The Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed that in 2022, unintentional injuries stemming from accidents were the third leading cause of death for Illinois residents, topping even Covid-19 in that year.
This statistic is sadly unsurprising for the average Chicago wrongful death attorney, who handles countless claims revolving around fatal accidents every year. Here at DJC Law, our team of reliable, caring, and qualified attorneys is dedicated to helping our clients leverage the law to their advantage and get the compensation they need and deserve.
Considering the gravity of your situation, it’s paramount that you hire the right legal representative to handle your case. A poor attorney can do more harm than good, especially when you’re experiencing significant grief and distress. The right attorney, on the other hand, will be there to help guide you through the process of filing a wrongful death claim even amidst the emotional turmoil you’re experiencing.
Here at DJC Law, you can rely on our team to provide you with accurate, reliable legal advice to reduce the overwhelming nature of your situation. We’ll handle all the legal aspects of your situation so you can focus on what’s most important – grieving your loss and comforting your loved ones.
Understanding Wrongful Death
One of the first things a Chicago wrongful death lawyer will do when you request a consultation with them is go over what happened to your loved one. While all deaths feel wrongful, not all of them fit under the legal definition of a wrongful death.
Under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, a wrongful death occurs when someone's "wrongful act, neglect, or default" leads to the death of another person. In general, you’ll only have a wrongful death claim if someone else had a legal duty to provide for your loved one’s care and they failed to do so.
Getting accurate wrongful death legal advice in Chicago from a qualified lawyer is important because you may not know if a legal duty of care exists in your loved one’s situation. In many scenarios, a legal duty of care is assumed under the law. For instance, all motorists are legally obligated to provide for the care and safety of everyone else on the road, and all businesses have a legal duty to care for the safety of customers. Different parties owe varying levels of care to other parties, so you might need a lawyer’s help in determining if a legal duty of care existed and whether it was breached.
If someone else was negligent, then you could have the basis to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the responsible party. Once you prove that they caused the accident that led to your loved one’s fatality, you can collect compensation for the damage you’re experiencing. These losses might include things like the costs of the funeral, compensation for your emotional distress, and a loss of financial support from your loved one.
Types of Wrongful Death Cases
An experienced wrongful death attorney in Chicago will be able to help you determine if you potentially have a case by identifying who might have caused or contributed to the accident and who should be held responsible. Based on the law dictating the legal duty, your claim will be classified as a specific type of wrongful death case. Below, we’ll go over some of the most common types of wrongful death claims litigated in Illinois.
Medical Malpractice
Under the law, your healthcare provider has a legal duty to provide for your care and safety when you become a patient of their facility or practice. Medical malpractice is a type of situation that occurs when a healthcare provider or healthcare facility fails to act with reasonable care, causing an injury to the patient.
In the case of a wrongful death situation, the healthcare provider must have acted in a way that was outside the scope of reasonable care that another equally qualified doctor would’ve provided under the same circumstances. Their behavior must have directly caused your loved one’s fatal injury.
Medical malpractice includes accidental injuries that arise from:
- Misdiagnosis
- Failure to diagnose
- Delayed diagnosis
- Surgical errors
- Medication mistakes
- Anesthesia errors
- Recklessness
It’s important to seek out specialized wrongful death legal representation if your loved one experienced medical malpractice. Often, it’s very difficult to distinguish between an honest medical mistake and a case of medical malpractice. The biggest difference between the two is the level of care. In the case of malpractice, the provider’s behavior must have been much different from the care a different provider would’ve issued in your case.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
One of the most common types of fatal accidents in America happens as a result of motor vehicle collisions. Motor vehicle accidents can come in the form of:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Trucking accidents
- Bicycle collisions
- Pedestrian crashes
- Rideshare incidents
In one very publicized case in Chicago, a 3-year-old was fatally struck while in a child seat carrier riding on a bicycle with her mother. The mother had to squeeze past a parked truck to continue down a bike lane, and that’s when they were struck by another driver. In the lawsuit, the city of Chicago was called out for failing to properly maintain the bike lane, and the owner of the semi-tractor trailer truck was alleged to be illegally parked in the bike lane. Thankfully, the city of Chicago has made major changes since this accident. They plan on adding concrete barriers along all bike lanes to prevent similar instances in the future.
