Illinois Law Blog

We talk to 5-10 injured Illinois workers every single day. Since we started in 2001, we have proudly helped tens of thousands of injured workers. I thought it would be interesting to list various scenarios we’ve heard so far in 2025. The lesson is that a lot of injuries are common, and workers get hurt in all sorts of ways.

Here are 100 examples. There are repeats of fact patterns as we listed them in the order they were received. If you want to speak with a lawyer for FREE, call us any time at 312-346-5320.

1. A worker at a big shipping company has to have annual hearing exams and has lost hearing due to it being such a loud environment.
2. A delivery driver hurt his leg and returned to work with restrictions. Those restrictions aren’t being followed which is making the injury worse.
3. Laborer at a huge company smashed his hand when he was ordered to do work he hadn’t trained on and wasn’t given proper safety procedures.
4. A RN has PTSD and an arm injury after being attacked by a patient.
5. We were called by a guy who tore his ACL and went to the hospital. He wanted to leave as he was in pain and had seen the doctor. His employer sid he had to stay until he was drug tested. By the time he called us it had been three hours and he wanted to know if he could leave.
6. A woman with a back injury at work was at home when she had a shooting pain in her back that caused her to lose her balance and fall, resulting in a broken arm.
7. A caller wanted to switch work comp attorneys since his lawyer was rude to him and often didn’t call back.
8. A delivery driver was injury when a customer backed their car into her.
9. City worker injured his back when a chair broke. He delayed seeing a doctor for three weeks so his case was denied.
10. Injured worker wanted to switch lawyers because they felt they were being pressured into taking a low settlement.
11. Spanish speaker was told they weren’t allowed to file for work comp because they hadn’t been on the job long enough (that’s not a thing).
12. Truck driver who was paid as a 1099 was injured while making a delivery for a Chicago area trucking outfit that calls all of their drivers 1099’s. They have control over him so he should be classified as an employee.
13. Another 1099 truck driver (there are so many who get misclassified) tore his labrum when he slipped off the truck.
14. Woman works from home for a school and types all day and has carpal tunnel.
15. Worker got a settlement offer without a lawyer and wanted to see if it was a good offer. We determined she’d need a future surgery which made the case worth a lot more money.
16. Material handler is on their feet 8-10 hours a day and has to wear steel toed boots. They’ve developed plantar fasciitis.
17. Amazon worker has work restrictions and says the company is making her sit at the plant all day and do nothing.
18. Cashier was robbed at gun point and has severe PTSD which is being fought because she treated for a separate psychological issue two years ago.
19. Guy who types all day was told he has carpal tunnel, but can’t get an EMG, the test used to prove carpal tunnel, for over four months.
20. A worker who fell off a ladder and has a brain injury was seeking help because his TTD checks are always late.
21. Woman fell at work and hit her head. She was diagnosed with a concussion. A week later her shoulder started to hurt. She has a torn rotator cuff. The insurance company is disputing the shoulder injury part of the case.
22. A Coca Cola worker hurt their back while lifting materials.
23. A CNA hurt her arm on three separate occasions while lifting patients.
24. An Amazon worker who wears special shoes and pulls pallets has plantar fasciiitis.
25. A guy with a neck injury has been treating for over six months, but had his benefits cut off after a IME.
26. An injured worker applied for short term disability benefits and called us for that. Didn’t know that work comp was a thing and we helped him get those benefits.
27. Special education teacher has a leg injury after a student threw a chair at her.
28. A caller wanted to know what the new PPD and TTD rates are for 2025.
29. Factory worker hurt his back. His boss said, “I don’t care what the law says, we aren’t turning this into our work comp insurance.”
30. A different factory worker says his boss told him to lie and say he was hurt at home, with a promise they’d pay his bills. We see that type of lie all the time.
