Illinois Personal Injury Cases & Accident Info

Illinois statutes online

This is where you’ll find Illinois' laws. The website has details about how long you have to bring a case, damage caps on personal injury cases, and other important information that you will need.

Illinois Revised Statutes

To read:

• Do I have a legal case after my accident?
• What is personal injury law?
• What are damage caps?

---

Illinois' car accident statutes of limitation

In Illinois, you have two years to bring a personal injury claim and five years to bring a property damage claim. That doesn't mean the whole lawsuit has to be completed in that time period; it just needs to be filed with the court before that time is up.

Illinois' Statute of Limitations

To read:

• What is the statute of limitations?
• The claims process and how long a personal injury lawsuit takes

---

Hiring the right Illinois lawyer

Your first meeting with a personal injury attorney should be free of charge. (Note that other legal specialties, such as intellectual property law or tax law, are different.) After that, lawyers work on a contingency fee, which means that they will receive a third of the eventual settlement or reward, plus office expenses.

If your case ends up going to trial, the percentage could rise to 40% of the eventual reward or judgment. These numbers aren't set by law, so don't be surprised if your lawyer suggests something else.

Find a lawyer in Illinois

Want to hire a lawyer and need some help? Check out some of our best articles:

• Choosing a personal injury attorney – interview questions
• Why might a personal injury lawyer deny my case?
• Preparing to meet with a personal injury attorney
• Negotiating lawyers fees - how do accident lawyers charge? Are there any hidden costs?
• When do you NOT need an attorney after an accident?
• Jurisdiction: Accidents that involve multiple states

---

Cases of interest in Illinois

These are some cases of legal significance that came out of Illinois:

• Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1872): Myra Bradwell applied to the bar so that she could practice law in the state of Illinois. She argued that under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the 14^th Amendment, she had the right to do so, even though she was a woman; under a separate state law, as long as she had a good and moral character, she fulfilled the necessary requirements. "Not so!" said the Supreme Court, 8-1 (the lone dissenter was out for health reasons). They denied her, saying that was a very narrow interpretation and that the Privileges and Immunities Clause did not include the right to practice a profession. This ruling remained for almost 100 years.


• Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 113 (1876): Here, the Supreme Court upheld the power of the government to regulate private industries. In 1871, the Illinois Legislature responded to increasing rumblings from the National Grange, a farmers' association, by setting maximum rates for what they could charge for products. A Chicago company, Munn and Scott, was found guilty of violating this law, but appealed their conviction because they said it was the deprivation of property without due process. The Supreme Court said the state power extends to regulating private industry, and even though Congress alone has power over interstate commerce, states can regulate these industries without infringing upon that power.


• Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497 (1987): An adult bookstore employee sold some magazines to an undercover cop. He was charged under an Illinois obscenity law. The proper test for determining obscenity can be found in Miller v. California, which asks, 1) Would the average person think that the work, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest? 2) Does the work describe, in a patently offensive way, overt sexual conduct in a way defined by state law? 3) Does the work, taken as a whole, lack serious artistic, political, scientific or literary value? This case was significant because it established the Miller test on an objective, nationwide level.

---

Data and statistics

Here is some intriguing data about Illinois:

• Illinois Department of Public Health: Statistics
• Illinois Department of Public Health: Vital Statistics
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Illinois
• Trust for America's Health: Key Health Data about Illinois

---

Illinois law libraries

There are lots of issues you can solve without the help of an attorney. If you don't know where to start, a law librarian can help you. They are usually legally trained, and they can help you both with texts or online research engines like Westlaw or LexisNexis.

• Illinois College of Law: Albert E. Jenner, Jr., Law Library
• Illinois Supreme Court Library: Law Library
• Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern: Pritzker Legal Research Center
• Cook County Government Law Library: Branches
• DuPage County Law Library: Law Library
• 19^th Judicial Circuit: William D. Block Memorial Law Library
• SIU School of Law: Law Library
• Peoria County Government: Law Library
• John Marshall Law School: Louis L. Biro Law Library
• Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals: Law Library
• Loyola University School of Law: Library
• Kane County Government: Law Library
• University of Chicago: D'Angelo Law Library
• Northern Illinois University School of Law: David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library
• DePaul University Law: Rinn Law Library

---

Wait! Before you go...