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Here are a collection of resources and FAQs that provide valuable insights and additional assistance. Please do not hestitate to reach out to us or contact us with any questions.

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A Each case depends on its own facts. Anyone who hears a little bit about your case and tells you what it’s worth doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The value of each case depends on many things – liability (whose fault was it), the severity of the injury, the amount of monetary damages (medical bills, lost wages, etc), the permanency of the injury, and many other things. With personal injury and medical malpractice cases, it can be difficult to predict what a jury would do. When we accept a case, we will let you know once the case is ready for potential settlement what we think a reasonable verdict range is, and then we will help you decide whether to settle the case or take it to trial.
A Each case is different. Some cases come into our office and are resolved in a few weeks – some take several years. Again, this depends on the nature of the case and severity of the injuries. In many cases we want to wait until you heal up before we try to get the case resolved. In other cases, that simply isn’t possible. We pursue all of our cases diligently – we want to get them done for you quickly and efficiently – but we don’t sacrifice quality to get them done fast.
A In most cases, we don’t charge money up front. We typically work on a contingent fee – meaning that we get a percentage of whatever we get you. When we do that, we don’t charge you if we lose the case. We also don’t make you pay for case costs along the way. If we win or settle, those costs come out of your settlement. If we lose, you don’t owe us anything for costs. In some cases, we charge an hourly rate – usually because the case hopefully won’t take a lot of time and it would be unfair for us to charge a percentage of a relatively easily recovery. Either way, we discuss all fee issues with you up front before you sign up with us.
A We will talk to you about your case on the phone to see if we can help you. We won’t give you legal advice or tell you what to do when you first call us because we frankly won’t know enough about the case to give you the type of advice you deserve. If you come in to meet with us, you don’t owe us anything for the initial visit.
A In any serious case, it’s usually a good idea to have an attorney. Of course, we turn down cases nearly every day where we can’t help the person. Why do we do that? Because if we took those cases, the client wouldn’t be happy and we wouldn’t be happy (and frankly probably wouldn’t make any money). Call us, and we will do our best to tell you if you need an attorney. As for why you should pick us? We believe our bios and our success record speak for themselves.
A No. While there are some great lawyers in Chicago, there are great lawyers right here in the Quad Cities. Look at our resumes and speak with us before you call someone from out of the area. We think you’ll find that we have the experience, skills, and personal touch you are looking for.
A State and federal nursing home laws require nursing homes to do everything possible to prevent bed sores or pressure ulcers, and to do everything they can to treat sores that existed before the resident came into the nursing home. Often this is neglected, and nursing home staff miss or ignore pressure ulcers, causing them to become more serious, deeper, infected, and often needing painful debridements and/or skin grafts.
A That depends. State and federal laws require nursing homes to keep their environment as free of accident hazards as possible and to provide each resident adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents. Nursing homes must also assess each resident’s fall risk and create a care plan to minimize that resident’s fall risk. While no nursing home is ever 100% fall-free, there are devices available to prevent falls (such as lap buddies and wheelchair locks), to warn of falls that are about to happen (such as bed alarms and wheelchair alarms).
A Nursing homes often have to pass multiple medications to residents who are unable to understand or remember what medication to take and when. Sometimes they get it wrong, causing serious consequences. If they do, call us to see if you may have a case.
A Consider talking to the supervisors or Director of Nursing at the facility. In Illinois, you should also contact the Department of Public Health at 800-252-4343. In Iowa, you can call the Iowa Long Term Care Ombudsman at 866-236-1430. They may investigate your claim, but they won’t provide any sort of compensation to the loved one who has been injured. For questions about that, give us a call.
A Usually it is a good idea to report any suspected illegal activity to the police.
A Depending on the circumstances, you certainly might. Illinois law, for example, recognizes an action for “intrusion upon seclusion” that covers a variety of things from eavesdropping to wiretapping. The key is whether the intrusion into your privacy would be “highly offensive to a reasonable person.” If you think you might have a case, call us.
A Typically a personal injury is a physical or mental injury to a person. It can also include things like injuries to reputation, or emotional distress.
A We have handled all sorts of personal injury cases. Auto accidents are very common. We handle medical malpractice and nursing home malpractice. Sometimes we handle cases where people slip or trip, like where there is a dangerous sidewalk, an unknown hole in the ground, or a dangerous accumulation of ice and snow. We have handled cases where people were hurt by dangerous or defective products. Some of our cases don’t really fit into any of those categories, so if you want to know if we can handle yours, give us a call.
