Accidents that result traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) happen daily in Chicago and can cause debilitating physical, emotional, and cognitive impairments. Individuals living with the fallout from a TBI frequently face significant challenges in their everyday lives. Difficulty living independently, working, or interacting with others are common, as is struggling financially.
If you or someone close to you recently sustained a TBI in Chicago, you may have the legal right to pursue compensation for the hardships you have endured.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, is home to a team of Chicago traumatic brain injury lawyers that represent victims like you in those legal actions. Contact us today to learn what we can do for you.
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Experienced TBI Lawyers in Chicago
When navigating the complex legal landscape of TBI cases in Chicago, you need an experienced and passionate advocate on your side.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, is a law firm you can trust to pursue your claims professionally and aggressively.
We have a long track record of success in handling TBI cases. Our skilled attorneys have years of accumulated knowledge about the medical, scientific, and practical challenges TBI victims face.
We’re also deeply familiar with the legal principles that apply to seeking compensation for them in Illinois. With an attorney from Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, on your side, you have an experienced advocate who understands your difficulties and knows how to ensure the at-fault parties compensate you to the fullest extent allowable by law.
Seeking Compensation for a Chicago TBI
If you sustained a TBI due to someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing in Chicago, you don’t have to bear the resulting burdens alone. You have the legal right under Illinois law to hold any at-fault party (or parties) accountable for the harm they caused you. An individual, business, or institution will generally bear liability for your TBI if their careless, reckless, or intentional misconduct played a role in causing it.
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, our team is adept at investigating TBI cases and identifying the parties who owe compensation to our clients. We dig deep into the evidence to uncover the parties’ connections to your injury, ensuring you can seek payment from everyone who put you in harm’s way.
As a TBI victim, you can typically seek various types of damages from those parties.
These can include payment for your:
- Past and future medical expenses.
- Other costs of living with or adapting to a TBI.
- Lost income and job benefits from missing work while healing.
- Loss of future earning capacity if a TBI prevents you from working.
- Pain and suffering due to your injury, medical treatments, or life disruption.
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
- Loss of independence.
You may also seek punitive damages from a court if the at-fault party engaged in malicious or extremely reckless misconduct in causing your TBI. In the tragic event of a TBI leading to the death of your loved one, you may seek compensation for your losses through a wrongful death lawsuit.
Numerous factors can influence the types and amounts of compensation you might receive for a TBI in Chicago. These include the severity of your injury and its interference with your life, the volume and strength of the evidence proving an at-fault party’s liability and your damages, the skill and reputation of your lawyer, and the financial resources the liable parties have available (including through liability insurance coverage) to pay your losses.
At Dolman Law Group, our attorneys can meticulously analyze all aspects of your case to calculate the maximum compensation you can seek. We then set to work fighting to get you every last penny of those monetary damages from insurance companies and liable parties.
How Do TBIs Occur in Chicago?
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, we have the experience and reputation to handle cases involving any scenario leading to a TBI in Chicago. Here are a few of the many circumstances that might result in a client sustaining a TBI.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Crashes on congested roadways, such as the Kennedy Expressway or Lake Shore Drive, often result in TBIs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of TBIs in the United States. Our team has years of experience fighting on behalf of accident victims, and we’ve secured millions in compensation for them.
Falls
Preventable falls are another leading cause of TBIs nationally, and that’s true in Chicago, too. Any fall might lead to a TBI, including slipping on a tile floor at a restaurant in Logan Square or tripping over broken pavement on a sidewalk in Wrigleyville. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, is ready to hold property owners and others accountable for the hazardous conditions that led to a fall and TBI.
Sports and Recreational Activities
You don’t have to play at Soldier Field or the United Center to risk suffering a TBI as an athlete or active person in Chicago. Athletes of any age and skill level can suffer TBIs, such as concussions and major brain trauma in a flag football game in Millennium Park or a high school soccer match.
Anyone who engages in recreational activities, such as bike riding, skateboarding, or bouncing on a backyard trampoline, can also suffer TBIs.
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, we can hold anyone accountable for failing to supervise sports safely, manufacture safety equipment properly, or maintain suitably safe recreational facilities for Chicagoans.