When your loved one experiences something similar, it’s important to hire a passionate car accident wrongful death attorney that will be willing to strongly advocate for you. It’s not easy to go up against city governments or major trucking companies, but our team here at DJC Law can handle even the most complex wrongful death claim.
Workplace Accidents
Unfortunately, many fatal accidents occur when the person is at work or performing work-related duties. When your loved one was killed at work, your claim is going to immediately be more complicated, so it’s a good investment to consider hiring a workplace wrongful death lawyer.
The reason your case is going to be complex is because of worker’s compensation insurance. In most cases, your loved one’s accident will fall under the scope of workers comp. That means the employer will initiate an insurance claim and you’ll be eligible to receive a specific level of benefits from the employer’s policy. In the case of a fatality, you will receive death benefits.
All that said, worker’s compensation benefits are limited. Death benefits are usually paid out for 25 years or in the amount of $500,000, whichever is greater, based on the statewide average weekly wage. You may need to consider seeking out additional coverage from another negligent third-party that contributed to the incident if you still need more compensation to recover. Construction site accidents, industrial accidents, and other similar types of incidents should be investigated fully. If safety violations or intentional recklessness played a role in the incident, then you may have more legal options.
Here at DJC Law, our team was able to successfully settle for $955,000 after a man fell at his construction site and eventually passed away as a result of his injuries. Let our team of skilled Chicago wrongful death lawyers investigate your loved one’s accident to help you determine if you have additional avenues of recovery.
Product Liability
Under consumer protection laws, all product manufacturers, distributors, and developers have a legal duty to provide for the safety and care of customers who purchase and use their products as intended. These laws safeguard consumers from buying products that are defective, unsafe, fraudulent, or unfair.
If your loved one buys a defective product, dangerous drug, or faulty machinery that leads to a fatality, then get in touch with a product liability wrongful death attorney. It will be difficult to go up against a big product manufacturer, but our legal team has the skills and experience necessary to help facilitate a fair negotiation.
Premises Liability
Property owners also have a legal duty to provide for the care and safety of individuals that they invite onto their property. Business and public property owners owe an obligation to guests to take reasonable steps to ensure that their property is safe. Unsafe conditions could be considered negligent if the property owner was aware of the danger and didn’t take action to resolve the problem.
Similarly, inadequate security that results in your loved one being the victim of a crime could potentially rise to the legal threshold of negligence if the property owner knew about the danger and didn’t fix it.
Slip and fall accidents are some of the most common premises liability claims. If your loved one’s accident occurred on someone else’s property, then you could have legal options for recovery. The right premises liability wrongful death lawyer will be able to help you determine your options.
Causes of Wrongful Death
One of the biggest factors that will influence your ability to file a wrongful death claim is the cause of the accident. In order to have a valid legal claim, your loved one’s fatality must have been caused by another party’s failure to uphold their legal duty of care.
Negligence
Negligence is the legal term that describes one party’s failure to exercise reasonable care towards another party in a situation. One of the most common examples of this is texting while driving. When you get behind the wheel of a car, you assume a legal duty to provide for the care and safety of everyone else on the road. The moment you decide to divert your attention from the road to your phone, you’re displaying negligence.
Another common example of negligence would be failing to warn your invited guests about a broken stairway near your porch. If one of your guests falls through the stairway, then you could be considered negligent since you didn’t exercise reasonable care by telling your guests to stay clear of the danger.
Negligence cases aren’t always straightforward, especially when a fatality is involved. The right negligence wrongful death lawyer will need to prove that the other party was negligent, and that party’s negligence directly caused your loved one’s accident. When you’re facing a complex scenario or you’re up against a solid legal team, you’ll want to hire the best wrongful death attorney in Chicago to ensure you get a fair shot at justice.
Recklessness
Recklessness is a form of negligence but with the added element of willfully disregarding the safety and health of others. Simple negligence can be a result of poor judgment or a temporary lapse in your focus, but recklessness is committed while the person knows they’re putting another person at risk.