A If you name it, we have probably seen it and helped someone else out who had a similar injury. We handle everything from sprains/strains to death. Broken bones, muscle injuries, ligament injuries, torn rotator cuffs, amputations, burns, eye injuries, spine injuries, bulging or herniated discs, traumatic brain injuries, hearing loss, scars, just about anything you can think of.
A These are injuries that are more serious than a little soreness. They may involve brain or spine injuries, severe burns, amputations, paralysis, significant scarring, and/or constant pain. They impact your ability to hold a job or go to school. They have a serious impact on your loved ones who often have to help you. When those injuries happen because of someone else’s negligence, you need an attorney who has successfully handled those cases before and knows how to deal with all of the issues that may come up.
A I’m going to need medical care for the rest of my life. What can you do to help?
A In the old days, some nursing homes use to do this as a matter of course. Unfortunately, some still give their residents medication to keep them sleepy or “easier” to deal with. Federal law is designed to prevent this. If you think this has happened, contact the state Department of Health and Human Services and then give us a call.
A First, take a tour of the facility. Look around. Try to get a handle on how many staff members are there and how the residents are treated. Look at the physical layout of the facility. Medicare has an interesting website at https://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.html that provides some fascinating information for each nursing home, and compares that to the national and state averages. You can also search for specific violations in certain nursing homes in Iowa here https://dia-hfd.iowa.gov/DIA_HFD/Process.do and in Illinois here https://ltc.dph.illinois.gov/webapp/LTCApp/ltc.jsp.
A State and federal nursing home laws require nursing homes to do everything possible to prevent bed sores or pressure ulcers, and to do everything they can to treat sores that existed before the resident came into the nursing home. Often this is neglected, and nursing home staff miss or ignore pressure ulcers, causing them to become more serious, deeper, infected, and often needing painful debridements and/or skin grafts.
A That depends. State and federal laws require nursing homes to keep their environment as free of accident hazards as possible and to provide each resident adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents. Nursing homes must also assess each resident’s fall risk and create a care plan to minimize that resident’s fall risk. While no nursing home is ever 100% fall-free, there are devices available to prevent falls (such as lap buddies and wheelchair locks), to warn of falls that are about to happen (such as bed alarms and wheelchair alarms).
A Nursing homes often have to pass multiple medications to residents who are unable to understand or remember what medication to take and when. Sometimes they get it wrong, causing serious consequences. If they do, call us to see if you may have a case.
A Consider talking to the supervisors or Director of Nursing at the facility. In Illinois, you should also contact the Department of Public Health at 800-252-4343. In Iowa, you can call the Iowa Long Term Care Ombudsman at 866-236-1430. They may investigate your claim, but they won’t provide any sort of compensation to the loved one who has been injured. For questions about that, give us a call.
A Yes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations provide a great deal of laws about commercial drivers – everything from how they do their pre-trip inspections to how many hours they can drive in a day or a week. A lawyer must be familiar with these regulations, as they make many trucking cases different than ordinary automobile collision cases.
A In 2012, there were approximately 77,000 semi truck crashes causing injury. Statistics aren’t clear how many people were injured in those crashes, or how often the tractor/trailer drivers were at fault. Unfortunately, because of the size and weight of these trucks, the crashes are often very severe – over 44,000 people died in semi-truck crashes in the USA between 2003 and 2012.
A A wrongful death case is typically brought by the Estate of the deceased person. In Illinois, there is also a provision for a Special Administrator in some cases. If an Estate hasn’t been opened yet, we can help you do that.
A Depending on the state, wrongful death proceeds are distributed among the next of kin based on the proportion of the loss of monetary benefits, services, society & companionship, and grief and suffering of that loved one.
A In Illinois a Survival Act case provides damages for the injuries a person suffered after a negligent act, but before their death. For example, if someone was hit by a car but didn’t die right away, a Survival Act case could compensate the Estate for the pain and suffering that person experienced after the crash but before they died.
A Not necessarily. The law in this area is very difficult, and it takes the right facts to make any sort of case against a school. A typical fall on the playground or something isn’t probably going to lead to a case – kids will be kids. If you think your child’s injury could/should have been prevented, it can’t hurt to call us.
A Sports lead to injuries. Most injuries are unfortunate, but simply a result of the sport itself. However, if a coach does something he/she knows was unsafe, there could be a case.
A Sports concussions are a special area of interest for one of our partners, Mike Warner. While both attorneys here are avid football fans (Go Bears/Hawkeyes!) we are disturbed by the new research concerning concussions and CTE.
