In almost all personal injury cases the first question that the claimant has for his or her Joliet injury lawyers is, “how much is the case worth?”
The truth is; the amount is settled by the jury. However, as the majority of those involved in cases of this nature much prefer to reach a fair out of court settlement, the question now becomes, “what is a fair settlement?”
Let’s first establish a few facts:
* There is no standard settlement. Years ago the rule of thumb was three times the cost of medical care but that is no longer followed.
* The is no requirement that states that demands for an offer to settle have to be acknowledged
* There are no two cases alike. Joliet injury lawyers take historic settlements into account but it is the specifics of the case that drive the settlement demand.
Comparative fault in Illinois:
If there is more than one party at fault, Illinois uses a modified comparative fault rule. The rule works like this:
Let’s assume for the moment that you are walking down an aisle in a Chicago grocery store and you are engrossed in reading messages on your cell phone. All of a sudden you slide in a wet spot in front of the frozen food section, you fall and you are injured. During settlement negotiations it may turn out that the store was 90 percent at fault because they didn’t clean up the mess, but you were ten percent to blame because you were not looking where you were going. Under Illinois law, your damage settlement will be reduced by the amount that was assigned to you, in the case, ten percent. Under the same rule, if you were found to be fifty percent responsible for your own injuries you will not receive any award.
Although the comparative fault rule applies to courts in Illinois, don’t be surprised if the lawyers for the defendant in your case don’t bring it up as well. Contact Shea Law Group for more details.