One common example of recklessness would be knowingly putting an unsafe product on the market for profit. If a business has conducted studies that reveal a product is dangerous, but they hide those results in favor of pushing the product, then that’s a clear display of recklessness. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt, and the company should’ve reasonably known that based on the studies revealing the danger.
The right recklessness wrongful death attorney will pursue additional compensation when the other party was extremely negligent and reckless. Punitive damages are difficult to secure and rarely awarded, but they are appropriate in situations where the responsible party knew they could hurt someone and committed the action anyway.
Intentional Acts
Another common cause of wrongful death lawsuits is intentional acts of violence. Intentional assaults, homicide, murder, and other crimes of passion exceed the normal level of negligence or recklessness. There are very few legal defenses available for individuals who knowingly, willingly, and intentionally commit violence against someone else.
The right intentional acts wrongful death lawyer can help you secure the compensation you deserve after experiencing a loss from an intentionally violent act. In one notable case, Chicago wrongful death lawyers secured an impressive $44 million settlement for the family of a fatally injured man who was killed while driving for Lyft in 2022. In that case, a criminal intentionally shot the driver after targeting him through the rideshare app.
Consequences of Wrongful Death
As you know first-hand, the consequences of a wrongful death are widespread and far reaching for the surviving loved ones of the victim. Considering the seriousness of your situation, don’t wait to reach out to the experts in Chicago wrongful death laws. The right attorney will help you identify and value your claim.
Emotional Impact on Families
One of the top consequences of a wrongful death situation is the emotional impact on the surviving loved ones. Grief and loss are the most difficult human emotions to process, so it’s not uncommon for survivors to need psychological counseling to overcome what happened.
Economic Consequences
Another consequence is the economic effects of the loss of life. The value of your claim should always include expenses like the cost of the funeral and burial, any medical bills incurred before your loved one’s death, and any loss of financial support. Wrongful death compensation can reach significant levels when the loved one you lost was the primary breadwinner for your family. When that happens, you can file for compensation to help you cover the loss of income. Talk with a wrongful death case attorney in depth about your losses to ensure you include every economic loss when valuing your claim.
Legal Implications
Another consequence of a wrongful death situation is the legal implications. If someone else’s negligence caused your loved one’s accident, then the family members and surviving loved ones of the deceased have the right to seek out a wrongful death lawsuit. This legal claim can help you receive compensation for your losses.
Your right to file a claim isn’t unlimited, though. In Illinois, there is a two year statute of limitations on wrongful death claims, so it’s important to get started promptly if you plan on leveraging your rights.
Litigation and Settlement Tactics
The typical wrongful death lawsuit process in Illinois is initiated when the surviving loved ones reach out to a wrongful death claim lawyer about what happened. If you are a surviving spouse, adult child, parent, another relative of the deceased, or a representative for the deceased’s estate, then you can file a wrongful death claim on behalf of your lost loved one.
Assessing the Case
Once you reach out, the right compassionate wrongful death attorney in Chicago will immediately get to work assessing your case. They should initiate an investigation into the accident and start gathering up evidence. In many cases, the evidence you need to secure is time sensitive, so if you wait too long to talk to a lawyer or start an investigation, then that evidence could degrade or get lost. For instance, security footage is typically erased over within a day or week if it isn’t requested, so if you think you’ll need to request footage from a nearby camera, then you need to do that quickly. The right lawyer will take these steps for you before evidence is lost forever.
During this stage, your lawyer might also consult with other experts, like skilled investigators or accident reconstruction professionals, to start constructing the most solid claim possible.
Filing the Claim
Next, an experienced wrongful death lawyer will begin the process of officially filing your claim. They’ll gather up all the documentation you need for effective wrongful death litigation in Chicago. They’ll file the official paperwork in your local courtroom, and those papers will be served to the other party.
Negotiation Strategies
When the other party receives your claim information, they’ll review it. If your Chicago fatal accident lawyer compiles a strong case with ample evidence, then the other party is more likely to agree to the statements in the claim and reach an agreement. In most cases, compensation for wrongful death victims in Chicago is awarded outside of court when the two parties reach a negotiation.
To properly negotiate and communicate with insurance companies, you need to know how to accurately value your claim and what to do if your claim’s worth exceeds the insurance limits. Here at DJC Law, you can rely on our team of attorneys to strongly advocate for you during the negotiation process.
