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Oregon, Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers
Have You Been Injured and Need Help?
If you’ve been hurt by someone else we can help.
We work with people who have been injured in accidents who want to make sure they’re getting fair treatment. Our injury law firm stands up for the rights of the injured. We cover all of Ogle County and are only a quick drive from, Rockford.
Curious to what personal injury is – Learn More About Personal Injury and If You Have a Case
Our experience runs deep. We’ve worked with several clients in Oregon. If you have been injured and feel like you’re not getting fair treatment, call our office.
Car Accidents, Premises Liability, Farming Accident, Insurance Claims
Our main office is located in Rockford but we routinely travel to Oregon, Illinois for our clients. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
If you’re confused about what you should do next, or you’re not sure you’re getting fair treatment from an insurance company, you can call us for FREE. We’ll be more than happy to listen to your story and let you know how strong of a case you have. Don’t hesitate to call before you talk to anyone else – (815) 964-8303.
Learn More
Auto Accident Lawyers (What you can control, auto accident checklist and more)
Workplace Accidents and Injuries (When it’s workers’ comp or something else)
Farming Accidents (And the different types of claims)
We Regularly Visit Clients in Oregon
Our lawyers have been trusted to fight for our clients in over 30 of Illinois’ 102 counties. We’re a quick 40 or so minute drive from Oregon, Illinois. We routinely visit our clients when they need us to.
If You’ve Been Injured in Oregon, Illinois There Are Some Steps You Can Take To Protect Yourself And Your Family
There’s a chance that your reading this page after an accident or injury. If that’s the case, these steps can still help to protect you and your claim or case if you have one. If you ever get into an accident be proactive and do the following to build a stronger case for yourself.
These steps can be applied to car accidents, premises liability, farming accidents and many other accidents.
- Always get to a safe space where you’re out of harms way.
- Get medical attention ASAP, even for small issues. Soft tissue injuries can hide bigger issues (read more).
- Take photos of the scene. If you’ve left, go back and get as much documentation as you can.
- Report the injury. If you were at a service establishment notify the owner or manager. If you were at a workplace you MUST report the inury to your supervisor.
- Contact a lawyer before speaking to any insurance companies. You can get free advice and consultation simply by calling us. We are a NO FEE UNLESS WE WIN personal injury law firm.
- Follow up with medical professionals and keep all records.
More Accident Resources
Steps to Take After a Car Accident
4 Steps to Take After a Farming Accident
Neck and Back Injuries in Car Accidents (Don’t Settle Too Fast)
Where to Get Your Police Report in Oregon After a Car Accident
After an accident you’re going to need to get a copy of your police report so you can start an insurance claim, or to file a lawsuit. You can obtain a copy of your accident report yourself for simple insurance claims. But, if you need the help of a lawyer you can contact our office and we can pull your accident report for you. We can make it easier for you by collecting all the paperwork and evidence needed.
In Oregon, the most likely responding law enforcement agencies to a car crash in your area would be:
- Ogle County Sheriff’s Officeat 202 S. 1st St., Oregon, IL 61061 815-732-2136 or on the web for a copy of your crash report
- Or if it’s the City of Oregonthat responded to your scene you can contact their records division at 115 N. 3rd St., Oregon, IL 61061, 815-732-2162, or on the web respectively.
Before You Start an Insurance Claim Contact Our Law Office – It’s FREE
If you were in a car accident that wasn’t a simple fender bender and it involves trips to the hospital or medical professionals you might want to consider a FREE consultation. Insurance companies can be aggressive to work with, or trap you into a conversation that can weaken your case.
We can help guide you to what you should be expecting for proper compensation. We’ll work with you to educate you on how strong your case is and what we think you should do next. Additionally, contacting a personal injury attorney brings other benefits you might not be aware of. We can also:
- Assist you with obtaining proper medical care
- Assist with medical billing and general record keeping
- Assist with obtaining temporary financial relief with a third party financing company (if necessary) if your injury has impacted your ability to work and provide for your required expenses
- Attend traffic court hearings with you, or on your behalf
- Resolve insurance issues
- And most importantly, fight for the compensation you’re entitled to
How Much is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
The only way anyone can estimate what you’re case might be worth is to talk to an experienced injury lawyer.
