Chicago Catastrophic Injury Lawyers
Suffering any injury due to another party’s negligence is always physically, emotionally, and financially draining. However, your life can change forever if the injury is complex and severe. Catastrophic injuries can leave you uncertain about what the future holds. When life presents this type of challenge, you deserve high-caliber legal support to hold the responsible party accountable.
Turn to the personal injury lawyers at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. Our proven legal team has the resources and experience to build a strong case and demand maximum compensation for your losses. We have recovered over $2.5 billion for our clients to date, with many personal injury verdicts and settlements exceeding $1 million.
For over 40 years, the wrongfully injured have trusted our Chicago catastrophic injury law firm to safeguard their rights and protect their interests. Contact us today for a free consultation.
What is a Catastrophic Injury?
Illinois has no legal definition for a catastrophic injury. Generally, a catastrophic injury is a severe, debilitating injury that results in permanent disability or completely alters a person’s life. Catastrophic injuries typically affect an individual’s:
- Mobility
- Ability to care for themselves
- Capacity to work and earn an income
- Quality of life
Catastrophic injury survivors often require extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, long-term assistive care, and accommodations for their new disability(s). When someone else is at fault for the injury, Illinois law allows eligible victims to pursue compensation for these astronomical expenses and other losses. A knowledgeable Chicago catastrophic injury attorney can review your case, place an appropriate value on your claim, and fight for the full compensation you deserve.
Common Types of Catastrophic Injuries in Chicago
Common catastrophic injuries in Chicago include:
- Spinal cord injury – Completely severing the spinal cord can lead to paralysis like paraplegia or tetraplegia.
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) – Catastrophic TBIs can impair cognition, behavior, speech, motor coordination, and sensory awareness.
- Limb loss – Amputation causes permanent disfigurement and may require prosthetics to improve the quality of life for the injured individual.
- Severe burns – Catastrophic burns may require multiple skin grafts and surgery, resulting in severe and significant scarring.
- Crushing injuries – Entanglement or crush incidents can damage internal organs, break multiple bones, and cause massive blood loss.
Our Chicago catastrophic injury attorneys have extensive experience handling these complex cases. We understand the toll these injuries can take on survivors’ lives and we work aggressively to recover compensation that accounts for their past, current, and anticipated future losses.
What are the Causes of Catastrophic Injury?
Catastrophic injuries can occur anywhere and under various circumstances. Leading causes of catastrophic injury include:
- Car crashes – Head-on collisions, rollover accidents, and high-speed crashes can lead to spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, amputations, and other severe trauma.
- Truck accidents – The massive size and weight of commercial trucks put passenger vehicle occupants at risk of catastrophic injuries after an accident.
- Motorcycle crashes – Motorcyclists are less protected on roadways than other car occupants, increasing their risk of a catastrophic injury.
- Pedestrian collisions – Being hit by a vehicle while walking can result in complex fractures, vital organ damage, head injuries, spinal cord damage, and other severe injuries.
- Defective products – Dangerous defects in products such as cars, medical devices, and consumer goods can lead to explosions, fires, and other incidents resulting in catastrophic harm.
- Construction accidents – Falls from heights, electric shocks, and heavy equipment on construction sites can easily result in life-changing injuries when another party acts negligently.
- Premises liability – Property dangers such as uneven floors, broken stairs, poor lighting, and lack of security can lead to slip-and-fall injuries, assaults, and other injuries that permanently disrupt a victim’s quality of life.
- Medical malpractice – Surgical mistakes, medication errors, misdiagnosis, and neglect by healthcare providers can result in catastrophic injuries and permanent damage to one or more of the body’s major systems.
If you’ve been hurt, the catastrophic injury lawyers at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and identify all potentially liable parties.
Determining Liability in Catastrophic Injury Cases
To receive compensation, you must prove that someone else is responsible for your catastrophic injury. Determining liability can be challenging. In some cases, one party may be at fault. However, there are many instances where multiple defendants share the blame. These cases are always complex, so getting a catastrophic injury attorney involved as soon as possible can help them craft the strongest personal injury claim for you.
At Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., we know what it takes to build a solid liability case. We’ll gather evidence to show:
- Who caused the accident
- How their actions caused the incident
- How the incident directly led to your catastrophic injury
- How the injury will continue to affect your life
Our catastrophic injury attorneys leave no stone unturned during our investigations. We regularly consult top medical, financial, and accident reconstruction experts for testimony to build compelling and convincing cases for our clients.
Get the Legal Help You Need From a Chicago Catastrophic Injury Attorney
Suffering a catastrophic injury can completely upend your life. If the unimaginable has happened to you or a loved one, you deserve all the support you can to recoup your financial losses and prepare for the future. The dedicated catastrophic injury lawyers at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. will fight tirelessly to help you recover damages for:
- Medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
In cases of particularly flagrant wrongdoing or recklessness, you may also be eligible to pursue punitive damages.
Over the last several decades, we have recovered numerous multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for our clients, including the largest jury verdict for an individual in Illinois history. While no amount of money can make up for what happened to you, compensation can help restore your sense of financial security and prepare you for the future. Call us today or contact us online for a free case review with one of our catastrophic injury lawyers in Chicago.
