Injury Cases

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One of the biggest myths of the legal industry is that suing a doctor, nurse or hospital and winning is easy.  Unfortunately it’s not.  Even in Cook County, about 80% of the cases which go to trial are won by the defense.  As a result the concern of many of my callers that “they will just get away with it” sadly often comes true.  It’s unfortunate, but the truth is that to win a medical negligence lawsuit you need a bad screw up and a bad injury.

When you do have a good case or the potential for one, two goals can be met.  Both of the goals are to make the responsible party be accountable.

The first goal in bringing any medical malpractice lawsuit is to bring awareness to the doctor’s mistake in an attempt to stop it from happening to other patients. Unfortunately because doctors are “practicing” medicine, there are times when they are simply in over their heads, or they make absolute mistakes. Other times hospitals have bad policies that are put in place carelessly or to save money.  These mistakes can have catastrophic consequences and the only way to make sure they never happen to anyone else in the future is to make sure the medical provider is fully aware of their error. Your medical malpractice lawsuit may save someone else’s life because it can force a change in how they behave.

The second goal in a medical malpractice lawsuit is to ensure you and/or your loved ones are compensated for the error.  Your medical expenses, both current and future, need to be taken care of as well as compensation for your loss of income due to the malpractice, and for any pain and suffering the malpractice caused.  The worry about having to pay out money causes medical groups to do the right thing for future patients.

These two goals go hand in hand, one helping the other. For instance, hospitals do not want to work with doctors who have made catastrophic mistakes. It isn’t in their financial best interest to keep these doctors on staff. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit brings the mistake to the forefront and is reported for the rest of the time that doctor is in practice. Hospitals have to keep their profit and loss in mind when they are hiring doctors and if one has several documented mistakes on his or her record, they will probably not allow them to have practicing privileges.

Medical Malpractice lawsuits are not just about punishing doctors who make human errors or “paying out” those who had a bad experience with a doctor or hospital. Medical malpractice lawsuits are meant specifically to point out and acknowledge a medical providers error as well as to make sure the patient is cared for in a quality fashion moving forward. Also, to make sure no one else has to endure a catastrophic medical error.

If you think you might have a medical malpractice situation, call us today to review your case history. We will let you know if you do have a case, and put you in touch with a qualified attorney in your area.

I received a call from a very nice senior citizen.  She was in a car accident in Chicago where the other side was clearly at fault and she sustained numerous injuries.

It seemed like good news to her that the person who hit her was insured by State Farm.  They are a reputable insurance company so she felt confident just as she would if the other party had someone like Geico or All State.  She trusted that they would be fair with her.

A few days after the accident they called her up, convinced her to let them record a call and tried to get her to settle for around $2,000 plus $3,000 for future medical needs.  This happened despite her having some really serious injuries.  Their hope was that if they got it on recording and then sent her a check that they cashed that they could close the case for much less than they likely would have had to pay.

This is shady and unfortunately it’s how insurance companies make money when you are injured in a car accident.  If the insurance policy was for $100,000 and they get away with only paying around $5,000, that’s a huge win for them.  Do that to 100 people and you’ve saved nearly $10 million. Do it to 1,000 people and it’s a bottom line savings of around $100 million.  It’s a really big deal.

So if an insurance company wants to record you, say no.

If an insurance company wants to offer you a settlement for anything other than your car damage and you are still receiving medical care, don’t talk to them about it.

If they send you a settlement check and you are still treating, don’t cash it.

If they try to tell you that you are partially at fault when you are rear ended while sitting at a stop light, don’t believe them.

In general, no matter how nice they are, no matter their reputation, no matter if they tell you that this is just how it is, remember that the insurance company is not there to look out for you.  Their employees get compensated, in part, based on how little they pay you as compared to how much they should pay you under the law.  Nobody who cares about you would tell you to settle a case days after you are injured when you have no idea what the ultimate outcome of your injury will be.

If you have questions on this or would like our help in finding the best attorney for your case, fill out our contact form or call us at 312-346-5320 to speak with an experienced attorney for free.

The Warning on Statute of Limitations for Birth Injuries: Is it 8 years or is it 2 years?

