Posted on December 31, 2015 in Firm News

One of the most common concerns that anyone might have after becoming the victim of an accident in Illinois is whether they should consult with an attorney. It's a fair question to ask if you presume that hiring an attorney always requires an up-front outlay of cash. But that often is not the case.

Especially where a claim of personal injury is concerned, it is a very common practice for an attorney to offer the initial consultation on a case for free. And equally common is that if the circumstances of your case are such that a viable claim exists, representation may well be provided on a contingency fee basis.

That said here's a better question to ask. If you've been injured in a motor vehicle accident, on the job, as a result of caregiver negligence or a property owner's failure to fulfill a duty of care, the question worth asking is, why not consult an attorney?

Once you take advantage of the opportunity to get educated about all your rights and options, the question of whether to go ahead with your case can be addressed. And if you choose to press ahead, the next things you will want to consider are the benefits that you may gain from having an attorney's help. These could include:

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 Posted on December 17, 2015 in Firm News

It is no secret that the United States faces economic challenges. One of them, as we pointed out in at least one post in the not-too-distant past, is the fact that there is a growing shortage in Illinois and elsewhere of people willing to get into the truck driving trade.

On the face of it, this might seem to be something that simple market forces should be able to handle. The law of supply and demand dictates that where demand exists, the market responds by filling it. But that presumes a strict free market, and one could well argue that the trucking industry does not quite fit that bill.

Driving a truck does have its allure but it is hardly an easy job. It requires a specific set of training and experience just to get licensed. If a driver does get hired, it means days away from home. There are many regulations regarding when they can drive, when they can't and how heavy their loads can be.

Pay can vary and in some circumstances the method of payment and the demands of shippers are such that it actually motivates drivers to violate the rules. That has a way of creating conditions that result in catastrophic truck accidents.

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 Posted on December 11, 2015 in Firm News

If you've been injured on the job and it's never happened to you before there's a good chance that you have a lot of questions. Hopefully, you can get answers easily from your employer. If you are finding information difficult to come by through that channel, you might consider seeking help from the state of Illinois.

But long before turning to it as a last resort, and especially if your case is proving to be particularly knotty, you should be seeking the help of an experienced employment law attorney. That's the surest way to be confident that you're protecting your rights to the greatest extent possible.

In the meantime, we offer some broad observations about the kinds of benefits you should be able to expect to receive if you've suffered a workplace injury. Keeping in mind that every state's laws are different, here's what's generally true.

Medical treatment

If you've been hurt at work, you have a right to any care that is required and necessary to deliver a cure or provide relief. In addition, you can seek to be compensated for related medical bills and prescriptions. If you were taken to or drove to the hospital, you can usually get your mileage recouped.

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 Posted on December 04, 2015 in Car Accidents

All it takes is a split second for a car accident to happen. Then, the thing you never imagined could happen does. This scenario is perhaps more likely to occur at this time of year than almost any other in Illinois.

If you're like most people, you have parties on the calendar for nearly every weekend between now and New Year's Day. Families are getting together from all over the region and probably further away than that. Meanwhile, the weather is such that the roads can get turned into an ice rink in no time.

Car accidents are the last thing any of us want and so in a bid to hopefully make the season just a tad brighter we relay a set of tips for safe holiday travel. These come courtesy of Safe Kids Worldwide and General Motors.

• Click it. No matter how long or short a trip may be, everyone in the vehicle should buckle up for safety. The data supports the old saying that most accidents occur within 25 miles from home. But seat belt use can make them less likely to result in injury or death.

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 Posted on November 25, 2015 in Firm News

If you've ever had a horse or cow step on your foot you know that working around a farm can be hazardous. But the risk of injury in the agricultural setting is a lot greater than that posed by just livestock.

As we wrote about last month, modern farming is right near the top of the list of sites where industrial-type accidents can occur. The machinery is dangerous, requiring a significant level of training and experience, and the regulatory oversight is not always what it could or perhaps should be.

Such accidents happen all too often around central Illinois and victims of them need to be aware that obtaining due compensation can be challenging. Working with experienced legal counsel is always advisable.

