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I Got Hurt in an Illinois Bar Fight - Can I Take Action?
Bars in Illinois are mostly places for harmless nights of fun with friends. People like to gather in bars to watch their favorite Chicago sports teams or just to sit back and relax after a long workweek. Unfortunately, not every trip to the bar ends on good terms. While most patrons mind their own business, some people struggle to control themselves under the influence of alcohol. Lowered inhibitions make disputes over even minor disagreements more likely; an audience of eager onlookers will often egg on an otherwise unlikely fight.
Unlike in movies, where bar fights result in the good guy leaving triumphant and the bad guys laying still on the floor, bar fights in real life can cause serious injuries that require time-consuming and expensive treatment. If you have been assaulted in a bar fight, you may want to hold the party who injured you responsible in a personal injury lawsuit.
Can I Sue a Defective Car Seat Manufacturer if My Child Was Injured in a Car Crash?
Decades of research have given parents the knowledge and products they need to make driving a much safer experience for children than it was in the past. When a parent puts their child in a car seat or booster seat, they assume the manufacturer has taken all necessary precautions to test a car seat’s safety and produced it using the strongest, safest materials. Unfortunately, even when a parent uses the utmost precaution and follows all instructions, a defective car seat can endanger a child’s life in a car accident. A child’s injury or sudden death in a car accident is a tragedy; if your little one was hurt because of a defective car seat, you may want to know if you can take legal action.
How Common are Car Seat Recalls?
Even after extensive testing and research, child car seat and booster seat manufacturers issue recalls frequently. Over the past five years, tens of thousands of car seats have been recalled after manufacturers learned they posed a risk to children. Car seats and booster seats may be recalled for many reasons, including:
When Can Car Accidents Be Caused by Improper Vehicle Maintenance?
Since driving is a common, everyday activity for many people, it can be easy to forget the dangers that motor vehicles can pose. Cars and trucks weigh several thousand pounds, and if drivers are not in complete control of a vehicle, they may collide with others, causing serious injuries and extensive property damage. While there are a variety of reasons why car accidents occur, vehicle maintenance is one issue that may receive less attention. Failure to perform regular maintenance and repairs can significantly impact a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely, and a driver may be held liable for accidents that took place because they did not keep their vehicle properly maintained.
Maintenance Issues That May Lead to Motor Vehicle Accidents
Vehicle maintenance can be an especially important issue during the winter. Even if a person took care to make sure a car was prepared for cold weather at the beginning of the winter, a vehicle may experience wear and tear during the winter months due to regular temperature changes, strong storms, and exposure to snow and ice. Some maintenance issues that can affect a person’s ability to drive safely include:
Types of Damages Family Members Can Receive in Wrongful Death Cases
For many people, the worst thing they can imagine is the death of a loved one. Even if a person dies of natural causes at the end of a long life, family members may struggle with grief and sorrow as they deal with this loss. However, an untimely death can be much worse, and in addition to dealing with the emotional fallout, family members may also experience significant financial difficulties. In cases where a person was killed because of someone else’s actions, their loved ones may pursue a wrongful death lawsuit, and they will need to understand the types of compensation that they may be able to receive.
Damages Available in Wrongful Death Claims
Under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, a person’s spouse and next of kin (which may include their children or other dependents who relied on the person for financial support) may pursue compensation from the person or party who was responsible for their loved one’s death. A wrongful death lawsuit may seek multiple types of damages, including:
Illinois Senate Committee Discusses Nursing Home Reforms
Residents of Illinois nursing homes have long faced challenges in getting the standard of care they are entitled to by law. High staff turnover, low pay, overcrowded rooms, inadequate staffing, and other cost-cutting measures put stress on staff and place residents at risk of nursing home abuse and neglect. Recently, some of these challenges have been explored by the Illinois Senate Health Committee, which last month weighed in on a new payment structure meant to incentivize better staffing and quality of care.
Poor Payment Structure Leads to Adverse Outcomes
Many fear that Illinois’ current payment model continues to allow Medicaid dollars to essentially fund profits for facility owners while allowing low regulatory compliance and underpaid and overworked staff. In turn, this leads to lower standards of care for residents with serious consequences for their health and well-being. Although it remains to be seen whether Illinois will improve its payment models and successfully incentivize better standards of care, in the meantime, Illinois residents with loved ones in nursing homes should be familiar with common types of nursing home neglect and abuse.
What Medical Care Does Workers’ Comp Cover in Illinois?
