Best Car Accident Lawyers Chicago, IL (2024) (2024)

Chicago is the third-largest U.S. city with fascinating features like an underground pedestrian system and 26 miles of lakefront property. But, unfortunately, it has its fair share of car accidents too. The Chicago Department of Transportation warned of a 14 percent increase in speeding recently and more car crashes ending with injuries and fatalities.

No one wants to deal with a car accident, especially if they sustain injuries or lose a loved one. Fortunately, Chicago has many talented attorneys who can help you through this ordeal. Check out this list to find the best car accident attorney in Chicago.

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• Phillip J. Berenz
• Melvin L. Brooks
• Carolyn Daley
• Derek Dominguez
• Kenneth A. Hoffman
• Stephen L. Hoffman
• David Scott Jasmer
• Daniel A. Klein
• Cannon D. Lambert
• Nenye E. Uche

Laws affect your car accident claim, including time limits for filing lawsuits and insurance limits. Here is a quick overview of these laws and how they affect you after a car accident.

Car Insurance Requirements in Illinois

Illinois requires all licensed drivers to carry liability insurance on their vehicles. The law includes all motorized vehicles, whether cars, motorcycles, mopeds or ATVs. It doesn’t require insurance for non-motorized trailers.

Liability insurance limits must be a minimum of:

• $25,000 for injury or death of one person
• $50,000 for injury or death of two or more people
• $20,000 for damage to another person’s property

All drivers must have proof of insurance when they travel and show it to law enforcement officers when requested. Most insurance companies send a card to make this easy for you. If you can’t show proof of insurance or drive uninsured, the state may suspend your ability to register your vehicle.

Driving uninsured results in a $500 fine for uninsured vehicles. The fine increases to $1,000 if a driver operates a vehicle with suspended registration for no insurance. A first-time offender must show proof of insurance and pay a $100 reinstatement fee to end a suspension. Subsequent violations result in higher suspension times and fines.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is a deadline for filing a lawsuit with the court. According to 735 Illinois Compiled Statutes section 5/13-202, that deadline is two years from the accident date. So, if your accident occurred on September 1, 2022, you have until September 1, 2024, to file a lawsuit in Illinois.

However, the statute of limitations is not a deadline for filing a claim with an insurance company. Most insurance companies require you to file a claim within two to seven days of an accident. To be safe, file insurance claims as soon as possible.

Negligence in Illinois

Illinois adopted a modified comparative fault approach for negligence claims. If the plaintiff and defendant share fault for an accident, a plaintiff can’t recover damages if they were more than 50% negligent.

Any percentage of fault against the plaintiff reduces their damages award. So, if a jury awards $100,000 in damages but determines the plaintiff was 45% at fault, that award decreases by $45,000–leaving the plaintiff with $55,000.

Finding the best attorney for your case may seem overwhelming, especially if you sustained a severe injury. But there are ways to manage it and find an attorney to help you. This list gives you a good start, but here is how to evaluate potential candidates.

Seek Experience

You want to hire a lawyer who handled cases like yours previously. For example, an accident between a car and a semi involves different laws and issues than an accident between two passenger vehicles. There are often federal regulations to consider and different insurance schemes. Attorneys who handle these cases routinely are more likely to negotiate and litigate yours effectively.

You also want your attorney to have trial experience. Most car accident claims settle, so the chance of your case going to court is low. But you still want your attorney to be prepared for that possibility.

Ask Around

If you know any family members, friends or coworkers who hired a car crash lawyer recently, ask them about their attorney. They may have a good recommendation, or at the very least, you’ll know who not to hire. Sometimes a personal referral is a good match because you likely share values with people close to you.

Clarify Fees

Car accident lawyers in Chicago usually handle these claims on contingency. That means their fees are a percentage of your recovery.

The percentage often depends on at what stage your case resolves. For example, an attorney who settles your case before arbitration or trial may collect 33.3% of those proceeds as their fee. This percentage increases as your case must proceed. Cases going to trial may charge 40% of your recovery.

Attorneys consider their fees when they make settlement demands and will give you a breakdown of fees and costs when they present offers to you. You can then make an informed decision on whether the settlement offer is adequate.

Follow Your Gut

A list, referral or online research can give you names, but they can’t assess whether that attorney matches you well. You need to get along with and trust your personal injury attorney. This individual will have access to your medical records and may learn uncomfortable things about you. So, if you don’t trust them, you won’t have a productive attorney-client relationship.

When you visit a law firm, you should feel like you’re in a welcoming and professional environment. You should feel heard and free to ask questions during your consultation. The attorney’s office or law firm also gives an impression. If you are uncomfortable with the environment or how the attorney and staff treat you, move on to another lawyer.

Forbes Advisor considered many factors to find the Best Car Accident Lawyers in Chicago in 2024. Our mathematical module considers and weighs the information collected to calculate a specific rating and reviews these results to find the best attorneys in a given practice area.

Within the model, we consider factors that legal professionals and consumers value in an attorney’s qualifications. After assigning weighted scores to hundreds of data points, we narrowed the field down to our top choices based on:

• Legal experience
• Special licenses and certifications
• Ethics and bar disciplinary measures
• Legal thought leadership
• Education and employment background
• Scholarly lectures & writings
• Awards and honors

Forbes Advisor collects public data from various sources, including state bar associations, court records and other published sources on the internet. This information should not be considered comprehensive, however. It might not include additional relevant information on an attorney’s legal skills and experience.

Each lawyer listed here has their own merits. Remember that our list relates to these lawyers’ legal backgrounds but does not evaluate their personalities or knowledge of the law. One attorney may be more suitable than another for your specific legal situation.

One thing that can’t be quantified, though, is the rapport you establish with your attorney. Personality goes a long way when teaming up with an attorney, especially when facing a potentially difficult legal situation. These rankings should serve as a reference and potential starting point in your search for the right lawyer for you and your legal concerns.

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