A Yes. For one, special care must be taken when a child is significantly injured. Attorneys will typically consult with medical experts to see if the injury will cause any permanent consequences for the child. If so, we must make sure that the child’s future medical needs are taken care of when possible, and we have to consider what the child’s working life will be someday. There are also extra protections in the law for children, so that the court must often approve case settlements and may have a role in determining how the child’s settlement proceeds can be invested.
A If this just happened, call 911 and seek medical attention. After that’s done, let your insurance company know, even if you weren’t at fault. If you were hurt, follow your doctor’s advice, and then give us a call.
A If you were riding in a car with a drunk driver who crashed and hurt you, you may still be able to recover from that driver (and/or possibly any bars/restaurants where he/she had been drinking). Insurance companies may want to short change you and claim that you were at fault for getting into the car with an intoxicated person. We have been successful for other passengers in that situation. Give us a call.
A Chances are, there are criminal or traffic proceedings involving the drunk driver. Since you were involved in some aspect, you may need to testify in court. Do not ignore this paperwork.
A Sellers of alcohol are responsible for drunk drivers if they sold or served that person alcohol and were at least one cause of that person’s intoxication, and if the intoxication was the cause of the crash. State laws are all a little different – some will also hold businesses like grocery stores or convenience stores responsible. It’s important to note that these cases have some of the shorter statutes of limitations of any type of case – so if you think you might have a case or want to know more, call a lawyer immediately.
A After you pass away, your loved ones will be grieving and will have a lot to deal with. A well-written will makes sure that they don’t have to fight over your assets and makes sure your wishes are known.
A The problem with wills is that you don’t know whether they’re done right until after it’s too late to change them. Getting a will from a form you found online is a little like diagnosing or treating your illnesses from something you read on WebMD – it might all work out, or it might not. Either way, a professional can identify possible issues and draft documents correctly to make sure that your final wishes are handled exactly the way you want.
A Tell your employer immediately. If they blow you off, give them something in writing (and keep a copy of it). Seek medical attention. Your employer may want to send you to the doctor they choose. They may also want to do a drug test.
A The neat thing about workers comp is that fault doesn’t matter in most cases. Even if you did something stupid, you may still be entitled to compensation. There are exceptions to this – but give us a call and we’ll let you know if you qualify.
A If you get hurt at work and a doctor takes you off of work, you are entitled to Temporary Total Disability benefits. In Illinois, that is 2/3 of your average weekly wage. Most employers pay this voluntarily, but some don’t, and even some of the ones that do don’t calculate it right and cost you money.
A The employer is responsible for paying your reasonable and necessary medical bills. Many times they do exactly that, but sometimes they will deny you medical treatment. In those cases, it can be very helpful to have a good workers compensation lawyer.
A Sometimes they do, but often they don’t. Employers often don’t pay anything for workers compensation cases before a lawyer gets involved, and the ones that do don’t always make a fair offer. Employers (and their insurance companies) have been known to deny medical treatment.
A We have represented people in that unfortunate situation before. Workers compensation laws vary by state, but do provide for future benefits for employees who are unable to return to work.
A State law makes it illegal for employers to retaliate against an employee for exercising his or her workers compensation rights. In our experience, this doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. If it does, you may be able to sue for damages.
A Right away, call 911. If you think you may need medical attention, go to the Emergency Room. If you feel good enough and you can do so safely, take pictures of the scene and the vehicles involved. After you leave the ER, contact your insurance company, even if you weren’t at fault.
A Obviously there is a lot to consider. One tactic insurance companies tend to use is to offer a small amount of money to settle a case just a few days after an accident has happened. Sometimes people are still in pain and don’t really know how long it will take them to get better, how much work they will miss, etc. If you are offered a settlement, it’s probably a good idea to talk to a lawyer.
A Medical malpractice is when a medical professional doesn’t follow the “standard of care” for their profession, and hurts someone as a result. If a professional doesn’t do what a reasonable professional would in the same circumstances, there might be a case. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the doctor or nurse or whoever has to get everything right. Sometimes procedures don’t always go well, even though the professionals took all proper precautions. If that happens, there isn’t a case. Either way, it typically takes a thorough review of the medical records by a licensed physician before we know for sure.
A Everyone should be held accountable for their mistakes. We love people in the health care profession – one of our partners is even married to a nurse – but when they mess up, the results are often very tragic. We’ve seen wrong site operations, botched surgeries, wrong medications, missed diagnoses and many other medical errors kill people and change people’s lives forever. Doctors should not be given a free pass to hurt and kill people. What we do helps make medical care better for everyone.

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