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Noll Law Office Offers Free Consultations for Accident and Injury Victims

Accidental injuries are the leading cause of death or injury in the United States. Each year over 80,000 people are killed in accidents, which is four times more than the second-leading cause. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most common causes of accidental injuries or deaths are due to motor vehicle accidents and falls. Other statistics reveal that preventable medical errors are another top cause of accidental death or injury in the United States. If you or a loved one suffered any type of significant, debilitating, or catastrophic injury in Illinois, call the experienced personal injury lawyers in Springfield at the Noll Law Office at (217) 414-8889.

Unlike other accident attorneys, the Noll Law Office is dedicated to providing personalized service for victims and their families. Their compassionate and skilled staff can handle nearly any type of personal injury case with nearly any type of injury. They do not charge you for a case evaluation to ask questions and to hear about your rights under Illinois law. To learn more about how the experienced personal injury lawyers in Springfield, Illinois, at the Noll Law Office can help you and your family, call them today to schedule your free case evaluation.

Types of Personal Injury Cases the Noll Law Office Will Handle

The personal injury lawyers at the Noll Law Office in Springfield, Illinois, represent clients in a wide variety of accidental injury cases. Some of the most common types of cases that they take include the following:

Even if you do not see your type of accident on this list, please call the Noll Law Office to schedule a FREE consultation to learn more about whether they can help you with your type of case in Illinois.

Common Personal Injuries

There is virtually an endless list of possible injuries that may be caused in a personal injury accident in Illinois. The type of injury also depends on many factors, including the type of accident, the area of the body that was injured, and the severity. There are other factors that may allow, such as gender, age, physical fitness level, and other considerations that must be taken into account.

Here at the Noll Law Office, the experienced personal injury lawyers in Springfield, Illinois can represent you and your family on nearly any type of injury, including the following:

  • Brain injuries – concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), whiplash-caused injuries, and other damage to the brain
  • Paralysis cases, including paraplegia or quadriplegia (also known as tetraplegia)
  • Amputations or loss of a limb
  • Broken bones or fractured bones
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Organ injuries
  • Torn muscles, ligaments, or tendons
  • Back injuries or neck injuries, including those requiring a spinal fusion
  • Internal injuries and organ damage
  • Blindness or partial blindness
  • Shoulder injuries
  • Knee injuries
  • Damage to reproductive organs, including the inability to have children
  • Significant scarring or disfigurement
  • Burn injuries from fires or explosions
  • Dislocations or separations
  • Nerve injuries
  • Wrongful death cases, and
  • Other types of injuries caused by the intentional or negligent actions of another person or business.

Even if you do not see your type of injury listed here, please ask the experienced personal injury lawyers at the Noll Law Office to schedule a FREE appointment to discuss your case.

What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?

There are many different types of lawyers in the United States, all having to obtain and maintain a law license with the state that they practice in. In Illinois, a personal injury lawyer is a type of legal professional who focuses his or her practice on cases where an individual suffered physical, emotional, and/or financial damages due to the actions of another person, business, government actor, or entity. That means personal injury lawyers need to know the law and the medicine very well to represent a client.

Generally, there are two types of personal injury cases. The first is a negligence case. This is the most common way that personal injury cases are brought to court. Negligence is the failure to act as a reasonably prudent person would have in similar circumstances. Said differently, negligence is careless, reckless, or otherwise risky because it could cause harm to another person.

The second way is an intentional tort case. A “tort” is a civil “wrong” committed against a victim. It is like a crime, but the end result is not imprisonment for a defendant but compensation. Sometimes, there is an overlap, such as a criminal assault and battery which gives rise to a civil battery claim. Another example would be when a doctor intentionally harms a patient (such as by branding or carving initials with a scalpel).

Based on either of these types of personal injury cases, a personal injury lawyer in Springfield, Illinois like those at the Noll Law Office can help victims and their families recover compensation.

What Types of Compensation Can I Recover in a Personal Injury Case?

After a personal injury accident, a victim may have suffered harm from the intentional or negligent acts or omissions of another party. A personal injury lawyer can help a victim file a claim with the defendant’s insurance carrier or file a lawsuit in court to recover “damages” for the victim’s loss.