There are so many different factors that go into a personal injury or car accident claim or lawsuit. We’ll need to listen to what happened. We’ll need to hear how the accident or injury has affected you. How the injury has impacted your day-today life and what you had to endure from the negligence of someone else.
Once we collect all the data, do a bit of investigating and understand your claim to the fullest we can discuss with you what a reasonable number might be.
Submitting a Claim And When it can Become a Lawsuit
Once we have a reasonable appraisal of your claimn we can submit that specific amount to the insurance company. If they agree to pay the agreed upon amount it’s called a “Settlement”. This is where you, and the insurance company part ways. The work between you and our firm is complete too.
Oftentimes, when working with a personal injury lawyer insurance companies are easier to work with. Our clients get better treatment and higher settlements.
If we cannot come to an agreement with the insurance company we elevate the claimn to a “lawsuit”. This is where we prepare legal paperwork to submit our disagreement with the county circuit clerk. This indicates that we have entered legal proceedings. The insurance company, or defendant, is served a legal notice of the filing of the suit.
But this doesn’t mean we have to go to trial. There is still a chance we can come to terms with the insurance company. But if these negotiations fail we will ultimately have to go to trial.
From there we each get to plead our case and it’s left up to the court to decide what a fair amount might be for the injuries you have suffered.
If You’ve Been in an Auto Accident Get Guidance Quickly – Don’t Wait
The first 30-days are generally the most important. A skilled Oregon car accident attorney can help you collect and preserve any evidence that might be needed to help win a successful claim. A call to our office is FREE, we’ll give you guidance on what we think of your claim after we’ve listened to your story.
Call us if you’ve had any of the following Auto Accidents:
- Drunk driving
- Uninsured driver or underinsured driver
- Distracted or careless driver of a passenger vehicle
- Inattentive truck drivers
- Drivers of commercial vehicles with unsecured or improperly loaded cargo or other equipment, or trucking violations that caused a motor vehicle accident
- Drivers of buses, vans, cabs, shuttles, or various other public transportation
- Vehicle rollovers
What Should I Do if I’m Involved in a Car Accident in Oregon, Illinois?
You must protect yourself when you’ve been injured in an accident.
Step 1
First, assess the situation and call the police to report the accident. Exchange insurance information with the police officer (if available) or the other driver.
Step 2
If possible, preserve as much evidence of the scene as possible, if you can do so safely. This can be done by taking video or pictures with a cell phone. If you must move your vehicle, pay very close attention to where your vehicle is relative to any other involved automobiles, as it will be very important to address these issues when litigating your claim later, especially if pictures or other media are not available.
Step 3
Ask for names, addresses, and, if possible, the plate and license numbers of the other involved drivers and their vehicles. If you see witnesses who stop, make sure you ask for their names, addresses, and contact information.
Step 4
Do NOT make any admissions (e.g., apologies) if you believe that you were at fault in the car crash.
Step 5
As soon as you are able to, write down everything you remember about the accident. The time period immediately following the accident is when things are freshest in a driver’s memory. As the months go on, it helps to have a recollection of what you may remember from the exact day of the accident.
Step 6
If you are injured, it is best for your physical recovery and eventual case that you seek proper medical treatment as soon as possible. If you cannot afford medical treatment, there are providers that will treat victims of motor vehicle accidents without upfront payment. It is significantly more difficult to litigate a claim if medical treatment is sought after a large gap in time following the date of the crash. This is something that an experienced personal injury attorney can give you guidance on to preserve as much medical documentation as possible that details the full extent and severity of any injuries you may have suffered in the car crash.
Illinois Car Accident Statistics
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, 1,097 people were killed in car accidents in 2017. In 2016, 1,017 people were killed in car accidents across the state. Cook County had the highest number of collisions, fatalities, and severe injuries of any county in the state, with 211 fatalities and 27,075 reported injuries, 3,223 of which were deemed significant. During the same year, more than 40,000 people were killed in traffic accidents across the United States. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates, motor vehicle accidents cost $871 billion in damages each year.
Distracted Driving, Teenagers, and Car Crashes
According to the NHTSA, distracted driving accounts for 25% of all crashes involving young drivers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States confirmed this, reporting that drivers under the age of 20 are at the highest risk of distracted driving-related accidents.