31. A custodian hurt his knee but was having trouble getting benefits because he’s essentially illiterate so he can’t fill out the paper work in the way the insurance company is requiring.
32. A RN hurt her back when she fell on a floor that was soaked in urine from a patient’s catheter bag being punctured.
33. IT worker broke his foot, had surgery and then got fired.
34. A security officer at his school hurt himself breaking up a student fight.
35. An executive at a company broke his leg while taking clients out to dinner when he stepped in a pot hole.
36. Cashier at Sam’s Club for over ten years reached out to ask how to prove that their carpal tunnel is work related.
37. A business man hurt his shoulder on the job and wanted to switch lawyers because his did not communicate. He had to take money out of his 401k since his TTD checks were late.
38. Teacher had to go to the district office for a work meeting and got into a car accident on the way back.
39. A downstate mechanic wanted to have a lawyer on the case before he went to the IME the insurance company requested.
40. Work comp insurance company told a worker they’d cover everything, but they won’t return phone calls from his PT facility so he can’t get treatment.
41. McDonald’s manager had a slip and fall from what he thinks was a greasy floor and hurt his elbow.
42. A suburban machine assembly worker has been doing the same job for years and has been diagnosed with DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis.
43. A woman works on copy machines including repairs and deliveries. She has a shoulder injury that she and her doctor believe is from overuse.
44. A flight attendant fell from turbulence and broke their hip.
45. Construction worker with a herniated disc had his case denied due to a pre-existing condition even though his orthopedic doctor was in his corner.
46. A guy had shoulder surgery after a work injury, but called because the insurance company is refusing to make a settlement offer.
47. A refugee with a work visa was told that only citizens are eligible for Illinois workers comp benefits. This of course isn’t true.
48. A business traveler went to the Netherlands for work. Couldn’t get a car out of the airport so they walked two miles to their hotel and somehow tore a meniscus doing so.
49. Airport shuttle driver blew out his shoulder while helping a passenger with their luggage. The case was denied since he didn’t go to the doctor for a week.
50. Injured worker wants to switch attorneys because their TTD keeps starting and stopping and they don’t feel like their lawyer is doing anything about it.
51. FedEx driver out of Illinois was hit by a car making a deliver in Missouri.
52. Welder in central Illinois tore his labrum, likely due to so much overhead work.
53. Home health aide took a client to the bathroom. The aide wears a gait belt. The client pulled on that to try to help lift herself off the toilet which caused the care worker to fall.
54. A guy who was hurt three years ago and has seven arm surgeries called us because he was back at work on restrictions and the company doctor was saying he should be good as new by now.
55. IDOC guard hurt his hip breaking up a fight.
56. Worker with a back injury wanted a second medical opinion and wanted to make sure they did it the right way so they didn’t get stuck with the bills.
57. A Granite City nurse felt the adjuster was blowing her off as she’s waited over a month to find out if her claim was approved.
58. An Amazon worker wanted to get a new lawyer because the lawyer she hired had her sign an overly broad medical release form.
59. In one of my favorite calls, a woman wanted a new lawyer because she realized that the attorney she hired is full of it. That’s because he lists a “Top 10 lawyer in the nation” award on his website and she learned that is just an award that anyone who is willing to pay for it can get.
60. A woman fell and fractured her elbow. When she tried to see her orthopedic doctor the insurance company insisted she instead go to an urgent care.
61. Butcher tore his rotator cuff from repetitive use of his right arm.
62. Worker fell and hurt her knee. The employer made her stay for four more hours since there was nobody available to cover her shift.
63. Mechanic got a hernia while lifting an engine.
64. Steel fell on the foot of the person who called us. All x-rays are normal, but he’s still in terrible pain and nobody knows why.
65. A streets and sanitation worker hurt his back filling a pothole.
66. A grocery store worker “wrenched her body” when she fell in the freezer.
