take a tumble and fall? Falling on a patch of snow or ice can be painful and dangerous. Who is liable if they, or a guest on your property, slip and fall because you failed to remove the snow?
Natural Accumulation of Snow
Under state law, no one is required to remove snow from their private property. People are encouraged to remove the snow but it is not mandated under the law. Since you are not required to do anything with the snow that naturally accumulated on your sidewalk as the homeowner you are protected from liability. The law only makes a homeowner liable for any personal injuries if they remove snow or ice from sidewalks in a manner that would intentionally harm another person.
Who Is Liable for My Fall During the Holiday Season?
Department stores will soon be bustling with holiday shoppers and after-hours toasts will abound. But a fall can quickly put an end to that holiday cheer. Maybe flooring hazards are to blame or perhaps too much eggnog. If you slip and fall during the holiday season, depending on the situation, you may have a premises liability case on your hands.
Is Your Fall Due to a Property Owner’s Negligence or Your Own?
Sometimes accidents are caused by a property owner’s negligence. A fall can lead to serious injuries resulting in broken bones, concussions, and back injuries. Commercial property owners are responsible for the safety of their guests, so they need to properly maintain the facility and have warnings informing guests about any unsafe conditions.
However, a property owner is likely to try to pin the fault for a fall on a patron. In Illinois, there is a law called modified comparative negligence. If the court determines that your actions contributed to your fall, any settlement could be significantly lower than it may have been if it was not your fault. If it is determined that you are 50 percent or more at fault, you may not get any compensation at all.
Daycare Liability for Child Injuries in Illinois
Parents trust childcare facilities to provide a safe environment for their children. Unfortunately, accidents happen. When a child is injured while in the care of a daycare, the question then becomes: Who is liable?
In Illinois, daycare facilities are held to the same standard of care as any other business that provides childcare services. This means that the daycare must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the children. In many cases, child-related injuries are directly related to a facility's substandard practices or negligent care.
If your child has been injured while in the care of a daycare, afterschool program, preschool, or another childcare facility, you may be able to file a personal injury claim against the facility. An experienced Illinois personal injury attorney can help you understand your legal rights and options.
Child Injuries at Daycare May be Caused by Unsafe Conditions or Negligence
What If I Was Rear-Ended and Then Hit Another Vehicle?
Auto accidents can take a massive toll on a person physically, emotionally, and financially. Fortunately, Illinois law allows car accident victims to pursue financial compensation for their damages. The at-fault driver, or more likely, the at-fault driver's insurance company, may be required to pay for vehicle damage, medical bills, and other damages. However, in a multi-car accident, determining the at-fault driver can be challenging. For example, if a motorist is rear-ended and the force of the collision causes him or her to strike another vehicle, who is at fault? Which driver is liable for injuries?
Liability in a Rear-End Car Crash
In most rear-end car crashes, the rear driver is liable. Drivers are expected to keep enough distance between their vehicle and the vehicle in front of them to avoid a collision. However, there are circumstances in which the rear driver is not at fault. If the lead driver cuts off the rear driver or slams on his or her brakes without warning, the rear driver may not be liable.
You Are the Victim of a Hit-and-Run in Cook County, and the Police Cannot Find the Perpetrator; Now What?
Car accidents can be traumatic experiences for anyone to endure, especially if there is an injury involved. Even the most careful drivers can be involved in an accident at any given time. After a car accident takes place, it is accustomed for a law-abiding citizen to stop, survey the damage, contact the police, and exchange information with the other driver. They may also choose to contact an attorney. However, not everything happens as planned in the real world. What happens if the individual who hit your vehicle flees the scene?
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a hit-and-run accident takes place every minute in the United States. Cook County, the most populous county in Illinois, is home to many hit-and-run accidents, particularly on busy freeways such as I-90 and I-294. Unfortunately, these active areas are often viewed as optimal areas to flee the scene of an accident. As a result, victims of hit-and-runs may be concerned that they may be ineligible for compensation since the liable party fled the scene. However, this is not necessarily true.
5 Things to Do After a Car Accident on I-294 or I-90
Serious and fatal auto accidents happen nearly every day on I-294 and I-90 in Chicago. Drivers are often traveling at very high speeds, which only increases the severity of injuries suffered by accident victims.