Childbirth is a very exciting time for a mother and her family. It can also be a very scary time if there are any signs of potential birth complications such as breech birth, preterm labor, preeclampsia, brain injury occurring due to oxygen deprivation and more.

Generally speaking, when there is a birth injury in Illinois due to the negligence of a doctor, hospital or other medical professional, you have eight years from when it happened to file a lawsuit.  This law exists because with infants it can take many years to determine what the actual injury is.  You can’t prove that the baby will have difficulty speaking or learning when they are born.  If they hurt their shoulder in the delivery, there’s no way to tell how that will impact them in five years.

There is a HUGE exception to this rule though.  And if your lawyer doesn’t realize this it can end your malpractice case and leave you with no option other than suing your attorney.

If a patient experiences negligence or malpractice at a federally funded clinic or hospital or by a federal employee, the statute is actually only 2 years under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The trap for these patients is that they think they have 8 years, but in truth, they only have 2 years and are losing their right to sue.

The trick is that you could be at a regular hospital such as Rush, Swedish Covenant, Northwestern, etc., but the doctor who makes the delivery error could actually work for a Federally funded medical clinic.  In those cases while they have privileges at the hospital, their true employer is the Federal Government.  As a result, you only have two years from the malpractice date to sue, not eight.

We’ve seen examples of prestigious, successful law firms failing to discover the true employer of these doctors.  It’s somewhat laziness in that when these cases come in you have to be able to verify where the OBGYN or other doctors involved actually work.  When the lawyer hears a hospital name, some don’t think to dig deeper.  Their failure could cost you millions if it’s a catastrophic injury.

Federally funded medical clinics are national and doctors can be employed at several locations. Unfortunately, many patients are not even aware if their doctor or clinic is government funded.

So how can you tell if a clinic/hospital or doctor is federally funded? You may need to do a little research and investigating to find out if you’re going to a federal funded clinic/hospital or seeking treatment from federally employed doctors. Some options include:

• Looking at the Clinic or Facility’s website.
• Call and ask the clinic directly.
• Visit the Health and Human Services (HHS) website at HHS.gov for more information.

There are literally hundreds of these clinics in Illinois with names like Heartland Health Center, Aunt Martha’s, Access and Shawnee Health Care.  In other words, it’s not always obvious and you have to do some digging.

Some law firms take an approach with birth injuries that they will do nothing until the child turns three.  If that is your child and the doctor who screwed up is employed by one of these clinics, you’d have no case to pursue because it would be too late.  So the bottom line is that you need to be diligent and confirm who your doctor actually works for.

Is this confusing? It can be.  We are experienced Chicago attorneys who would be happy to talk to you about a potential case for free.  Fill out our contact form or call us at 312-346-5320 for a free consultation.

We were recently involved in a case where an older man died after his doctor failed to diagnose a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.  The doctor who committed the error had an insurance policy for $1 million, but the negligence happened at a hospital so they were sued too.

After some wrangling, the defense attorney offered to settle the case for $1 million.  The top Chicago malpractice lawyer we referred this client to said no.  The defense then offered to kick in an extra $100,000.00 from the hospital to end the case.  The attorney, with approval from his client of course, again said no.

Fast forward and right before the trial the case settled for $2,500,000.00.  There wasn’t much of a defense and while no amount of money can compensate the widow for her loss, this money will make her life much easier.

The point of all of this is that most firms would have taken the policy limit offers and wouldn’t have the guts to say no.  It would be the easy move for them because it would put money in their pocket without having to take the time and expense of getting the case ready for trial.  But the best move for the client was to say no and get ready for trial.

The simple fact is that medical malpractice lawsuits in Illinois are expensive, time intensive and difficult to win.  So the reality is that while many lawyers want these cases, there are really only 7-10 that deliver consistently great results and have a true track record of success.

A one man law firm will have challenges in handling all the work. A newer firm can have trouble funding these cases which can cost $100,000 or more to get to trial.  A firm without a track record doesn’t get the attention of insurance companies which makes them dig in more.

Getting one of these firms doesn’t guarantee a result, but it certainly gives you the best chance for a good result.  If you would like our help in finding the best malpractice attorney in Illinois for you, call us any time at 312-346-5320.  You can speak for our lawyers for free and we will answer any questions you have and guide you in the right direction.