67. Guy hurt his back at work and when he returned after missing two months they cut his wages and hours.
68. A landscaper had over 50 stitches on his leg after he was cut with a blade.
69. A woman hurt her knee at work. Had an injection because the company doctor suggested it and now she feels worse.
70. Walmart worker has a back injury with a surgery recommendation. They don’t want the surgery, but are not able to get approved for a second opinion.
71. Belleville worker has a back injury and wants a lawyer because the insurance company said he has to let a nurse case manager attend the appointments. This is not true.
72. A machinist caught his hand in a machine and had to have surgery.
73. Warehouse worker saw a co-worker get run over by a forklift and got PTSD.
74. Worker hurt his back and hip and then took a vacation with his girlfriend. She posted pictures on Instagram so now the employer is questioning if he’s really hurt.
75. A caller was hurt at work twice. The first one he didn’t report because he was scared he’d lose his job. The second he did and went to the ER. Now two years later he discovered that bill isn’t paid.
76. Temp agency worker fractured his foot and doesn’t want to do the light duty work he’s been assigned.
77. City worker was shoveling snow and tore a muscle in his shoulder and hurt his elbow.
78. Machinist was diagnosed with a shoulder injury, but it turns out it’s a neck injury. The insurance company denied the case because his initial complaints were to the shoulder.
79. A secretary was fired for leaving her desk to go to the bathroom. She thinks it’s really because she was hurt at work and now wants help with the work comp case.
80. A drug and alcohol counselor was attacked at a facility due to there not being enough staff/security.
81. A Michigan worker was hurt in Illinois two years ago and filed a case there. He just learned he could file a case here and is doing so because the benefits are much better.
82. A counselor at a prison fell and hurt her back.
83. A worker hurt her elbow at her job and then quit. She’s been on a new job for four months and the elbow is feeling much worse.
84. A nurse was injured on the job and working on light duty. She got suspended for poor service and wanted to know if she should get paid while off work since she’s on work restrictions. The answer is yes.
85. A doctor hit his head and has been off a year. Felt it’s time to get a lawyer.
86. A 7-11 worker went outside for a smoke break and slipped on ice, breaking her ankle.
87. Delivery company worker was attacked by a co-worker who felt they weren’t pulling their weight.
88. A University employee was required to park in a certain parking garage that is just for employees and broke her wrist when she tripped over a curb she couldn’t see because it was dark.
89. Deli worker lacerated his hand and was referred to a specialist for a nerve injury. Can’t get a call back to get this treatment approved.
90. A warehouse worker tore his rotator cuff. His case is under investigation because he hurt the same shoulder in the military about ten years ago.
91. A manager at a fast food restaurant was back at work following treatment for a non work injury. A week into his return he slipped because the ice machine wasn’t working and broke his elbow.
92. A concrete cutter was hurt lifting a slab and is in terrible pain. His doctor said he shouldn’t do that type of work any more.
93. Caller fell off a roof and hurt his shoulder from trying to grab a tree branch on the way down in order to slow his fall.
94. A carpenter shot himself in the hand with a nail gun. His boss says he shouldn’t get work comp since it was his fault. That’s not the law.
95. An injured worker has a lawyer but wants to switch because every month he’s told they are going to court and then nothing happens. Says it’s been this way for 11 months.
96. Woman called for her fiance who was in the hospital. The truck he was driving flipped over after it blew a tire.
97. A construction worker’s boss made him work at his home and he fell off a ladder while doing that.
98. A nanny was walking the kids to school when one fell down and dragged her down with them causing a knee injury.
99. A City worker with a back injury says “I hired one of those billboard guys which was a huge mistake. They are so busy and I can never get a lawyer on the phone. I want a new one.”
100. A contractor for a big delivery company tore his Achilles while running from a dog.