We’ve all seen how addicted youngsters are to their phones. This bond is often maintained when teens get behind the wheel. According to a 2011 CDC survey, over half of all American high school students aged 16 and up texted or emailed while driving. That research also found that kids who text while driving are nearly twice as likely to be in a car with a drunk driver. These teenagers are also five times more likely to drink and drive. The consequences of these actions are catastrophic.
Common Injuries Caused by Motor Vehicle Accidents
According to data from the Illinois Department of Transportation, 84,652 people were wounded in a vehicle-related event in 2014. 11,755 of those people were seriously injured, preventing them from engaging in the typical day-to-day activities they enjoyed before to the tragedy. This is classified as a “A-type” injury crash. Some of these life-altering injuries include:
- Back and neck injuries
- Fractured bones
- Joint injury
- Paralysis
- Burns
- Amputation of limbs
- Death
Regardless of the scope of your injury, we can help you. We understand that no accident is the same, and will treat you with respect and individualized attention from your consultation and beyond.
Uninsured & Underinsured Drivers in Illinois
All Illinois drivers are required by law to hold liability insurance coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. More about required coverage on Illinois Secretary of Statewebsite. Despite these restrictions, according to the Insurance Research Council data, more than 13% of drivers on Illinois roads and highways travel without liability insurance.
But what happens if an uninsured driver causes a crash that injures you?
Recognizing there are so many uninsured drivers vehicle insurance companies provide a type of insurance to protect their drivers when they get into an accident with an uninsured driver. It’s call UM coverage or Uninsured Motorist Coverage.
Read more about Uninsured Motorist Claims and how you’re protected
How Does the Car Accident Settlement Process Work in Illinois?
The car accident settlement process roughly flows in this order:
- The accident occurs.
- You seek treatment and a lawyer (we can refer you to various healthcare providers if you don’t have your own providers).
- You work on getting better through treatment (physical recovery). Yes, this can be a time-consuming process, but we take care of everything with your insurance, and handle your property damage claim to get your vehicle fixed in as short a time period as possible.
- We investigate your claim, and perhaps bring on an accident reconstructionist or other useful experts to build your case in preparation for a jury to hear your story.
- When you are back to how you were prior to your accident, or as close to 100% as your doctor believes you will get, we start to compile your medical bills.
- We then compile any of your lost wages (e.g., time missed from work for medical appointments, time lost to various treatments, and time you were out of work from the injury).
- We then assess how your quality of life has been impacted from your accident. So, if you can no longer participate in the activities you did prior to the accident, if you can’t pick your children up anymore, or if you have problems grocery shopping, among other limitations, we start to formulate what we may be seeking in pain and suffering amounts for an accurate idea of what to ask an insurance adjuster or jury to award you.
- We then submit what is known as a “demand” letter to the other driver’s insurance company, requesting a specific amount to avoid litigation. From there, they have the choice to accept the demand, counter offer a different amount, or reject settlement.
- If we cannot arrive at a resolution that you are satisfied with, the next step is to pursue a trial. Steps 2-9 can occur while a lawsuit is pending. If negotiations don’t work, we move into a trial or arbitration stage of your case, in which we make an argument to an Ogle County judge, jury, or panel of arbitrators, and argue over liability (i.e., who caused your accident) and/or what a fair amount of money is to resolve your case (i.e., damages).
Illinois Time Limits on Filing Suit
Illinois sets a time limit of two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in the state’s civil court system. In most cases, this two-year time limit, known as a “statute of limitations,” begins to run on the date of the accident. Sometimes, however, a statute of limitations might run from the date that you discovered you were injured, rather than the date of the event that injured you. This later date is known as a “discovery date.”
For injury claims against a city or county, you have one year to file a lawsuit. The time limit to sue the state is generally two years, but you must file a formal claim within one year in order to sue.
Get in Touch
For an honest, free, and compassionate consultation about your Oregon, or Ogle County, Illinois personal injury case, feel free to call or text message us confidentially at (815) 964-8303. Remember, our service comes at absolutely no cost to you unless we earn a recovery on your behalf. Let us help you or your loved one navigate the legal side of your case and fight for your financial recovery, while you focus on your physical recovery.