Trial Tactics
Next, your trusted wrongful death attorney will start preparing for trial. They'll want to take the time to really get all your evidence together, select the right jury, prepare witnesses for questioning, and hiring any necessary witnesses. Trial presentation is everything, so make sure you hire an attorney with the right qualifications. A medical malpractice wrongful death lawyer, for instance, will be more equipped to pivot if their court strategy isn't working, but a less experienced lawyer might not know the common medical malpractice strategies plaintiffs often rely on in court.
Settlement Options
Your wrongful death settlement attorney will work towards achieving a timely settlement outside of court, but they won’t see that as their only option. Settling out of court is faster and easier, but it could mean a reduced payout if the other party isn’t being reasonable or fair in their negotiating. To ensure fair compensation, your lawyer won’t reach an agreement until the other party makes a good offer.
You have the option of receiving your payout in one lump-sum payment or agreeing to a structured settlement arrangement. This type of agreement allows you to receive multiple payouts over a period of time.
Why Choose DJC Law for Your Wrongful Death Case
Before you get to work Googling for a ‘wrongful death lawyer near me’, you need to know how to choose a wrongful death attorney in Chicago that’s equipped to represent you. In short, you need a lawyer with the right specialized knowledge, experience, passion, and time to take on your case.
Here at DJC Law, our team of attorneys have a combined two centuries worth of trial experience! With expertise like that, it makes sense that the U.S. News and World Report recently recognized DJC as one of the nation’s best law firms. Learn more about why you should work with us on your claim below.
Expertise in Wrongful Death Cases
While no law firm is going to be perfect, our firm prides itself on having an incredible 99% success rate when it comes to advocating for our clients and securing a fair settlement. We’re able to enjoy this high level of past case successes in Chicago wrongful death litigation because we rely on our years of experience, vast knowledge of the law, specialized knowledge regarding wrongful deaths, and unique perspectives to take control of your case.
When you’re dealing with the loss of a loved one, you need to hire an experienced wrongful death attorney in Chicago with the right expertise. Your level of loss is far too great to leave your case in the hands of an inexperienced or unqualified representative.
Client-Centered Approach
Another reason our team stands out among the top Chicago wrongful death lawyers is because of our client-centered approach. We offer compassionate representation because we treat each of our clients like people rather than another case to win. We want to know exactly how the loss of your loved one has impacted the quality of your life so that we can personalize a legal strategy just for you.
We know that finding a trusted wrongful death lawyer in Illinois can be difficult, especially considering the large number of firms in the area and the costs of legal services. We’re confident that you can rely on our team to validate your feelings and help you determine your options.
Strong Advocacy
Seeking justice for a wrongful death in Illinois can feel insurmountable when you’re dealing with all the emotional turmoil of the loss. The good news is that our team is prepared to strongly advocate for you using our aggressive negotiation tactics and effective courtroom presentation to secure the win.
Testimonials
While searching online for a ‘wrongful death attorney near me’, you should always take a look at the attorney’s testimonials and past reviews. Here at DJC Law, our former clients have made comments like, “I am extremely pleased with the service provided by DJC Law,” and “They will do everything in their power to help you”.
Contact DJC Law
If you’re ready to get in touch with the most experienced Chicago wrongful death attorneys, then look no further. You can contact our attorneys 24/7 at (888) 853-8169. You can also schedule a free consultation by leaving your contact details on our online form. We also have multiple offices where you can speak with us in person. Our Chicago law firm is located at 140 S Dearborn Street, Suite 1610.
Wrongful Death Accidents in Chicago
Every team member here at DJC Law is committed to achieving justice for the families and loved ones of individuals who passed away before their time. We all understand the gravity of your situation, and we strive to put our full effort behind seeking a fair resolution in your situation.
We’ll start by going over what happened and help you determine if you have a valid basis for an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit. If we think you do have a case, then we can move onto the next steps of promptly getting started on your wrongful death claim. It’s important to move fast in hiring a wrongful death lawyer in Chicago because you need to quickly start investigating the incident, collecting evidence, and documenting all your expenses.
Are you ready to get started on your loved one’s wrongful death claim? Schedule a free consultation with our office now.