We were able to help almost all of these callers which is the best part of this job. Please call us any time for a free consultation.

See also: Does Your Illinois Attorney Hate His Job?

We are experienced Illinois lawyers. Contact us at 312-346-5320 for a free consultation about medical malpractice lawsuits.

When you’re having a medical emergency, every second counts. Having a delay in care can lead to serious or life-changing consequences. One of the scariest situations is when a doctor or hospital doesn’t recognize the signs of a stroke. A stroke is a true medical emergency, and if it’s not caught and treated right away, it can cause permanent brain damage, problems with walking or speaking, or even death. If something like this happened to you or a loved one, you may have a case for medical malpractice.

A stroke happens when blood can’t get to the brain like it’s supposed to. This cuts off oxygen and can start damaging brain cells quickly. There are two main kinds of strokes. One is called a hemorrhagic stroke, which happens when there’s bleeding in the brain. The other kind is an ischemic stroke, which happens when a blood vessel to the brain gets blocked. An ischemic stroke is more common. It can happen as you are going about your daily life or during a medical procedure.

Some of the warning signs of a stroke include sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body), trouble speaking or understanding others, confusion, vision problems, dizziness, trouble walking, or a really bad headache that comes out of nowhere.

Because strokes can get worse fast, getting help right away is critical. There are treatments, like clot-busting drugs or surgery, that can make a huge difference. Getting the right care quickly might mean the difference between making a strong recovery or living with serious disabilities or worse, death.

Unfortunately, strokes are still missed way too often by medical professionals. This happens more with younger people, or when someone doesn’t show the “typical” symptoms, or when they don’t have the usual stroke risk factors. Some of the biggest mistakes doctors make include brushing off symptoms like dizziness or headaches as something minor like migraines or anxiety. In other cases, they don’t order the right tests, like a CT scan or MRI, or they wait too long to give treatment. Sometimes doctors rush through an exam and miss the signs altogether.

If you or someone you care about had a stroke in Illinois and the doctors didn’t catch it or treated it too late, we want to help. You don’t pay anything to start a case, and we’ll make sure one of the best firms in the state reviews your situation. These cases can be worth millions of dollars because of the lifelong care stroke victims may need. Call us any time at 312-346-5320. We help people all over Illinois.

A reader of our blog asked us the following:

I was hurt on the job and have a back injury. I’ve been off work for three weeks now. When do I start getting paid work comp benefits. I have bills!

This is a really common situation. The answer is that you should get paid within the first two weeks of missed time. Under Illinois workers’ compensation law, benefits start on the 4th calendar day of missed work. Once you miss 14 calendar days, you get those first three days back too.

It’s important to remember, calendar days is not actual work days missed. In other words, if you get hurt on a Thursday, miss work on Friday and Monday, but are back to work on Tuesday, you are still owed for the one calendar missed even though you don’t work on the weekend. These lost time payments are called temporary total disability or TTD benefits.

Insurance companies will often delay payment of TTD benefits like they did in the above example. It often happens for bogus reasons such as them saying they are still investigating, need more information, are waiting on medical records or for no reason at all. They can’t just not pay until they feel like it.

Unfortunately they will delay or deny benefits to put pressure on you. In longer term injuries with a lot of missed time, some checks will be late or “lost” or they’ll refuse to do things which can result in you being paid quickly such as direct deposit.

The only efficient way to push back if this happens is to hire an attorney and have them file a 19b petition as well as a petition for penalties and fees. The first petition gets your case before an Arbitrator much faster than it could otherwise. The second punishes the insurance company for their unreasonable delay in making the payments that they owe you.

And it is unreasonable and unlawful for them not to pay you if a doctor takes you off work for a work injury and they don’t have any actual evidence to counter that. Fortunately, Illinois work comp laws are really strong and there is a good way to push back. Beyond that, getting an attorney who knows what they are doing helps stop any other nonsense you might not be aware of such as them talking directly to your doctor.

If you have been hurt on the job in Illinois and have any questions or want an attorney referral, please fill out our contact form or call us to speak with a lawyer for free at 312-346-5320.

In just about every Illinois injury case we get contacted about, the top question on everyone’s mind at some point is “What is my case worth?” We hear that a lot in the beginning of a case and can’t answer that as we don’t know what your ultimate recovery will be. And of course we hear these questions later on and usually can give a better answer.

A client recently asked a different version of this question by saying, “What would be a good settlement for this case?”

That’s a great question. The answer requires an understanding of how these cases work in reality.