Under Illinois law, the term “damages” simply means the relief that a party to a lawsuit may obtain. There are many different types of damages, which often depend on the type of case and the facts of the case. In personal injury actions, damages are typically monetary compensation.

The most common types of damages after a personal injury accident in Illinois include the following:

  • Past pain and suffering – compensation for the time period between the accident/injuries and the date of payment
  • Future pain and suffering – money for the time period consisting of the date of payment for the rest of the victim’s expected life
  • Medical bills
  • Lost wages
  • Lost future earnings – if a victim must work fewer days or take a lower-paying job after an accident, the difference between the old wages and the new wages, multiplied by the rest of the victim’s expected career (i.e., until the victim would have likely retired) 
  • Loss of consortium
  • Property damage
  • Home or vehicle modifications for injuries, such as chairlifts, ramps, special beds or chairs, or other alterations
  • Mobility assistance devices such as walkers, wheelchairs, or other devices
  • Nursing care, whether in-home and sporadic or for around the clock 24-7 nursing care
  • Wrongful death and survivor action damages, including burial costs and funeral expenses

Most Common Types of Personal Injury Cases

The personal injury lawyers at Noll Law Office accept many different types of personal injury claims, including:

Car Accidents

According to statistics, there are as many as six million car accidents each year which kill more than 90 people each day. Of those accidents, there are approximately two million victims with long-term or permanent injuries. Car accidents are one of the primary causes of personal injury claims since most car accidents are the result of driver negligence or carelessness. Drivers may be distracted, impaired, overly fatigued, or have ignored traffic laws. One minute you are on your way home after work, the next you are injured, perhaps unable to work, wondering how to safeguard your future. The Noll Law Office is ready to help you through this difficult time so all you need to worry about is getting better.

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Any type of nursing home abuse, neglect, or negligence can cause significant trauma to the victim as well as their loved ones. It is truly horrifying to think of your loved one being neglected or abused by those who are supposed to care for and protect them. Nursing home abuse is, unfortunately, all too common. Physical abuse may include hitting, kicking, pinching, sexual assault, or shoving, while emotional abuse could stem from yelling, threatening, harassing, intimidating, or attempting to humiliate an elderly person. Withholding basic necessities, such as food, water, or medicine—or refusing clean clothing or bathing—are both physical and emotional abuse. 

Nursing home neglect is another form of abuse. Neglect often means ignoring a resident’s needs, either intentionally (technically a form of abuse) or due to forgetful staff or understaffing. While nursing homes may be understaffed, there is never a justification for nursing home abuse. Neglect includes poor hygiene, forgetting to bathe residents, skipping meals or medications, and other normal and customary daily activities.

Falls and Bedsores in Nursing Homes Due to Nursing Home Negligence and Malpractice

When it comes to nursing home negligence and malpractice, there are two important areas to be aware of. The first are falls. All residents need to be evaluated for fall risk. If a resident is a fall risk, the nursing home must enact certain precautions to protect the individual from falling. That may be as minimal as special socks, or as intense as one-on-one monitoring. A nursing home that fails to protect a resident who is a fall risk, may be liable if that resident falls.

The second important area of nursing home negligence and malpractice are bedsores. Also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers, a bedsore is a type of injury that occurs when a resident is not moved, rotated, or otherwise repositioned. The constant pressure from the bedsprings can cause tissue to become damaged. Improper hygiene such as changing clothes, bathing, food, hydration, and changing sheets can all accelerate bedsores. Anytime a resident develops a bedsore in a nursing home, it may be due to nursing home neglect or malpractice.

If you suspect your loved one is being abused in a nursing home, there are steps you can take to protect your loved one. The Noll Law Office will help you investigate the abuse, then hold the abuser(s) accountable.  

Wrongful Death and Survival Actions

In the State of Illinois, the decedent’s estate can bring a lawsuit for wrongful death and survival action claims. Damages can include medical expenses prior to the death, funeral, and burial costs, the loss of the decedent’s financial contributions, and compensation for grief, loss of companionship, and other damages. The Noll Law Office will help set up an estate and seek justice for your loved one. While a financial settlement will not alleviate your grief over the loss of your loved one, it can help you and your family move forward. 

