Belleville Personal Injury Lawyer

It can be difficult to determine if an accident was preventable. There’s a chance that a responsible party owed you a duty of care but failed, leading to your accident injuries. You may now be facing mounting medical bills, physical pain, and financial loss due to negligence. 

A Belleville personal injury lawyer can seek maximum compensation for you and your family. Our legal team knows and understands Illinois’ peculiar injury laws and can help you get the settlement you deserve.

The injury law attorneys at Morelli Law Firm fight for accident victims and their families. Call us today for a free initial consultation. We have recovered over $1 billion for clients while facing huge corporations with infinite resources.

The Basis for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Belleville, IL

Sustaining an injury doesn’t automatically make you eligible to file a personal injury claim in Illinois. Your case has to meet some requirements and standards before you can file a claim.

This is a very vital part of the claims process. You must prove negligence or malicious intent on the defendant’s part. And to do that effectively, you have to consider the following crucial elements:

• Duty: This is the obligatory expectation of acting in a safe manner that doesn’t put anyone else in harm’s way. For example, a property owner who has an unfriendly or aggressive dog must keep the dog leashed.
• Breach of duty: When someone refuses to act or behave in a manner that’s reasonably safe and puts other people in danger, they have breached that duty. Following the dog example above, if the dog is intentionally or unintentionally unleashed, that’s a breach of duty.
• Causation: This requirement is fulfilled if the breach of duty leads to an accident or injury. If the dog mentioned above attacks a house guest and bites the guest, that easily translates into causation.
• Damages: If the injuries result in damage or losses, i.e., the victim has to spend money they otherwise wouldn’t have, that’s called damages. So, in the dog’s scenario, if the dog’s bite leads to injuries that require a trip to the hospital, impedes the guest’s ability to work and earn a living, or costs them something, that’s known as damages.

Every valid personal injury case in Belleville, IL, must have all four elements present before your lawyer can begin the claims process.

When’s the Best Time to File a Personal Injury Claim?

The best time to file a personal injury claim is immediately after you’ve sought medical treatment. If your injuries are obvious, you have to start the process of filing a compensation claim as soon as you can.

While you could try to do it by yourself, it’s generally wiser to have a personal injury attorney begin the process for you. This way, you can focus on recovery while your lawyer pursues your compensation.

That being said, there are injuries with delayed symptoms, so they don’t show up until much later. Some examples of these injuries include whiplash, concussion, head trauma, spine injuries, back and neck injuries, and psychological issues like PTSD.

Legal Time Limits

If this happens, you may still be able to file a compensation claim if the statute of limitations or deadline for filing a claim hasn’t elapsed. Illinois has a two-year deadline within which you must bring legal action against liable parties if you want to receive compensation.

If you wait too long before filing your claim, it could get in the way of you getting adequate compensation. Unfortunately, many victims are often reluctant to file their claims, thinking that they have time and the insurance companies are counting on that.

They understand and know that the longer it takes for you to file your claim, the higher your chances of getting that claim denied. Don’t be one of those victims. If you have been hurt in any way, it is better to file early so that you can get your settlement on time.

Are There Exceptions to the Legal Deadline?

While there are exceptions to this two-year statute of limitations, it is generally best not to rely on these exceptions. Some victims have done this and regretted it because they were either time-barred (late according to the court’s date) or had their claims denied outrightly.

Our personal injury lawyers in Belleville, IL, can determine if any of these exceptions to the statute of limitations apply in your case. We can keep our eye on the clock while we negotiate with insurers and be ready to take legal action. 

Available Personal Injury Claim Compensation

Before a lawyer helps you file your claim, they’ll evaluate the extent of your injuries before filing. Understanding your injuries will help them file a claim for the right kinds of damages you may have suffered. In Illinois, you can file a compensation claim for the following damages:

Economic Damages

These are monetary losses that you can easily quantify through the use of receipts, invoices, and bills. They include: 

• Medical expenses, including ongoing medical treatment, such as physical therapy
• Property damage
• Lost wages
• Household maintenance expenses
• Reduced ability to earn an income

As long as there are receipts, pay stubs, or other clear proof of these expenses, you may be able to get compensation for them.

Non-Economic Damages

These are much harder to quantify as they include conditions or losses that you can’t easily put a price tag on. This is mostly because their effects are relative.

For example, even though two people are receiving treatment for PTSD from the same doctor, the psychologist might be prescribing two entirely different treatment protocols for both patients because of their personal experiences. These include:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Emotional trauma
• Depression
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Loss of consortium

Wrongful Death Damages

When accidents, such as motor vehicle accidents or truck accidents, lead to fatal injuries, families have to face more than just the sudden, tragic loss of a loved one. Some families are not prepared to financially cope in the absence of a loved one.

A Belleville wrongful death lawyer can fight for the justice and compensation you deserve. We can work to hold the liable parties accountable and seek awards for funeral expenses, loss of income, and your loved one’s medical bills.

We can handle the legal process while you grieve with your family in peace. Though no amount can replace your loved one, you do not deserve to struggle financially and without a sense of justice being served. 

Personal Injury Claims We Handle at Morelli Law Firm

We can handle personal injury claims and laws brought on by a variety of types of accidents. Our highly experienced personal injury lawyers serving Belleville, IL, include the following:

• Car accident lawyers
• Truck accident lawyers
• Construction accident lawyers
• Nursing home abuse lawyers
• Railroad accident lawyers
• Medical malpractice lawyers
• Defective drugs lawyers
• Sexual harassment lawyers
• Spinal cord injury lawyers

Our personal injury attorneys in Belleville, IL, can evaluate your case for merit, fight for your rights, assess the value of your claim, file a personal injury claim with the appropriate agencies, review the insurance company’s offer, and represent you in a court of law if necessary.

Contact Us to Connect With a Belleville Personal Injury Lawyer

With the help of the Belleville personal injury lawyers at Morelli Law Firm, you can start piecing your life together again and beginning the recovery process. We have helped clients like you recover significant compensation for the injuries that someone caused them.

We have the tenacity, dedication, and commitment to bring your case to a logical conclusion. Contact us today for a free case evaluation to learn more about how one of our personal injury lawyers in Belleville, IL, can help.