The first thing to know is that just because a friend or someone else got a certain dollar amount for a certain injury, that case has no bearing on yours as every case is factually different.

There are three big factors that play a role in what a case is worth. The first is what are the facts and how much liability do you bear versus the other person. If you get rear-ended at a stop light, it would seem like you have no fault. But if it’s dark out and you didn’t have your lights on, you could have some fault. If you are 30% at fault for an accident, a $100,000 case becomes worth $70,000. In every case you can bet the insurance company is trying to put as much blame on you as possible even when it seems ludicrous. Giving you even just 10% fault saves them money.

The second factor is damages. The more serious you are hurt, the more a case is likely worth. Someone who has to miss six months of work will have more damages than someone who misses none. Someone who breaks there leg and just gets a cast will have a case worth less than someone who needs surgery. And the higher your medical bills, the more often the case is worth more.

But it’s the third factor that often ultimately determines what a case is worth. That is how much insurance is available to go after in this case? The reality is that if you are hit by a city bus or a semi truck and suffer a serious injury, that case will be worth way more than if you get hit by a teenager who has a $30,000 insurance policy. Even if you have a half a million in bills, the chances of collecting any more than the insurance policy are almost none unless the person who hit you is somehow worth a lot of money or there is someone else to sue.

This all can be very unfair. Some cases that would be worth millions end up being worth just thousands. Medical liens can eat up all of that if you don’t have a good lawyer advocating for you to reduce them.

There are other factors too that you wouldn’t think about. The value of a catastrophic case with a lot of insurance – or if you are going against a big company, no limit on insurance – is worth more in the hands of some law firms than others. In other words, one firm might get $2 million on a case where a better, more experienced firm could get $5 million.

Some firms are just more experienced and better at this than others. In one case we got involved with, a small firm was telling someone to take a $100,000 settlement, telling them that is all that’s available. We got them to a more experienced firm who discovered there was an additional $1 million insurance policy.

Overall the answer is that the goal should be to get the most that a case can be worth. We can help you find the right Illinois injury attorney to make that happen. If you’d like a free consultation, please call us at 312-346-5320.

Cancer affects approximately 40% of Americans in their lifetime including about two million every year. Fortunately the treatments are getting better and better and while cancer still sucks, it doesn’t always have to be a death sentence.

The key to beating cancer is early detection and diagnosis. The sooner you can begin treatments, the better your chances of survival. That is just common sense.

Unfortunately, a lot of people get cancer that isn’t caught early and quite often that’s because a doctor or other medical provider dropped the ball somewhere along the line. It’s shocking to me how often this is due to a simple lack of communication. You’d think that if there was the possibility of cancer that bells and whistles would go off, or at least there would be a backup system to make sure the patient is notified.

This brings me to the key for any Illinois medical malpractice lawyer to win a lawsuit for a failure to diagnose cancer. We typically are looking for at least a six month delay. That means six or more months have passed since a doctor should have known you have cancer to when they discover or tell you that you have it.

Here are some examples of cases we’ve worked on.

• A man had a PSA test which is a blood screen test for prostate cancer. His level was reported at 12 which is a very high level, but nothing was reported to him and no intervention done. A year later he had stage four prostate cancer.
• A non-smoking female was checked for a possible heart aneurysm. That test also turned up a suspicious 1.4 cm mass in her left lung. No radiologist interpreted that mass or advised her it existed. All of the focus was on the possible aneurysm which was fine. Three years later she had difficulty breathing and slurred speech. It was discovered that the mass had grown to three times the size and cancer had spread to her brain.
• A young woman had a lump in her chest. Her primary doctor examined her and told her it was just a fatty deposit. Nine months later she had stage 3 breast cancer and needed a double mastectomy.
• A man in his early 40’s reported blood in his feces and fatigue. For some reason a colonoscopy wasn’t ordered. More than a year later it was discovered he had colon cancer.

What all of these sad situations have in common is that had the medical professionals done their job, the cancer would have been caught at a much more manageable time. Studies have shown that if there’s a delay of at least six months it can make a really big difference in the ultimate outcome.