Accidents involving tractors have proven to be among the most deadly. According statistics compiled by Country Financial of Bloomington, more than a third of farm-related deaths every year are due to tractor rollovers. The second most common cause of farm-related fatalities is attributed to collisions involving farming equipment.

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 Posted on November 20, 2015 in Firm News

The marketing materials for nearly any senior living facility -- a.k.a. nursing home -- focus on the positive. That should not be surprising. No one would put a disabled or aging loved one into a facility that knowingly maintains an environment that isn't in a position to provide the epitome of great care and support.

The sad reality, however, is that there are times when residents in some homes are treated more like inmates. They can suffer abuse at the hands of uncaring workers. They may be neglected because of understaffing. Even the best intentions of loved ones to keep a watchful eye aren't always met and what may happen behind closed doors remains untold.

Thanks to new legislation passed by Illinois lawmakers this year, however, that may be about to change. The measure was signed into law by the governor over the summer and is due to take effect Jan. 1.

What the law allows is the placement of cameras or listening devices in nursing home rooms. What it requires is that residents or their families foot the bill to buy the devices and have them installed. If the resident shares a room with others, all of them have to give their approval for the presence of the video or audio equipment.

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 Posted on November 12, 2015 in Firm News

It may be easy to muster some level of compassion for truckers. As we have noted before, commercial drivers face much stricter regulation of their activity than most people in Illinois may appreciate.

As we noted in a previous post in November last year, commercial drivers face restrictions on the hours they can be behind the wheel. They are also required to undergo special training to obtain their licenses. But as we also noted in that post, there are more than a few drivers and trucking companies willing to fudge numbers.

This is not good news for the general motoring public. Despite the complaints that truckers and their employers raise about how difficult the rules make it to be competitive, the regulations are there for a reason. The biggest being that when violations occur, they can lead to accidents that leave victims with debilitating injuries. Sometimes they are fatal.

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 Posted on November 05, 2015 in Firm News

If you are an up-to-date Illinois adult, you probably are aware that there's a major political struggle underway over ways to reform the state's workers' compensation system.

For many this might seem to be a case of déjà vu. Didn't we just go through some major reforms back in 2011? The answer, of course, is yes. But the question politicians in Springfield are wrestling with is whether those changes are enough or whether something more is needed.

In simplified terms we have the Democrat-controlled General Assembly on one side saying that the 2011 changes are working and should be allowed a greater test of time to see if even more improvements can be achieved. On the other is the Republican governor who says the changes have been too little and too slow. The governor wants more and he is refusing to negotiate the next state budget unless his desires are addressed.

The governor says more drastic changes to workers' compensation are needed to spark business development in the state. Critics of change point to reported declines in the amount of money insurers have been paying for claims since 2011.

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 Posted on October 29, 2015 in Car Accidents

Whether you are tooling along the Interstate 72 corridor, making a run up I-55, or traveling on one of the lesser highways threading through central Illinois, the threat of being involved in a motor vehicle accident exists.

In many situations, perhaps even in most, the negligence of one person can be identified as the main cause. When that happens, the assigning of liability leads to the responsible person or their insurance company being held accountable for any recovery or compensation that might be deemed appropriate under the law.

There are occasions, though, in which accidents occur and direct human error isn't the culprit. Cars, trucks, buses and even motorcycles are complicated machines with a lot of systems and parts. If any one of them happens to fail because of faulty design, manufacturing or maintenance, and an accident results, a claim might need to be filed under a theory of product liability.

The thing to keep in mind is that the injuries, pain and suffering endured by victims are the same, regardless of the cause. But the defendant named for action may wind up being the seller of a product or the company that made it.

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 Posted on October 22, 2015 in Firm News

Farming has long been recognized as a hazardous industry. However, while federal and Illinois law, insurers, workers and employers all push to enforce rules that improve workplace safety across most industries, many experts say there is a general lack of focus on the family farm.

According to a string of articles that have made the rounds on the Internet, regulatory training and safety programs have been slashed and that means a bitter harvest of increased numbers of farm accidents that result in serious if not fatal injuries.

The series entitled Tragic Harvest by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune focuses on conditions in Minnesota, but observes that they are not unique to that state. Indeed, they draw on cases from all around the Midwest, including here in Illinois, to highlight that farming remains among the most dangerous occupations in the U.S.

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