Semi-Truck Accidents

Commercial vehicles like big rigs, box trucks, semi-tractor trailers, flatbeds, and other types of large trucks or buses can cause serious or fatal personal injuries in a car accident. Individuals can be seriously injured in a trucking accident, even at low speeds. Unfortunately, most trucking accidents occur at high speeds on highways and interstates, often leading to serious or fatal injuries. Although many motor vehicle accident lawyers will also advertise for truck accident cases, trucking wreck cases are more complicated because of the added federal regulations that may apply. As a result, you need to retain an experienced trucking accident lawyer like one of the personal injury lawyers in Springfield, IL at the Noll Law Office.    

Dog Bites and Animal Attacks

Any type of animal attack or dog bite could leave victims seriously injured. When a dog bites a victim, it can cause puncture wounds, muscle tears, nerve damage, scarring, infection, and disfigurement. Generally speaking, a dog’s owner is liable for the dog bite victim’s injuries. Fortunately, most dog bites are covered through homeowners’ or renters’ insurance. The Noll Law Office lawyers are experienced in obtaining coverage for dog bite injuries to obtain coverage of medical bills, lost wages, future medical needs, as well as pain and suffering.

Drunk Driving Accident Cases

Unlike other types of cases, drunk driving accident cases have unique issues. This includes the interplay between the criminal matter and the civil matter. There is also the added issue that drunk driving accidents often cause serious injuries that can take months or years to resolve. When a drunk motorist gets into a vehicle, other drivers on the roadway are in danger. Victims of drunk driving accidents are entitled to pursue a civil claim for damages. If a business overserved alcohol to the person, that business may also be liable under Illinois dram shop laws. The Noll Law Office has a deep understanding of Illinois DUI laws and can use that knowledge to hold the driver responsible.

Medical Malpractice

Although most people go to the doctor or hospital expecting to be healed, medical negligence is one of the leading causes of personal injuries in the United States. There are many common forms of medical malpractice, including the following:

  • Surgical errors
  • Anesthesia mistakes
  • Drug errors or prescription mistakes
  • Failure to diagnose
  • Delay in diagnosis
  • Misdiagnose 
  • Wrong patient surgery
  • Foreign objects left in person
  • Injection errors (including nerve blocks)
  • Failure to monitor patients during surgery
  • Emergency department errors
  • Wrong site surgery
  • Delays in treatment, and
  • Other types of medical errors by a doctor, nurse, dentist, tech, hospital, practice group, or another type of healthcare provider or business.

Birth Injuries

In addition to these other forms of medical malpractice, birth injuries are also a serious and often catastrophic type of medical malpractice. Birth injuries involve cases where a defendant has harmed a neonate, infant, or baby, either before, during, or immediately after birth. There are many ways this can happen, but it usually happens during the labor and delivery process. Thus, the most common birth injuries due to medical malpractice include the following:

  • Brachial plexus injuries
  • Kernicterus 
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
  • Broken bones to a baby (usually collar bone or shoulder)
  • Significant disfigurement or scarring
  • Brain damage cases
  • Amputations
  • Bacterial meningitis injuries or wrongful death, and
  • Other types of birth injuries due to medical malpractice in Illinois.

Pedestrian Accidents

Like bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents often leave the victim seriously injured. Pedestrians, unlike motorcyclists and bicyclists, don’t even have the protection of a helmet. When pedestrians are hit by a vehicle, they may be thrown into the air, landing on the pavement or other hard surfaces with significant force. These accidents can cause permanent injuries, disability, or even death to the pedestrian. The victim may be unable to work and make a living, facing months or years of medical treatments. If you are the victim of a pedestrian accident, the personal injury lawyers at Noll Law Office can help you get your life back on track. 

Bicycle Accidents

Bike crashes happen in an instant. Since bicyclists have little to no protection, their injuries are often severe. In the State of Illinois in 2019, there were 2,339 bicyclists injured by drivers and 12 were killed. Traumatic brain injuries, back and neck injuries, fractures, internal injuries, and road rash injuries are all common following a bicycle accident. It is important to hold the careless driver accountable for the injuries and other financial damages. 

How Do I Choose the Best Personal Injury Lawyer for Me?

Choosing an Illinois personal injury lawyer can feel overwhelming when you are injured and facing financial devastation. At the Noll Law Office, their compassionate and experienced personal injury lawyers want to make the process more comfortable for you. It is always free to talk to the attorneys, Sarah and Daniel Noll. Your initial consultation costs you nothing—and the Noll Law Office receives no money until you are compensated fairly. They will always fight for a full and fair settlement on your behalf. 