Note that you can’t ever go back farther than four years to sue for malpractice in Illinois (when over 18) so it’s important to act fast. That of course can be hard when you’ve been handed life altering medical news, but hopefully you or someone in your life can make a call. It takes time to investigate these cases so time really is of the essence.

If you’d like a free consultation with an experienced malpractice lawyer, please call us at 312-346-5320 any time. We promise to treat you like a family member or friend and do whatever we can for you.

Since 2001, we have helped people find the best lawyer for their case. Only a handful in Illinois have a real track record of winning compartment syndrome cases. Call us at 312-346-5320 for a free, confidential consult.

Compartment syndrome is a buildup of pressure around your muscles. When there is too much pressure around your muscles, less blood, less oxygen, and fewer nutrients flow to your muscles and nerves. Compartment syndrome is very painful and in some cases it can lead to catastrophic results if it’s not diagnosed and treated in time. When that happens in Illinois, you could have a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Medically speaking, a compartment is a group of muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. Compartments are covered by a thin casing of tissue (or a membrane) called fascia. Fascia helps hold things in place. Fascia also has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as skin. Compartment syndrome results from the extra pressure inside a compartment causing the muscles to press against the fascia more than is normal. We are lawyers, not doctors, but it’s important to hire a lawyer who understands this complex medicine.

Compartment syndrome can happen to any muscle group, but is most common in people’s legs (especially lower legs), feet, belly, buttocks, and arms (including hands and wrists). We see it a lot in people with back pain that doesn’t get diagnosed quickly enough and even after surgeries.

The two types of compartment syndrome are acute and chronic. Acute compartment syndrome is caused by a sudden traumatic event such as an accident or severe injury. A trip to the ER is necessary. Chronic compartment syndrome, on the other hand, happens over time, especially after intense physical activity on the job or exercising. It can also be a natural part of the breakdown of your body even if you are otherwise healthy.

Both acute and chronic compartment syndrome can be caused by someone’s work activities. A fall from a ladder, a collision in a company vehicle, or an injury using a work tool or machinery are just a few examples of work accidents that lead to the acute type. Construction work, heavy lifting, and other physically demanding work that someone performs day after day can lead to the chronic type.

Common symptoms of compartment syndrome are:
• Muscle pain (more severe than normal soreness)
• Loss of urine and/or bowel control
• Severe pain when stretching the muscle
• Visible swelling or bulging around a muscle or just feeling like your muscle is firmer or bigger than usual
• Numbness
• Burning or tingling feeling under your skin.

As acute compartment syndrome is a medical emergency, the treatment is surgery. A surgeon will perform a fasciotomy in which they will cut through the skin and fascia to relieve the pressure in the muscle compartment that is affected. After the swelling and pressure go away, the surgeon will close the incision. If this problem isn’t caught quickly enough, surgery may not fix the problem. You could end up paralyzed and/or permanently incontinent.

Chronic compartment syndrome is usually treated with medications to reduce pain and inflammation. Modifying your work activities (less intense and/or less repetitive motions) may also be necessary, as well as physical therapy. In some cases, a fasciotomy is the course of treatment that can be tried to reduce the pain.

We help people with legal cases for compartment syndrome in a few ways. First off, we know the best Illinois medical malpractice lawyers to sue for a failure to diagnose compartment syndrome. If your symptoms don’t resolve after surgery, you may be entitled to significant compensation.

We also help a lot of injured workers, car accident victims and others who can bring a case based on how their problems originally started. It’s not unusual to see a back injury from work result in compartment syndrome and have devastating results.

We have a track record of success and promise to treat you like a family member or friend. If you’d like a free consultation with a lawyer, we can help everywhere in Illinois. Call us at 312-346-5320.

The weather in Illinois is brutal right now. The low in Chicago today is one degree. I guess that’s better than the minus four degrees we experienced yesterday.

With the cold weather of course comes snow and ice. That leads to a lot of slip and fall injuries unfortunately.