Note, we are Chicago lawyers who since 2001 have been providing free legal advice and attorney referrals for people with legal matters anywhere in Illinois.  We have a state wide network of great, experienced attorneys who have a track record of success.  If you would like to speak with one of our attorneys for free, contact us at (312) 346-5320.  For more information about lawyer fees in car accident cases, read on.

There is an awful injury law firm in Chicago that has the worst commercials ever.  That’s not what makes them awful though.  They suck because I get about five calls a week from their unhappy clients and they usually all have similar stories.  Their complaints are either A. They promised me things that aren’t true. B. I have a new lawyer on my case every month. C. They don’t return my phone calls. D.  They don’t answer my questions.  E. All of the above.

Essentially this firm markets themselves like crazy, but doesn’t care about their clients.  They lose a lot of staff because people don’t want to work for unethical attorneys.

A recent caller to my office had hired this shady firm for a car accident case.  What’s crazy is that this firm is really a work injury firm, but apparently is trying to get injury cases too.  The caller had the similar concerns as their other unhappy clients do, but also questioned their attorney fee.  This firm was asking for 37.5% fee just to take the case, 40% if a lawsuit is filed, more if it goes to trial and 50% if there is an appeal!

That fee request is nuts.  Basically they are robbing their clients who accept it.  There’s no law for attorney fees, but except for very difficult cases you should be able to get an outstanding attorney whose fee fill be 1/3 of what they recover.  Many lawyers charge 40% on every case because they can get away with it, but if I was you I wouldn’t ever pay more than 1/3 and in some major injury cases you can get that down tow 25-30%.

To make matters worse in this case, the firm, after the surgeon discharged the client from medical care, forced him to go to a doctor buddy of theirs for physical therapy.  Of course that was done to try and inflate the bills to make the case worth more, but what’s really going to happen is it will make the case worth less because the insurance company won’t pay for it.  Ultimately, since this is a big injury case, the doctor will get paid, but it will come out of money that should have gone to the client.

It’s a pretty shady operation all around.

Bottom line is that you should not pay more than 1/3 to any injury attorney and you should never give them money up front.  If they are asking for that it’s a bad sign for them.  If you want help finding the best lawyer for your case, contact us for an unbiased opinion.

Some parts of Illinois dog bite law are pretty straight forward.  If you are minding your own business and a dog attacks you causing an injury, usually their owner or handler will be liable.  Those cases typically come down to whether or not there is insurance or other money that can pay your damages.  Not all cases involving dogs and injuries are that straight forward.

Imagine playing with your child in your back yard when you hear your neighbors huge dog start to bark and aggressively come towards you. What do you do? Most people, just like Bijal Parkh, would run away.  Unfortunately, when he ran he also slipped in his garage and shattered his knee.  Is the injury caused by Mr. Parkh or did the dog chase cause the injury? Who is at fault?

According to the 1st District Appellate Court, the dog chase was not the proximate cause of his injuries.  Meaning the dog didn’t trip Mr. Parkh or do anything else specifically to make him fall. In fact, in this case, Mr. Parkh ran so far so fast, he was unaware of how close the dog even was to him at the time of the fall.

When the case went to trial, both sides argued over what instructions to give the jury.  Mr. Parkh wanted “injury” defined to the jury as “an aggressive violent action designed to inflict an injury” or a harmless action that “under a particular set of facts results in an injury” which would still hold the dog’s owners liable for his own fall. Mr. Parkh’s request was denied as the court instead ruled the rules did not need further defining.

A dog chase is usually not enough  to hold a dog owner responsible, should something happen to you because of the chase. If the dog catches you and bites you or worse… that is a very different ending. Large dogs can be intimidating, especially when they are running right at you, or in this case, chasing you.  If you stumble an hurt yourself and the dog backs off without actually attacking you, you may be on your own for the medical bills.

Final thought.  Every case is different. So please don’t read this blog and assume you have no case.  Call us at (800) 517-1614 any time to speak with a lawyer for free and get an analysis to see if you have a case.

See also: Dog bite lawsuits in Illinois

We receive about ten calls per day from people who are looking for a lawyer for an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit. Our goal on these calls is to learn the facts of what happened, determine if there is a case worth investigating and if so, refer you to a malpractice attorney who has experience and a track record of success with a case similar to yours.