It can be very hard to think clearly in the immediate aftermath of getting hit by a careless driver. People react differently to frightening car accidents. Some people get angry at the at-fault driver. Others have panic attacks. Car accidents with injury are often very emotionally charged events. It can be tricky to remember exactly what you need to do. However, there are a few very important things that you must do immediately when you have been injured in a car accident. Taking the right steps quickly can protect you and preserve your claim. If you are severely injured and must be taken to the hospital by ambulance urgently, many of these steps can be carried out by a less injured passenger or a family member. The two most important things in this situation are that you get to the hospital and get in touch with a lawyer as soon as you are able to.
How Understaffing Harms Nursing Home Residents
When people choose to go live in a skilled nursing facility - or are placed there by a guardian - it is because they are no longer able to care for themselves at home. Nursing home residents are frequently completely dependent on staff for all their personal care and health care. When there are not enough caregivers there to give the care that residents need, harm can quickly come to people in this vulnerable population. The physical harm caused by understaffing can come on very quickly and lead to fatalities, like if someone’s call light is not answered while they are choking. Or, it can happen slowly. Bedsores can develop over time if there is not enough staff to turn immobilized patients at regular intervals. If your loved one was harmed due to understaffing in their skilled nursing facility, they may be entitled to compensation.
Skilled Nursing Facility Understaffing Can Injure Vulnerable Seniors in Many Ways
If Your Child Says One of These 5 Things About Daycare, Pay Attention
Little kids complain about a lot of things. Small children have very low distress tolerance and can become very upset about things that seem very minor to an adult. A toddler may cry because no one will turn the sun off for them. An early elementary-aged child may come home in tears because they did not get a turn to play on the swings at recess. Some of the complaints your child comes home from daycare with may be rather silly. Others, however, could be quite serious. It is important for a parent to keep their ears open for potential red flags when a child talks about their time in daycare. Children may lack the language and comprehension skills needed to plainly alert you to a safety hazard or an act of abuse. You may need an attorney’s help if your child has been injured or harmed.
Red Flags You Should Never Ignore When Talking to Your Kids
Some children have “the gift of gab” and can ramble endlessly about their day. Others are quieter and only respond to direct questions. Wherever your child falls along that spectrum, it is important to seek more information and take prompt action if your child mentions:
Cannabis Consumption, Car Crashes, and Compensation
You probably hear a lot about serious car wrecks caused by drunk drivers. It is very true that drunk drivers are startlingly common and incredibly dangerous. Drunk drivers are ten to fifteen times more likely than sober drivers to cause an accident. Drivers who are high on cannabis are less dangerous than drivers who are drunk, but they are still twice as likely to crash as sober drivers. Sometimes it is abundantly clear that the driver who just hit you is under the influence of marijuana. A disturbing amount of drivers are willing to risk actively smoking cannabis while they are behind the wheel. In other cases, it may be less clear that cannabis use was a factor in the crash. While cannabis itself may be perfectly legal in Illinois, driving while high is not. An attorney may be able to help you further investigate to determine whether the driver who hit you was high.
Top 4 Causes of Highway Accidents in Illinois
Accidents on the highway can happen very quickly. Highway crashes often involve multiple vehicles due to traffic. All it takes is for one careless driver to make a mistake and suddenly, I-294 is at a standstill after a pile-up. If one person loses control of their vehicle after getting hit, they may swerve into another lane, causing repeat impacts. These accidents can be very dangerous or even deadly. Most highway accidents are the direct result of someone’s negligence. Drivers always have a duty to use reasonable care to prevent a car accident and avoid hurting others. Yet, many drivers do make common and completely avoidable errors while driving out of carelessness. If you have been injured in a highway accident, an attorney may be able to help you identify the liable party and recover compensation.
Forms of Driver Negligence on the Interstate
Safely driving at highway speeds requires care and attention. A lot of mistakes that drivers make have to do with being overly comfortable on the highway, particularly for those who commute into Chicago for work. Common causes of highway accidents include:
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847-232-7180
350 S. Northwest Highway, Suite 300, Park Ridge, IL 60068
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