Regrettably a lot of the people who call us with these injuries we can not help. That’s because of an Illinois law that says that if you fall due to the natural accumulation of snow or ice and sustain an injury, the property owner isn’t liable.

What does natural mean? Generally speaking it’s what happens because of what happens naturally due to the weather conditions. So if you are walking in a parking lot and you slip on ice, that’s probably not a case against the property owner. Unnatural would be something like ice that forms from coming off an awning or a gutter spout.

And if you fall because your landlord didn’t shovel or salt the area, that’s usually not a case either. They can’t be expected to do that while the bad weather is occurring and generally speaking don’t have a legal obligation to do this at all.

So are injuries from falls on snow or ice doomed? No. There are a bunch of ways to win these cases.

If the property or business owner does clear the area, but does so in a negligent way, that could lead to a case.

But the biggest thing you should look out for is was there someone who was contractually obligated to clear or salt the area that failed to do so. In many apartment buildings, office complexes and places open to the public, the property owners contract with companies to have these areas cleared so people can walk safely. They aren’t responsible for doing that 24/7, but if it snows hard on a Monday and they haven’t cleared it by Wednesday, that may put liability on them and/or the property owner.

These aren’t things you’ll think of as you lay on the ground in terrible pain, but you should think of as soon as you reasonably can. You can ask your boss, landlord, etc. You can look at a copy of your lease to see if it says anything about it. You can even ask the people who eventually do clean or salt an area how often they are supposed to be there.

It’s not a slam dunk, but in my experience, if you want to win these difficult cases and be compensated for your injuries, this is often the best way to do so.

And of course, if you have any questions as to if you even have a case or want an attorney recommendation, please call us any time at 312-346-5320.

All drivers are aware that when you see police lights or hear the sirens, you get out of the way and move over to let them pass through. But on some occasions, the police officer is chasing a suspect in another vehicle at such a high rate of speed that there is no time to react. In fact, there are sadly some instances in which the police car or suspected criminal collides with an innocent driver’s vehicle during the pursuit of the suspect.

What happens if one of the cars involved in a high speed pursuit causes bodily harm or even death to the innocent driver or passengers in a car? The city that employs the police officer should be held accountable for the injuries and/or death. The city should pay for the medical bills and/or for the value of the life lost in the collision.

The police of course have a right to go after a criminal. But when doing so requires them to drive at such a high rate of speed that it becomes dangerous for the public, they are supposed to back off. When they don’t it might be a lawsuit.

Let’s take a look at a recent example of this type of tragedy. In 2020, a City of Chicago police officer was pursuing a suspect and crashed into a vehicle in Auburn Gresham driven by a citizen named Kevin Spicer. His 10-year-old daughter, Da’Karia Spicer, and younger son, Dhaamir Spicer were passengers in the car. Kevin and Dhaamir suffered injuries but survived. Da’Karia was killed in the accident.

The case went to court where the question was not about who was liable or responsible. Both parties agreed that the police office employed by the City of Chicago caused the crash. The cop shouldn’t have been driving that fast and was negligent. The question was, what was the appropriate amount of damages to award the Spicer family for the loss of their beloved daughter?

Both parties agreed that $1 million was the right amount for past medical costs and future therapy costs. But they did not agree on what the amount should be for loss to society, grief, sorrow, and mental suffering.

The lawyers representing the city asked jurors to set aside their emotions and to focus on what is fair and reasonable under the law. They suggested a settlement of $11.6 million. Spicer’s attorneys recommended more than $117 million for the tragic loss of Da’Karia.

The jury came back with a verdict calling for the city to pay Spicer’s family $79.85 million. While that amount is unusually high, it shows you what these cases can be worth if the police are not following the laws they are supposed to enforce.

It is critical in a case like this to have attorneys who are experienced with this situation representing you. If you or someone you know has been injured in a police pursuit, call us at 312-346-5320. Time is of the essence as there are strict limitations for bringing a case. We help with these claims everywhere in Illinois.