The Noll Law Office will do everything in its power to help you get back on your feet. Whether you’ve been involved in an auto accident, hit by a drunk driver, struck while crossing a city street, or bitten by a dog, they can help. They want you to have the time you need to heal and put your life back together while they fight back against the insurance companies.

Do I Have to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Illinois? Can I Just Work With the Insurance Adjuster?

Generally, there is no legal requirement under Illinois law that you need to hire a lawyer to represent you in a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Indeed, a victim can act “pro se” in a case. Therefore, yes, a victim may be able to work directly with an insurance adjuster to resolve a claim.

However, that is often not a wise course of action and may result in less compensation for a victim and his or her family than if a personal injury lawyer in Springfield was hired.

There are several reasons for this, including the following:

Insurance Adjusters Are Well-Trained

Although insurance adjusters are usually not lawyers and have not gone to law school, that does not mean they are not well-trained. Indeed, most adjusters undergo rigorous training before starting to handle claims. They are often taught at regional and even national conferences, where some of the leading defense lawyers lecture on topics including how to minimize personal injury claims. In fact, there are sometimes other lawyers at these conferences who are doing it for credit for the license (known as CLE credits), who are being taught side-by-side with insurance adjusters. Therefore, although not a lawyer, most insurance adjusters we very well-trained.

Insurance Adjusters Have a Lot of Experience

In addition to their training, most insurance adjusters have a lot of experience handling claims. That is, indeed, what they do for work all day. Although you may have handled several dental insurance bills or fender-bender property damage claims, and won all of them, a personal injury claim is very different – especially when the person you are negotiating with has done hundreds if not thousands of claims. Even in cases where the type of accident and the type of injuries or damages may be more unique than normal, many times insurance adjusters have handled these cases or similar cases before because they are assigned cases by their specialty from around the country. Therefore, the amount of experience that insurance adjusters have is often not comparable to the average pro se litigant or victim trying to recover compensation for a claim.

There’s Often a Silent Defense Lawyer Lurking Behind Every Insurance Adjuster

Even if the adjuster is not a lawyer and even if that adjuster is new and does not have a lot of experience, it is still not a fair fight. That’s because most insurance adjusters have “cheat sheets” drafted by lawyers for the most popular types of claims and injuries. Thus, adjusters can work off these forms to help fight back against your claims. However, as if that was not enough, many insurance claims departments also have a staff attorney who helps review cases, answer adjuster questions, and even provide a roadmap to help minimize, undermine, or deny a valid claim. Therefore, even though you may believe that you are negotiating with a non-lawyer, there may be a lawyer helping an adjuster create arguments against you. That’s just unfair unless you have your work personal injury lawyer in Springfield.

You’re Often Hurt, Really Hurt, and Adjusters Know That

Sometimes insurance claims can be a war of attrition. Adjusters know that you are hurt and that you may have increasing medical bills and lost wages. This can create a financial strain on a victim and his or her family. Adjusters also know that some injuries are painful and can make it more difficult to work or handle a claim. 

As a result, some adjusters may slow the process down intentionally until you are desperate enough to take a low offer – even if it is an unfair offer. Other times an insurance adjuster may try to overwhelm a victim with paperwork, forms, letters arguing the law or facts, and use other tricks to get a victim to give up because they know it is hard to do while recovering from an injury. These are simply unfair tricks that can work if a victim does not call an experienced personal injury lawyer such as one of those at the Noll Law Office.

How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer in Springfield, IL Cost?

Although the cost of hiring a lawyer may seem daunting, especially when you have high and unexpected medical bills, lost wages, and you’re out of work, that is not always the case. Even though some bodily injury law firms will charge you for “expert reviews” or may even start billing you upfront, the compassionate and experienced personal injury lawyers in Springfield, Illinois at the Noll Law Office understand that you have suffered physical, emotional, and financial damages as a result of a defendant’s negligence. 

