If you have ever been in a serious motor vehicle accident, you know just how disorientating the experience can be. In the span of only a few seconds, your world is completely turned upside down. Understandably, it can be difficult to remember exactly what happened during a major car accident. This is especially true if you suffered a head injury or went into shock during the accident. Accident reconstruction is a process through which experts investigate and analyze evidence to draw conclusions about the events that led up to an accident. Personal injury attorneys often work closely with accident reconstructionists to establish what actions were taken by motorists involved in the accident and when these actions occurred.

Gathering Evidence to Support Your Claim

Proving that the defendant’s actions led to the plaintiff's injuries is often the most difficult part of winning a personal injury lawsuit. Many personal injury claims involve a great deal of “he-said-she-said.” For example, a truck driver may claim that he started braking immediately after seeing a stopped car on the road while the driver of the stopped car insists that the truck driver hit his car at full speed. An accident reconstructionist can use physical evidence such as skid marks, the location of debris, leaked vehicle fluid, and the data from the truck’s event data recorder (EDR) to determine when the truck driver applied the brakes. The accident reconstructionist may be able to show that the trucker only applied the brakes seconds before the collision occurred. Conclusions reached through accident reconstruction along with data from the truck driver’s cell phone may show that distracted driving played a major role in the collision. This is just one example of how accident reconstruction may be used to support a personal injury claim. Accident reconstructionists may also use 3-d laser scanning, computer models, and other tools to investigate exactly what happened during a car accident.

Contact a Waukegan Car Accident Lawyer

The sooner your lawyer can start gathering evidence through accident reconstruction, the better your chances of proving the responsible party’s negligence and winning your personal injury claim. Whether you were hurt in a motorcycle accident, truck accident, pedestrian accident, or another type of car accident, delaying the investigation can significantly reduce the quality of the evidence available. Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a skilled Lake County personal injury attorney today. Call Salvi & Maher, L.L.C. at 847-662-3303 to get started.

Being involved in an auto accident can result in severe physical and emotional damage. However, this damage may not always be immediately evident. The trauma of a major car crash, truck accident, motorcycle accident, or pedestrian accident may put the victim in a state of shock and disorientation. The “fight or flight” hormones released in his or her body can have an analgesic effect, numbing the pain the individual feels from his or her injuries. This is why it is vital to always seek medical treatment after a car accident – even if you assume that your injuries are only minor.

Signs That You May Be More Injured Than You Realize

If you are hurt in a car accident, you may be left with injuries that require expensive ongoing medical treatment. You may need pricey hospital care, prescription medication, surgery, physical therapy, psychological counseling, or other interventions to manage the harm caused in the accident. These problems may also negatively affect your ability to earn a living. In situations such as these, a personal injury claim may enable you to recover compensation for the expenses incurred by the accident. However, a successful personal injury claim is only possible if there is documented evidence of your damages. This is why it is essential to receive prompt medical treatment if you experience symptoms such as:

• Pain in the neck, shoulders, and back: Neck and spine injuries can cause significant long term suffering. Many people who get whiplash or other neck injuries after an accident may not feel any pain at the time of the accident but then later develop serious, debilitating symptoms.
• Swelling or pain in the abdomen: Car accidents often result in damage to internal organs. If you experience pain or swelling in your abdomen after an accident, it could be a sign of internal bleeding.
• Difficulty carrying out everyday tasks, confusion, or impaired thinking: Traumatic brain injuries can cause physical symptoms such as headache, lightheadedness, and blurred vision as well as emotional and cognitive symptoms.
• Anxiety and fear: Car accidents can have profound psychological effects. If you are experiencing flashbacks, phobias, nightmares, or significant anxiety after a car accident, you may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Contact a Waukegan Car Accident Lawyer

If you were hurt in an accident involving drunk driving, distracted driving, reckless driving, or negligence, a personal injury claim may enable you to recover compensation. To learn more about your legal options following a car crash, contact Salvi & Maher, L.L.C. Schedule a free, no-obligation initial consultation with a skilled Lake County personal injury attorney by calling our office at 847-662-3303.

A baby’s birth should be one of the happiest days of a parent’s life. Unfortunately, some parents’ happiness is mired by anxiety and fear due to a serious birth injury. Brachial plexus injuries are fairly common in newborns, but the consequences of these injuries can have lifelong ramifications. If a doctor’s failure to meet the medical standard of care results in a baby suffering a brachial plexus injury, the baby’s parents may be entitled to compensation for the damages they have suffered.

How Does a Brachial Plexus Injury Occur?

