Losing a limb is a devastating experience that can have lifelong physical, emotional, and financial consequences. Whether you’ve had an amputation because of a car accident, unsafe working conditions, or medical negligence, the road to recovery is very long. If your amputation happened due to someone else’s negligence, you have the right to demand compensation for your losses under Illinois personal injury laws.

At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we understand that there’s so much at stake during this stressful time. You may find yourself dealing with crippling medical debt, lost income, and significant disruptions to your quality of life. We’re passionate about advocating for amputation injury victims and helping them pursue fair compensation.

A Chicago Amputation Injury Law Firm You Can Trust

The team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys has spent more than ten years handling personal injury claims throughout the metropolitan Chicago area. We believe amputation injury victims deserve the resources to be as independent as possible.

The immediate costs of treating an amputation injury are substantial, but that’s only the beginning. After losing an arm, hand, leg, or foot, the rehabilitation process may require the ongoing expenses of physical therapy, assistive devices, modifications to your home or vehicle, and much more. Amputation injury victims will need an experienced Chicago amputation injury attorney with the skills to build a solid case for compensation and protect their legal rights.

We know how stressful it is to navigate the legal system, especially while recovering from health challenges. You can count on the team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys to provide skilled, compassionate services every step of the way. Please reach out to us for your free case evaluation.

Our Results

Though we cannot guarantee the outcome of your case, rest assured that we bring the depth of our experience to every claim we handle. Our successful record stretches back to our founding in 2009 and reflects our deep passion for pursuing justice.

Here are just a few of the awards we have recovered for our clients:

  • $1.5 million in a commercial vehicle accident case
  • $1.3 million in a wrongful death case
  • $710,000 in a premises liability case
  • $500,000 in a rideshare accident case

To see more, please visit our results page.

How Much Is My Amputation Injury Case Worth?

Amputations result in a permanent disability that significantly affects the victim’s ability to work and perform basic tasks. Along with the physical pain and the emotional trauma, injured patients will grapple with expensive hospital bills, lost income, and other substantial losses that come with a permanent disability. While money can never make you whole, getting fair compensation can make a big difference.

A skilled amputation injury attorney can help you get life back on track with the resources you need.

The types of damages you can recover in an amputation injury lawsuit may include:

Economic Damages

Suffering an amputation will cause a range of economic consequences. Victims will face a significant financial burden from the medical bills related to their injuries, including an emergency room visit and an extended hospital stay, but that’s only the beginning. Amputees are likely to be financially impacted in many other ways throughout their lifetime.

Your amputation injury claim can also pursue compensation for:

  • Projected costs for long-term treatments needed to heal properly, like physical therapy and pain management
  • The expenses of getting fitted for a prosthetic limb, if necessary. Prosthetics cost tens of thousands of dollars and they generally have to be replaced every two to five years.
  • The incidental expenses for modifying your home or vehicle to accommodate your disability
  • The lost wages when you missed work due to an amputation injury. At the very least, most victims will have an extended recovery period. In many cases, they won’t be able to return to their previous job at all because of this permanent disability
  • The lost earning potential for victims that will no longer be able to earn the same income or may even have to leave the workforce altogether

Non-Economic Damages

Illinois courts also recognize the considerable quality-of-life costs of losing a limb due to someone else’s negligence. Making major changes in your lifestyle, career, and home can present an uphill battle for anyone.

Non-economic damages are more subjective since they don’t have a firm price tag, but they’re still a significant part of your compensation claim.

These damages can include

  • pain and suffering, which will include “phantom pain” that many amputation injury victims suffer for months or years after the injury
  • disfigurement
  • loss of enjoyment from not being able to engage in the same activities
  • permanent impairment
  • emotional anguish from having a permanent disability and a fundamentally different lifestyle

Proving Negligence In An Amputation Injury

Losing a limb can happen because of numerous tragic situations, including severe physical trauma, infection, and illnesses. To pursue compensation, your Chicago amputation lawyer will identify the party or parties that injured you.

