blog | Lane Brown, LLC

You have no doubt about what happened. You know who caused your recent truck accident on I-94, I-290, or another Chicago-area road, and you know it was the truck accident that caused your spinal cord injury. You might expect that the trucker, the trucking company, and the insurance company also know the truth. However, unless you fight for your fair and just recovery, you should not expect to make such a recovery.

How a Lawyer Can Help

A spinal cord injury can change your life forever. Currently there is no cure for this type of injury, and the impact on your life may be permanent. Yet, that is not a reason to give up on recovering fair damages. An attorney can help you recovery money for the following:

Medical and rehabilitation expenses. Surgeries, medications, specialized medical equipment, physical therapy, and occupational therapy may be just some of the medical expenses you incur now and will continue to incur in the future.
Out-of-pocket costs. You may need help with transportation, childcare, and maintaining your home.
Lost income. You may not be able to work or earn the same income that you did prior to your spinal cord injury.

You only have one chance to make a recovery, and your time to do so is limited. Once the statute of limitations expires, you will no longer have the right to bring a lawsuit or to recover damages.

You Have a Decision to Make

And you deserve to be fully informed of your choices before you make those decisions. To find out more about your legal rights, possible recovery, and how a lawyer may help you after a truck wreck, please fill out our online contact form today or call us directly to schedule a free consultation.

How often do you look up when you walk the streets of Chicago? Do you worry about things falling from the sky and causing you harm? It might not be a danger that you think of often, but it is one that you might want to consider going forward.

Consider What Happened to One Chicago Woman and Her Family

On Thursday September 4, 2014, a mother of two was walking to lunch with her fiancé in Chicago’s South Loop. As she walked by the Second Presbyterian Church on South Michigan Avenue, a piece of decorative metal broke loose and hit a stone gargoyle. A portion of the gargoyle broke off and fell, hitting the woman in the head. She died at the scene, with her fiancé by her side. She is survived by her fiancé, her two children ages 10 and 14, and other relatives and friends.

Other Dangers That Lurk Above

It isn’t only falling gargoyles that you have to watch for as you walk Chicago’s sidewalks. You should also be aware of the following types of hazards:

Construction rubbish
Debris from trucks
Objects falling from rooftops where people are gathered
Pieces of buildings that may fall after a significant weather event, because of poor construction, or because of old age

Many types of accidents involving falling debris are possible, and it is important to know what to do if you are injured. If you have been hurt, or if you have lost a loved one because of falling debris, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights and possible recovery. You can do that by starting a live chat, calling us directly, or filling out our online contact form today.

You are furious. You trusted your child with a soccer coach in Arlington Heights, a camp counselor in Chicago, or a youth advisor in Northbrook and that adult not only failed to keep your child safe, but that adult also actively hurt your child in a way that no child should be ever be hurt.

Be Careful of Your Actions

While you have every right to be angry, it is important that you don’t make this horrible situation worse. Specifically, it is important that you avoid:

Violence. Do not physically assault the person who hurt your child.
Making threats. Do not make threats or even talk directly to the person who hurt your child.
Talking to the media. Do not talk to the media about what happened, about your child, or about the person who hurt your child.

Instead, don’t do anything without asking yourself this question: How is my action going to help my child?

What You Can Do to Help Your Child

There are things that you can do to help your child recover from being sexually abused. You can talk to your child’s doctor, to a counselor, and to a lawyer about how to help your child recover. You can also make the person who did this pay without causing additional harm to your child. To find out more, please start a confidential and free online chat with us today. We also encourage you to subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on important information for parents of child sex abuse victims.

It was not the outcome you expected. You knew your spouse was sick—seriously ill. That is why you rushed her to the emergency room at Skokie Hospital in the middle of the night.

Yet, you still have many questions about why your spouse died. Was it really the result of the underlying illness or injury that brought her to the emergency room, or was it because of the actions or inactions of emergency room staff? Would your spouse still be alive if emergency room staff had acted differently?

How to Find Out the Truth

You need to know why your loved one died for two reasons. First, you deserve to have your questions answered as you grieve. Second, you may have a medical malpractice case if emergency room staff were negligent in their care.

You can find out the truth by asking the right questions. Those questions may include:

How soon was my spouse seen by a doctor?
What triage was conducted to determine if my spouse needed help?
What tests were done to diagnose my spouse’s condition?
What medications was my spouse provided?
Was a medical history taken?

Of course, the doctors and hospital are unlikely to provide you with complete and accurate information just because you ask for it. Instead, you may need to go through the legal process with the help of an experienced and compassionate lawyer who can help you get the answers that you need.

Please fill out our online contact form today to learn more about your rights.

Two recent studies looked at the effect of cell phone bans and texting bans on car accidents. One study, published in Science Direct, found that California’s handheld cell phone ban had no effect on reducing car accidents. Another study, published in the Journal of American Health, found that texting while driving bans have reduced teen traffic fatalities by about 11 percent.

Let’s Put Aside the Laws for a Minute

In Illinois, it is currently against the law to use a handheld cell phone while driving. The law may or may not prevent some car accident injuries and fatalities on Lake Shore Drive, the Stevenson Expressway, and other Chicago roads. For the moment, we will assume that the law does not prevent every distracted driving accident in Chicagoland.

However, there are other things that we can do to help prevent distracted driving crashes including:

Making a personal pledge to stop distracted driving. Each driver can do his part to prevent distracted driving crashes by refusing to answer the phone or text while driving.
Raising awareness about the problem. We can teach others about the risks of distracted driving.
Teaching our children. We can model responsible driving behavior and enforce strict rules about distracted driving for our teenagers.

It is also important for drivers to know what to do if they are hurt in a distracted driving crash. People who are injured by distracted drivers may have the right to recover financial damages for their injuries. You can learn more about this in our free report, The 8 Steps to Follow After Your Illinois Car Accident.

It doesn’t matter if your child is an infant or a teen—the news is equally devastating. Your child has suffered a brain injury, a spinal cord injury, a broken bone, or another painful injury that significantly impacts his life. You can’t go back and prevent the crash that caused the injury, but there are things that you can do to make this difficult time easier for your child.

What You Can Do Now

Your child’s recovery may require the effort of the whole family, but your child is the only one experiencing the physical pain. As you move through the days, weeks, and sometimes months or years following your child’s car crash on the North-South Tollway, Eisenhower Expressway, or other Chicago road, it is important to:

Get your child the medical care he needs. If you think your child needs a second opinion, don’t hesitate to get it. Additionally, make sure that your child gets the rehabilitation therapy and recommended follow-up care.
Encourage visits from your child’s friends, as appropriate. As long as it won’t interfere with your child’s physical recovery, it is important that your child feel included, and not isolated, from his friends.
Help your child with his fears. It may be difficult for your child to get back into a car, or he may fear death. It is important to talk about these fears and to seek professional help, as appropriate.
Talk to your child’s school. You don’t want your child to fall behind in school. Talk about accommodations that can be made for your child.
Accept help. You are going to be very busy helping your child. Accept help from your family and friends when it comes to cleaning your house, running errands, making meals, or caring for your other children.

Do you know any parents in the Chicago area? It is impossible to know when a serious car accident will occur, so it is important to be prepared. Please share this blog post on Twitter and Facebook to let other parents know what they can do after a crash, and please download our FREE accident app to your cell phone for step-by-step instructions about what to do after an accident.