Brachial plexus nerves connect the spinal cord to the shoulders, arms, and hands. When these nerves are damaged, the body’s ability to control arm and hand movement is decreased. Brachial plexus injuries are often caused when a condition called shoulder dystocia occurs during delivery. Shoulder dystocia refers to a situation in which the baby’s shoulders become stuck in the birth canal. This can put intense pressure on the baby’s neck and shoulder area. Brachial plexus nerves can become stretched or even torn. The use of tools such as vacuum extractors and forceps may increase the risk of a brachial plexus injury.

The medical consequences of a brachial plexus injury vary depending on the severity of damage to the nerves and the location of the injury. Nerves that are slightly stretched may only result in short-term symptoms. If the nerves are severed or torn away from the spinal cord, however, the baby may experience paralysis that lasts for the rest of his or her life. Damage to the brachial plexus nerves may also result in a condition called Erb’s Palsy. A baby suffering from Erb’s Palsy may experience weakness, loss of feeling, and partial or total paralysis of the shoulders or arms. He or she has one arm that is noticeably smaller than the other during childhood. Physical therapy is the most common treatment for brachial plexus injuries. However, some sufferers may require surgery such as a nerve transfer or nerve graft to correct the mitigate the damage.

If you or a loved one have been hurt due to the carelessness or misconduct of another party, you may have questions about what it takes to win a personal injury claim and collect compensation. A personal injury claim may allow an injured individual to recover compensation for medical bills related to the incident, ongoing medical costs, pain and suffering, property damage, lost wages, and more. Most personal injury lawsuits hinge upon whether or not a party acted negligently.

Understanding the Legal Definition of Negligence

Although the word “negligence” is often used as a synonym for inattention or recklessness, the legal concept of negligence is much more precise. In order to prove that a party acted negligently, you and your attorney will need to show that four main elements are present in your case:

• Duty of Care: The defendant owed the plaintiff, or individual bringing the lawsuit, a “duty of care.” This means that the defendant had a legal obligation to act in a certain way toward the defendant. For example, a doctor owes his or her patients a duty to provide reasonably skillful medical care. A landlord has a legal obligation to keep his or her property free of preventable hazards. A store owner has an obligation to maintain a reasonably safe premise for customers. Drivers have an obligation to drive in such a way that does not present a risk of death or injury to other motorists or pedestrians.
• Breach of Duty: The defendant failed to uphold his or her duty of care.
• Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty caused the plaintiff’s injuries. There are two types of causation: cause-in-fact and proximate cause. Cause-in-fact is sometimes called “but-for” causation, meaning but for the defendant’s actions, the injury would not have occurred. Proximate cause means that an event was related to an injury in such a way that the court considers the event to be the cause of the injury
• Damages: The plaintiff suffered some type of injury or loss. If a person breached a duty of care but this did not result in any harm, the person may not be considered negligent. For example, if a pharmacist gave a patient the wrong medication but the patient realized the mistake before taking the medication, the patient would not have a valid personal injury claim. However, if the patient took the wrong medication and suffered serious medical complications requiring hospital treatment, the patient may have a valid injury claim.

Contact a Lake County Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or a loved one were hurt due to another party’s carelessness or recklessness, contact Salvi & Maher, L.L.C. to learn about your legal options. A personal injury claim may enable you to hold the at-fault party responsible for the wrongdoing as well as recover compensation. Call our office at 847-662-3303 and schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our passionate Waukegan injury attorneys.

Dogs can be loving, loyal companions. However, dogs who become aggressive toward humans can cause horrific injuries. A dog attack can result in puncture wounds, deep lacerations, nerve damage, broken bones, infection, and other major injuries. These injuries may leave the victim disfigured or disabled for the rest of his or her life. If you were the victim of a dog bite or dog attack, you may be entitled to compensation for your physical and mental injuries.

Dog Attack Laws in Illinois

Animal-related laws vary significantly from state to state. Illinois is a strict liability state when it comes to injuries caused by animals such as dogs. This means that a dog owner may be liable for injuries caused in a dog attack even if he or she did not know that the animal was aggressive or capable of injuring someone. According to Illinois statute, an owner is liable for injuries caused by his or her dog if:

• The dog attacked, attempted to attack, or otherwise injured the victim
• The victim was on public property or lawfully on private property when the injury occurred
• The dog was not provoked to attack

Although the state of Illinois has laws describing an owner’s liability for injuries caused by his or her dog, local laws may differ. According to some local regulations, a dog owner is only liable for injuries caused by a bite if he or she knew that the dog was aggressive or had previously bitten someone before.