A successful amputation injury claim has to prove four elements to establish fault, which are:

  • The liable party owes you a duty of care, otherwise known as a legal responsibility to consider your safety. Drivers have a duty to fellow motorists, healthcare professionals have a duty to their patients, employers have a duty to their employees, and product manufacturers have a duty to their customers.
  • The liable party behaved in negligently, which means they did something reckless that violated this duty of care
  • The liable party’s negligence caused the victim’s amputation injury
  • The amputation caused by the victim’s economic and non-economic damages

Determining the right liable parties will depend on the circumstances of your case. Some of the most common causes of an amputation injury in Chicago will include:

Car, Motorcycle, and Bicycle Accidents

Limb amputations are often caused by the trauma of a serious car accident, especially when it’s a large car colliding with a more vulnerable motorist, like a cyclist. Amputations can happen at the point of impact but they may also become medically necessary due to complications from the accident. Either way, the at-fault driver that caused the accident would be liable.

Medical Malpractice

There’s a host of ways that doctors, surgeons, and other health care providers can cause an otherwise preventable amputation, such as:

  • misdiagnosis of a vascular condition like peripheral artery disease, allowing it to advance and become critical
  • poor post-operative care that leads to a serious infection, like gangrene
  • Not properly treating bedsores or pressure ulcers
  • Failure to adequately monitor a chronic disease like diabetes

Regardless of the cause, losing a limb is an incredibly high price for negligence, which makes doctors and their facilities liable for the damages of amputation injury victims.

The Timeline for Filing an Amputation Injury Lawsuit in Chicago

Amputation injury victims with a legal case rarely know how the process unfolds and what deadlines they must meet. The most important thing to know is that Illinois has a Statute of Limitations of two years for filing a personal injury lawsuit. That means you won’t be able to sue after the cut-off date and would have essentially forfeited your legal rights to pursue compensation.

Filing an amputation injury lawsuit has several phases, including:

  1. Find the right lawyer to take on your case: Amputations are a catastrophic injury, so the stakes are high for both sides and the litigation process presents major challenges. You’ll need a skilled attorney with plenty of experience.
  2. Give notice to the defendant: Your attorney will let the at-fault party know you’re taking legal action, request all the records related to your claim, and begin evaluating the claim.
  3. Begin the discovery period and start negotiations: At this stage, both sides request and exchange documents and other evidence. The insurance company for the at-fault party is also likely to have made a settlement offer, which would be the beginning of a negotiation process.
  4. File the lawsuit: If the settlement negotiations don’t advance, your attorney may begin proceeding toward a court trial. Negotiations with the insurer can continue after you file the lawsuit.

Along with the fact that there’s a Statute of Limitations of just two years, building a solid amputation injury case does take time. If you’ve suffered a catastrophic amputation injury because of someone else’s negligence, it’s best to reach out to a skilled Chicago personal injury lawyer sooner rather than later.

Frequently Asked Questions About Filing an Amputation Claim In Chicago

How Much Will It Cost to Hire an Amputation Lawyer in Chicago?

At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we offer clients a free consultation to review the case. There are also no upfront costs once we decide to represent you. That means the firm only gets paid if we can recover compensation for your damages. Our fee compares to what other Chicago law firms will charge. What’s not comparable is the effort and personal attention that clients experience from the Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys team.

Do most amputation injury claims make it to trial?

There’s always a possibility of going to court to pursue compensation. However, that’s not likely. The most common scenario for an amputation injury claim is that patients will accept a settlement from the insurance company before the trial stage. Getting to a fair settlement offer will usually include an extended negotiation process that requires just as much preparation as having to present the case to a judge or jury.

Settlements are the most likely outcome because both sides will be trying to avoid the expenses and risks of reaching a court trial.

However, sometimes the insurance company doesn’t offer enough compensation to cover the amputation injury victim’s damages, and that’s when a trial makes more sense. Other factors that can influence whether or not you get a fair settlement would be the strength of your evidence that the at-fault party should be liable and the negotiation skills of your Chicago amputation attorney.

Hiring an Amputation Injury Lawyer In Chicago

If you or a family member is struggling with the physical and financial consequences of losing a limb, the team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys can make all the difference in your claim for compensation.

We have a proven track record for helping amputation injury victims secure the resources they need for quality medical care and living a full life.

Call our Chicago offices now at (312) 726-1616 or contact us online for your free consultation. If we choose to work with each other, we will tirelessly investigate the case, explore all possible options for maximizing your claim, and hold the negligent parties accountable for your injuries.