People who are injured while on the job may experience multiple issues that affect their ability to continue working, as well as their overall health and well-being. Fortunately, workers’ compensation benefits are available for those who have suffered work-related injuries. While workers’ comp claims may be focused on disability benefits that address a person’s loss of income due to a work injury, an injured worker can also receive medical benefits. By understanding the types of coverage provided and the steps they should take following a work injury, a person can make sure they will be able to receive the proper medical care that will fully address the ways their injuries have affected them.
Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefits
An employer is responsible for paying for all medical treatment necessary to address a work-related injury and ensure that a worker can recover as much as possible. In addition to receiving first aid or emergency treatment following a workplace accident, an employee can also receive medical benefits that pay for ongoing treatment. This may include visits to doctors or specialists, surgery, physical therapy, medications, chiropractic treatment, and assistive devices such as prosthetics or wheelchairs.
When Is a Store Liable for Injuries in a Slip and Fall Accident?
Even though fall accidents may seem like minor incidents, they can result in multiple types of serious injuries. A person who slips on a wet floor or trips over an obstacle can suffer bone fractures in the wrists, ankles, knees, or hips, traumatic brain injuries when they strike their head on the ground, spinal cord injuries, or dislocations in joints such as the shoulders or knees. When slip and fall accidents take place at a retail store, victims should be sure to understand when the store’s owner may be held liable for their injuries.
Property Owner Negligence and Premises Liability
Property owners must take reasonable steps to protect customers’ safety or anyone else who was invited to visit the property. This responsibility also extends to a tenant who is in control of property, including stores that lease space where they conduct business. An owner’s responsibility is known as a “duty of care,” and it requires them to correct any hazards that may endanger the safety of visitors or ensure that customers are warned about the potential risks that they may face due to these hazards.
Who Is Liable For Accidents and Injuries at Railroad Crossings?
While all types of motor vehicle collisions can be dangerous, those involving trains can be especially deadly. Due to the massive size and momentum of trains, any other vehicles involved in these types of collisions are likely to suffer extreme damage, and drivers and passengers may experience severe bodily harm or fatal injuries. Many train accidents occur at railroad crossings, and in these cases, those who have been struck by a train will need to understand who was responsible for their injuries and their options for pursuing compensation for their injuries.
Causes of Railroad Crossing Accidents
When a vehicle or pedestrian is struck by a train at a railroad crossing, multiple parties may be at fault, including:
When Can I Qualify for Disability Benefits Through Workers’ Comp?
A work-related injury can cause a great deal of difficulty in a person’s life. After being injured, a person may require emergency medical treatment and ongoing care, and their ability to return to work may be affected. Fortunately, workers’ compensation is available for anyone who has been injured on the job. In addition to fully covering the costs of medical treatment related to an injury, workers’ comp will also provide benefits that address a person’s loss of income due to an inability to work. Injured workers should be sure to understand when they will qualify for different types of workers’ compensation disability benefits.
Temporary or Permanent Disability Benefits
When an injury temporarily affects a person’s ability to work, they will qualify for disability benefits while recovering. These benefits will last until they reach the point of maximum medical improvement (MMI). If a person misses at least four days of work, they can receive temporary total disability (TTD) benefits. These benefits will not cover the first three days of missed work unless the person misses a total of at least 14 days of work. These benefits will be paid during a period where a doctor states that the person is unable to work or when they are able to do light work but their employer cannot meet these accommodations. TTD benefits pay 66 ⅔ percent of the average weekly wage (AWW) that a person earned in the 52 weeks before the date of their injury.
How Improperly Secured Cargo Can Lead to Truck Accidents
Tractor-trailer trucks and other commercial vehicles are much larger and heavier than passenger cars and trucks. This means that when truck accidents occur, people in other vehicles are much more likely to be seriously injured. There are many potential causes of semi-truck accidents, and one issue that is often overlooked is the danger of cargo that is not properly secured on a truck. Following a cargo-related truck accident, multiple parties may be liable for the injuries suffered by the victims.
Liability for Cargo-Related Truck Accidents
When cargo is loaded on a truck, it should be properly distributed in the truck’s bed or trailer, and it should be tied down or secured to ensure that it does not shift during transit. There are multiple ways in which cargo that was not loaded properly can lead to truck accidents, including:
From our office in Plainfield, Illinois, we serve clients in Will County, DuPage County, Kendall County, Kane County, Joliet, Naperville, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Aurora, Lemont, Crest Hill, Shorewood, Lockport, Woodridge, Wheaton, Oswego, Yorkville, Homer Glen, Lisle, and surrounding communities.
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