Personal Injury Frequently Asked Questions

Phillips Personal Injury Attorneys, in downtown Chicago, Illinois, has helped injured individuals and their families for over 75 years. If you have been injured in an accident (vehicle collision, at work, in a hospital, or by a defective product), or been the victim of negligent or wrongful actions by a healthcare provider, we know you have a lot of questions, and we are here to help.

Contacting our personal injury attorneys at Phillips Law Offices for a free consultation is always a great idea. However, we know from experience that the answers to the questions below can be helpful in getting started on holding those responsible for your injuries accountable.

From offices in Chicago, the attorneys of Phillips Law Offices offer the highest quality legal services to the injured and their families throughout Illinois. Call 312-346-4262, or contact us online today for a free consultation with one of our attorneys about your case.

Legally, the term “personal injury” is a very broad one. It relates to any type of accident or occurrence that results in a bodily injury. The types of personal injuries Phillips Law Offices has litigated include such things as:

Pain and suffering includes harm caused by physical injury and mental suffering experienced through avoiding activities you engaged in prior to your accident.

Remember, insurance companies usually put profits before people. No matter how nice an insurance agent may seem, their job is to see you get as little as possible in compensation. This is why they are not likely to explain all of your legal rights, identify all potential areas for which you might be entitled to damages, or value correctly how much you deserve.

Only a good lawyer can fully protect your interests and be a powerful advocate in negotiations or at trial. It is in your best interests to only provide your contact information to an insurance company until you consult with a lawyer. In fact, the more significant your injuries, the more imperative it becomes to seek legal counsel before providing any statement or information to the insurance company.

Every case addresses three issues:

An experienced personal injury lawyer reviews and interprets your case information to determine the appropriate value for your claim:

The goal is fair and adequate compensation for your injury and an experienced attorney will know what a reasonable jury would award. The strength of lay and expert witness testimony will likely influence the amount.

No reputable law firm can, should or will make a guarantee. What we tell clients is that we will not take your case unless we think it has a good chance to succeed. We also tell them that we love to win and our record speaks to our talent at obtaining results for those we represent.

Our goal is to keep you informed about your options and what to expect. We treat every client with compassion, and respect, and will give you a fair assessment of your case—time it will take and types of damages you could receive—based on our years of experience with injuries similar to yours that have settled or had jury verdicts.

About 95 percent of personal injury cases filed are settled before trial. That said, we are trial lawyers.

Know that while most cases settle before trial, this usually happens after both sides have prepared their cases. And, while there is no way of predicting how long your case may take because every case is unique, lawsuits generally last about two to four years from filing to trial.

What all this means is that while the rewards can be significant, and you should allow us to constantly fight to get you what you deserve, you will need to be patient. We would like you to focus on getting healthy, while we focus on getting you the justice, peace of mind and compensation you deserve.

We charge on a contingency fee basis. This means you will not pay us anything unless there is a settlement or a winning verdict at trial. Our fee when we win your case is usually one-third (33.3%) of the total recovery plus “case costs” which we will clearly explain when we meet to discuss your potential case.