When you get into an accident, the insurance company likely will not cover all the damages associated with the incident.
Whether it’s emotional damage, lost earnings, future costs, or other costs that are hard to calculate, insurers will generally write them off.
In the long run, you will end up paying for things that you wouldn’t have otherwise had to pay for.
This is when an Illinois personal injury lawyer comes into play.
Their job is to assess your situation and, if possible, reach a negotiated settlement or verdict that includes all of these losses.
If they cannot settle out-of-court, then they will work to gain you compensation through an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.
Your attorney will build your case and argument to ensure you the most financial recovery from your case.
A few jobs that your Illinois personal injury lawyer will do include:
- Gathering Evidence
- Assessing Damages
- Proving Liability
These are all important steps in the civil litigation process that helps to ensure that you are compensated fully for your losses.
Gathering Evidence
Gathering and preserving personal injury evidence helps to strengthen your case.
It provides concrete proof to support your claim, including the events that occurred and the results of that event.
You can assist your Illinois injury attorney in this process by gathering as much as evidence as you can from the event.
Some evidence you can begin gathering right away include:
- Your written testimony of the event itself and the timeline of the incident
- Contact information for witnesses, others involved, and responding authorities
- Photos and videos of the scene of the accident or incident
- Progressive photos and videos documenting your injuries
- Medical bills, bills for property damage, and other bills associated with the accident
- Work records, such as timesheets
If you are unable to obtain these pieces of evidence, it is okay.
Your Illinois personal injury lawyer will be able to assist you in this process.
Be sure to properly document and preserve all evidence with dates and organization tools.
Assessing Damages
Your Illinois personal injury lawyer will also help you to determine the total losses and costs associated with your accident or injury.
This will help you to determine how much compensation to request during arbitration or during a trial.
Damages can include, but are not limited to:
- Costs of property damage
- Costs associated with physical or emotional injuries
- Costs associated with future losses from physical or emotional injuries
- Non-economic costs, such as loss of enjoyment of life
There are many potential damages and each type of personal injury has specific damages unique to it.
Your attorney will be able to assess all of your losses and costs.
Your attorney may decide to demand both compensatory damages and punitive damages against the party that caused your accident or injury.
Determining Liability
The person or party(s) that caused your accident or injury are liable for the damages you incurred and will be held responsible in the lawsuit.
Your Illinois injury lawyer will be able to determine liability for your losses.
In some cases, multiple parties can be held liable.
Even you, the injured party, can be held partially liable for the incident. This is called “shared liability”.
Even if you share some of the liability, you can still pursue compensation from other liable parties.