Violent Crime
Crimes such as assaults and gun violence lead to TBIs far too often in Chicago. Victims of those crimes often find it surprising that, in addition to criminal prosecutions, they have the legal right to hold criminal perpetrators and others liable for causing them harm.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, can pursue justice and compensation on your behalf when criminal misconduct leaves you or a loved one struggling with a TBI in Chicago. Contact us to learn how we do it.
You Don’t Have To Fight Insurance Companies Alone After Suffering a TBI in Chicago
Surviving a TBI is an uphill battle. Obtaining money for your losses from insurance companies shouldn’t add to your burden. With a lawyer from Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, by your side, it doesn’t have to.
A TBI can bring about substantial financial strain, including medical bills, rehabilitation costs, lost income, and long-term care expenses. Insurance companies are well aware of these costs and often prioritize their bottom line over your financial needs. To avoid paying you what they owe, they may dispute the severity of your injury, argue that your injury was pre-existing, or even blame you for the accident. They may even offer an initial lowball settlement, hoping you’re desperate enough to accept (you shouldn’t for the reasons we discuss below).
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, we understand the tactics insurance companies often use to evade their obligations to injured TBI victims like you. Our experienced attorneys have experience of the ins and outs of dealing with insurers, and we know how to protect our clients’ rights and force insurers to pay the maximum. We are not afraid to stand up to America’s largest insurance companies to get you the money you deserve.
Protecting Your Rights After a TBI
Living with a TBI is a life-altering ordeal that influences every facet of your life, including your health and well-being and your ability to work and engage in daily activities. The steps you take after suffering a TBI can influence your chances of securing the compensation you need to pay your expenses and plan for the future. Here are some suggestions safeguarding your interests.
Stick To Your Medical Treatment Plan
Following your prescribed medical and therapeutic treatment plan is critical to your health and well-being and the preservation of your legal rights. The value of your compensation claim may depend on your lawyer demonstrating that you’ve stuck with a consistent treatment plan that includes regular medical care and physical, psychological, or occupational therapy. Comprehensive medical and therapy records can also serve as vital evidence in proving your claim for damages.
Avoid Lowball Settlement Offers
A liability insurance company representing the at-fault party (or parties) may offer to settle your potential damages claim even before you submit a formal claim application or speak with a lawyer. They may try to make their offer sound generous or put pressure on you to accept it quickly before they take it off the table.
It’s crucial not to give in to these tactics. Don’t agree to or sign anything from a liability insurance company until you’ve spoken with an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer. Settlement offers insurance companies make directly to you after you or a loved one suffers a TBI almost always fall far short of covering the full extent of your losses, and saying yes to them could amount to giving up your rights to full compensation.
The safest course of action, if you receive a settlement offer from an at-fault party’s insurer, is to let a skilled lawyer respond and take over negotiations on your behalf. An attorney can usually get you far more than the insurer initially offered.
Hire a Lawyer Immediately
Don’t wait to hire a skilled TBI attorney after suffering this type of injury. Prompt action allows a lawyer to gather evidence that might otherwise disappear. The sooner a lawyer can start that process, the stronger your case.
Hiring a lawyer immediately also helps to ensure you meet strict deadlines for taking legal action under Illinois law. The legal term for this is the statute of limitations. An individual generally has two years from the date of an injury to initiate a personal injury lawsuit after suffering a TBI that someone else’s negligence caused.
Exceptions can apply, however, and the period can be as little as a few months in some cases. Missing this deadline could mean a complete loss of your right to pursue compensation. An attorney can take steps to ensure that doesn’t happen.
If you’re worried about affording a lawyer, don’t be. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, offers free initial consultations and works on a contingent fee basis. This means you pay us nothing until we successfully recover compensation on your behalf. We take on the financial risk of legal action so you can focus on your health, well-being, and future.
Contact an Experienced Chicago Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Today
Any TBI, from a concussion to a severe diffuse axonal injury, holds the potential to alter your life in drastic and long-lasting ways. If someone else’s wrongful actions caused that injury, you deserve and have the legal right to receive significant compensation from those at fault and their insurers.
The experienced Chicago traumatic brain injury lawyers at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, want to handle getting that money for you. Our firm is a leading advocate for TBI victims. Contact us online or call our Chicago office at (312) 500-2901 today for your free case consultation.