Content Reviewed by:
Cari F. Silverman
Content Reviewed by: Cari F. Silverman
Cari Silverman has been a successful trial lawyer and advocate for injured accident victims and grieving families since 2011. She has won millions in compensation in cases involving car and truck accidents, wrongful death, and medical malpractice. She has been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers as a Rising Star every year since 2013. In 2020, Leading Lawyers designated her as one of the Top 10 Emerging Women Lawyers. She has lectured for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and her writing has been published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Trial Magazine.
The results of truck-related accidents can be life altering. Fatalities often occur. Earlier this month, for instance, in southern Illinois, an automobile carrying three young girls was involved in a fatal accident with a tractor-trailer. Two of the girls died and is currently in critical condition at a Peoria hospital. This accident took place on Interstate 55 in Logan County.
If you are involved in such an accident, it is nearly inevitable that you will incur significant expenses and will perhaps miss work for several days. If the accident was not your fault, you may be entitled to major compensation. It is imperative that you hire an attorney for your case. This post is aimed at explaining why hiring an attorney in a truck-related accident case is in your best interest.
Why Should I Hire an Attorney for my Case?
There are several reasons why you should hire an attorney for your truck-related accident case. First, however, please note that accident liability can be very difficult and full of nuances. You do not want to attack this yourself, as you may be unfamiliar to the convoluted process of a legal claim. You should seek legal guidance.
To begin this list, a personal injury lawyer in Chicago will be familiar with Illinois’ negligence law. This is important because, to recover compensation, you will need to be able to show that the truck driver was at least negligent in causing the accident. Proving negligence requires you, or your attorney, to establish the elements of negligence pursuant to Illinois law. Do not worry if you were partially at fault. Even if you were partially at fault, in Illinois, you may still recover damages (as long as you were not more than 50 percent at fault, however.) An attorney can help gather evidence to prove your negligence claim and to establish your degree of partial fault, if any.
In addition, a truck accident attorney can help determine who the responsible parties are. If a tractor-trailer driver caused the accident, there may be more than one liable party, such as the trucking company. It is important that you know the identities of those involved because you only have a limited amount of time to pursue compensation for your injuries according to Illinois statute of limitations. Pursuant to 735 Illinois Compiled Statutes section 5/13-202, you must commence your accident claim within two years of the date of the accident.
An attorney is very important because the parties that you file your claim against will normally deny liability. Truck companies often hire powerful attorney to defend their cases, hence, you will need an experienced attorney to aggressively go against these parties. The attorney you hire will help gather key evidence, including, but not limited to, photos of the scene and the damages, contact information of witnesses, statements of witnesses, and notes of the weather condition and road condition.
Trucking companies have their own insurance carriers. Of course, when you are involved in an accident with one of their trucks, the insurance company will investigate in accident. The insurance company will want to speak to you and get a statement as to how the accident occurred. It is important that you do not talk to the insurance company. Instead, have an attorney do so for you. You do not want to risk losing your case over something you said. An attorney is better prepared at speaking with insurance companies.
Take Action
In sum, it is very important that you hire an attorney for your auto accident case. The truck-related accident lawyers of Levin and Perconti have the experience and knowledge needed to aggressively take on your case. Call us at 877-374-1417 or 312-332-2872 or contact us online for a FREE consultation.
