CHILD INJURY LAWYER IN CHICAGO, IL
PRACTICE AREAS
Chicago Child Injury Lawyer
Parents and legal guardians will do anything to shield children from pain, harm, or serious injuries. Although some accidents are inevitable, many serious injuries are easily preventable with adequate supervision. If your child sustained injuries due to the negligence of a school/daycare teacher, a negligent driver, or a faulty toy, a Chicago child injury lawyer can help.
Those with potential Chicago child injury cases can benefit from speaking with a personal injury attorney during a free consultation sooner rather than later. A Chicago child injury attorney at Curcio Law Offices will seek your best interest, fight to recover compensation, help with insurance settlements, and much more.
Common Causes of Child Injuries That Result in Personal Injury Claims
- Car accidents
- Toys/play equipment
- Severe burns
- Dog bites
- Swimming pools
- Cleaning products
- Dangerous drugs
- Sexual abuse
Common Locations and Causes of Serious Injuries Sustained by Children
Children can suffer injuries from negligent supervision, a car accident, a school injury, or even a daycare injury.
Chicago Daycare Injuries
If your child happens to come home with an injury from daycare, you should immediately seek medical attention in order for a medical professional to care for the wounds and document the incident. Once the child’s injuries have been addressed and documented, you should then contact the daycare center to determine who is responsible for your injured child.
When a child is injured under negligent supervision, documentation is critical, especially if you plan to file a child injury lawsuit. A Chicago child injury attorney at Curcio Law Offices can fight for justice for your injured child and seek compensation for medical expenses.
What if the Child Suffered Injuries at School?
Children can suffer injuries at school from the following situations:
- Gym class
- Premises liability issues such as broken handrails, uneven sidewalks, slippery floors, broken playground equipment, etc.
- School bus accidents
- Fights
- Sexual abusive teachers or students
- Mold or toxin exposure
- Negligent supervision
- Playground accidents
- And so much more
Regardless of how your child was injured, a teacher or supervisor could be held liable as the negligent party.
Car Accidents
If you’ve endured a car accident and your child was injured as a result, hearing all your options from a Chicago child injury attorney could benefit you in more ways than one. Car accidents, for a child, can mean much more than broken bones; some children endure permanent disabilities and PTSD. If a drunk driver or a distracted driver is the one responsible for these physical and mental injuries, then you could recover full compensation through a car accident lawsuit.
Negligent Supervision
Parents work tirelessly to ensure that their children are safe. This includes researching facilities, babysitters, and various other caretakers to help with the child while one or both parents work to provide for the family. It’s part of being a good parent.
While there aren’t many definitive answers on what makes a good parent, the state of Illinois has outlined when a parent can hold a negligent supervisor responsible for his or her actions.
Negligent supervision can be brought against a parent, caretaker or guardian in one of two instances:
- When a child is injured due to improper care from the parent or caregiver, or
- When a child intentionally harms another child without the parent or caregiver intervening.
Claims of negligent supervision can be held against any person or entity who was responsible for the injured child at the time of the accident. This includes babysitters, schools, and daycare teachers. Any individual who is failing to provide a certain level of care to prevent (or at least attempt to prevent) child injuries from occurring is demonstrating negligent supervision.
Children without adequate supervision are injured nearly three times as often as those with proper supervision according to a 2014 study.
Defective Toys
Toys are supposed to provide joy and entertainment for a child. Unfortunately, defective toys do exist, and they can cause significant injury and even death to children.
Whether by faulty design or malfunction, when a child suffers from a defective toy, our Chicago product liability lawyers will fight for full compensation for the damages your child endured.
Potential Damages in Child Injury Lawsuits
The potential damages in child injury lawsuits can vary depending on multiple factors such as the severity of the injuries, the severity of the accident, the number of negligent parties involved, etc. Parents and their children can generally recover two types of damages: economic and non-economic damages. An experienced child injury attorney can help you determine which type of damages you qualify for in your personal injury claim.
Economic Damages
Economic damages in a child injury case generally involve medical expenses, physical therapy expenses, the parents’ lost wages, counseling expenses, and so much more.
If you have questions pertaining to what economic damages your child’s injury warrants, call to speak with our child injury lawyers at Curcio Law Offices. We’ll fight for your child and your family to recover maximum compensation.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages often refer to losses that can’t be measured monetarily. A few examples of non-economic damages include a child’s emotional distress, pain and suffering, and diminished quality of life.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages serve as a punishment for the negligent party. Additionally, punitive damages can discourage future cruelty and negligence. So the person or entity who caused serious injury to the child is supposed to pay a certain amount to that child and their parents. A child injury lawyer at Curcio Law Offices can help you calculate an appropriate amount of punitive damages depending on the specifics of your case.
However, in order to secure punitive damages, a child injury attorney must first provide compelling evidence that the defendant’s actions do not meet the reasonable person standard.
Chicago Child Injury Claim FAQ
Parents and guardians in Illinois can file a lawsuit within two years of the date that child injuries occur. There are exceptions to this rule. For example, let’s say the parents of an injured child don’t file a lawsuit against the responsible party during this two year window. The child – who suffered major PTSD and physical disabilities from their accident – can later choose to file a lawsuit up to two years after their 18th birthday. Be sure to discuss statute of limitations exceptions with your Chicago child injury lawyers.
In the state of Illinois, individuals at fault in a child injury accident can be any business, organization, driver, babysitter, teacher, etc. Basically, the negligence of any person or entity that caused child injuries can be held liable.
Common at-fault parties can include:
- Health care professionals - in medical malpractice cases.
- Negligent drivers - for car accidents involving texting and driving, drinking and driving, etc.
- Daycare centers - failure to provide adequate supervision.
- Property owners - falls, slip-and-fall accidents from property that isn't up to code, has bad lighting, fails to secure dangerous areas, etc.
- Pet owners - for dog bites.
- Toy manufacturers - for harm caused by a faulty toy.
- Gym owners - for sports-related child injuries due to insufficient supervision, dangerous facilities or equipment.
- Playground equipment manufacturers - for playground injuries.
You should wait before accepting any insurance settlements for your child's injury. First, speak with an experienced child injury attorney to determine if the settlement is fair. In many cases, insurance companies do not care about child injuries. Instead, they just want to offer you the lowest amount of money possible to get you to move on. Because of this, many devastated parents are low-balled by insurance companies without even realizing it. A Chicago child injury lawyer at Curcio Law Offices can handle all insurance negotiations to make sure that you receive an appropriate settlement.
Generally, child injury cases vary in length. For child injury claims involving medical malpractice, traumatic brain injuries, playground injuries, motor vehicle accidents, or wrongful death, families can expect to receive compensation within 6 months to a year.
Compensation timelines for Chicago child injury cases can vary due to the time allocated for maximum medical improvement, as well as insurance companies failing to compensate fairly for the injury a child sustains.
Yes! Almost always, a parent would be willing to walk through fire if it meant protecting their child from harm or danger. With this same motivation and mentality, our lawyers will fight for your family to recover maximum compensation for the damage, and in many cases, innocence stolen from your child.
Curcio Law Offices will not only advocate for your child to seek justice for their injuries but also will help in several other areas while your family works to heal from the crisis. We’ll negotiate with insurance companies to recover a timely and appropriate settlement for the injury. Additionally, our lawyers will gather compelling evidence such as medical records, photos/video surveillance, and police reports to piece together with the timeline of when, where, and how the child suffered serious injuries.