That’s why the Noll Law Office offers victims and their families:

  • FREE case evaluations and consultations, with no obligation to sign up 
  • No upfront cost to hire them
  • You will meet the lawyer handling your case at your initial consultation
  • They pay the expert fees, costs, disbursements, and other expenses of your case upfront, which is only reimbursed after they recover compensation for you
  • Their legal fees are only paid after you recover compensation in a settlement, verdict, arbitration award, or another type of recovery
  • They only take a percentage of your recovery, meaning that you will not pay them out of pocket for their services
  • There is a no-win, no-fee guarantee, and
  • There are no charges for calling to get an update about your case or to speak with the lawyer who is actually handling your case.

Can I Recover Compensation for my Accident Injury if I was Partially At Fault?

Yes, victims of a personal injury accident may be entitled to recover compensation for their damages if they were less than 50% at fault. This is because Illinois has adopted a “modified comparative fault” scheme, meaning that a victim can still recover compensation against a defendant or defendants as long as the victim was not more at fault for the accident. A victim’s comparable fault may be used to proportionally reduce his or her share for an award.

For example, if a victim was 25% at fault and recovered $100,000 from a jury, a victim will be entitled to recover $75,000. Whereas if a victim was 75% at fault, the victim would not be entitled to recover any compensation.

As you can see, a defense lawyer or insurance adjuster will try to argue that your comparative fault is high but your damages are low in order to reduce what a defendant will owe. Thus, it is imperative to retain an experienced personal injury lawyer in Springfield who will fight back to not allow an overreaching defense lawyer or adjuster to minimize your recovery – or entirely prevent it.

Finding a Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me: How the Noll Law Office Can Help You and Your Family in Springfield, Illinois

Attorneys at the Noll Law Office will provide exceptional representation for your personal injury claim. They are highly successful negotiators and litigators who use their skills to benefit you and your family. As fifth-generation Springfield attorneys, they are deeply entrenched in their community. They consider Springfield and the Central Illinois community as their neighbors and friends. As such, you will speak directly to experienced and local personal injury attorneys throughout the process. Contact the Noll Law Office today for a free initial consultation. 

Personal Injury Case Illustration in Illinois

Personal injury law allows those injured through the negligence of another to file a civil lawsuit and receive damages for their losses. Sometimes an accident is just an accident. Other times, accidents are directly related to carelessness, recklessness, or negligence. The goal of a personal injury claim is to compensate the victim financially as a means of making them “whole.” Personal injury claims cover car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, dog bites, wrongful death, and defective products. Consider the following case illustration of nursing home abuse:

Following the death of his wife, William, a 78-year-old man with diabetes, is moved into a nursing home. Aside from his diabetes, William is in relatively good health, although he requires help getting in and out of bed. Jed, a male nurse, has been verbally reprimanded on more than one occasion for ignoring patient requests. Jed usually helps William out of bed and to the bathroom around 7 a.m. each morning. On this particular morning, it is almost 9 a.m. and William has called out for Jed several times. 

Jed ignores William’s pleas, even telling him to “shut up” at one point as he passes his room. William finally decides to try and get out of bed on his own to go to the bathroom. Although he is very careful, William loses his balance and falls getting outing of bed breaking his hip, wrist, suffering cuts and abrasions. William lies on the floor in pain for almost 45 minutes, as his cries are unheard or ignored. William is finally discovered and taken to the hospital. Because of his diabetes, his injuries do not heal well, leaving him with much more serious mobility issues. William’s mental health also declines rapidly as depression sets in. 

William’s children are shocked at how quickly his mental and physical health declines after the fall. They find out the particulars of William’s fall and decide to sue the nursing home.  Over the course of the investigation, it is discovered that no background check was done on Jed. In addition to verbal reprimands, Jed has several write-ups in his personnel file for neglecting patients’ needs. Moreover, the nursing home was understaffed. 

Once William’s attorney presents his case, the nursing home’s insurance company quickly agrees to a settlement to pay for William’s medical bills as well as pain and suffering. While the settlement doesn’t change what happened to William, it does allow his family to secure a private nurse to care for him in a family member’s home. It also prevents Jed from neglecting other residents. Following an injury due to negligence, personal injury lawyers from the Noll Law Office can help you in the same way.  

The lawyers at the Noll Law Office help people like William and his family every day. They are deeply committed to ensuring those injured through negligent or careless behaviors receive financial compensation. As a victim, you need someone in your corner—someone who cares about your medical and financial health. The Noll Law Office will seek justice and a better future on your behalf.