It’s important to know a few things about these cases: 1. They are marathons, not sprints.  By that we mean that these cases take on average 2-4 years to resolve and the time between when you first call a lawyer and a lawsuit is filed if there’s a good case is about six months.  That’s because all of the relevant medical records must be gathered and reviewed by an expert physician who is willing to state that malpractice occurred. 2. Even in the most obvious cases of malpractice, you can bet that the insurance company will try to fight the case.  Doctors win 80% of the cases that go to trial in Cook County and in other counties they never lose.  So don’t be surprised that the case will take some time and make sure the law firm you hire can demonstrate lots of success in these cases.

Beyond that, it’s important to know what medical malpractice is. In plain English it’s when a medical provider screws up AND causes a major, permanent injury.  For cases that go to trial it can cost a lawyer around $100,000.00 in expenses.  So if there isn’t a catastrophic result then it’s usually not worth pursuing.  By catastrophic we mean death, becoming paralyzed, brain damage, severe nerve damage, going from being able to work to permanently disabled, requiring constant medical care, etc.  It’s awful to say, but also honest to say that a physician can screw up badly and get away with it if there isn’t a bad result.

Sadly a medical provider can get away with being negligent if you can’t prove that the bad result wouldn’t have happened anyway.  For example, if they fail to diagnose pancreatic cancer in a 90 year old and that person dies, the defense would be that at that age you have almost no life expectancy and couldn’t get treatment for cancer that severe.  Like I said, insurance companies ruthlessly fight these cases.  I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a strong law firm in your corner.

It’s also important to know what malpractice is not.  A woman called me upset that her doctor had spoken too loudly in the office about her medical condition. A man was frustrated because his doctor was rude to him.  Another caller wasn’t happy that his doctor would no longer prescribe pain medications because he missed an appointment.  None of these examples are medical malpractice, they are customer service issues.  If you think your doctor has behaved in an inappropriate way you should file a complaint against them with the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulations as they license and discipline medial providers.

I hope this basic explanation clears up some myths.  We know and work with the best medical malpractice lawyers in Illinois. If you would like a free consultation or a referral, call us any time at (312) 346-5320.

We’ve all heard the expression, “like a pressure cooker ready to explode.” But what happens when a pressure cooker actually explodes and injures the person just trying to cook or jar their foods?
Pressure cookers have been used for decades in the kitchen for various meals. Personally, my mom used her pressure cooker all summer long. She would prepare strawberry rhubarb jam, rhubarb based butter, apple and pear sauce and of course any of the vegetables from the garden and can them in mason jars in the pressure cooker. I know other people whose favorite recipe for black and pinto beans include only using a pressure cooker.

However, not everyone has a fond memory of a pressure cooker. One woman had severe burns covering her chest and arms after a pressure cooker exploded in her kitchen. A simple malfunction, the cooker’s lid came off before the pressure was released. When the lid flew off it was a virtual explosion of scalding hot soup, hot enough to leave her skin burnt and blistered. She was in the hospital for over a week while doctors tended to her wounds.

One pressure cooker manufacturer, Tristar, has been hit with lawsuits over what customers are calling defective products. Their product allegedly explodes without warning. Two cases have already been settled, and at least one more has been filed. Consumer reports have raised serious safety concerns about other pressure cookers, including models manufactured by Fagor America, Tabletops Unlimited and Maxi-Matic.

What’s crazy is that in many of the injuries, the explosions have happened when directions on the box are properly followed or even after the product is done cooking the food and has been unplugged.  You wouldn’t think a machine just sitting there could cause harm, but it can.

The issue in these cases is often that the safety mechanisms designed to stop explosions have failed.  The beauty of these products is that they can cook meals in a fraction of the time.  They are supposed to be safe, but when they are defective it can cause a major injury. If you were injured when your pressure cooker exploded, contact us after seeking medical attention. We will put you in contact with an attorney in your area who has experience with these cases.

It’s always free to call us and speak with one of our lawyers.  We can be reached any time at (800) 517-1614.  You will usually speak to a lawyer right away and always within a few minutes.