Illinois Personal Injury Attorney

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When someone else’s carelessness leaves you injured, life rarely slows down long enough to figure everything out. The medical bills keep coming. Your employer wants to know when you’ll be back. The insurance company has questions.

You don’t need all the answers before talking to an Illinois personal injury lawyer. The first conversation is about what happened, whether someone else may be responsible, and what options are available.

If you’re looking for answers, Robert J. Rooth is here to help.

Choosing the Right Attorney for Your Personal Injury Case

Since 1984, we have represented injured clients across Illinois with straightforward guidance, personal attention, and clear answers to their questions.

When you work with The Rooth Law Firm, you can expect:

• Direct access to Robert. Your case won’t be handed off to a rotating group of attorneys. You’ll work directly with the lawyer you’ve chosen to represent you.
• More than 40 years of experience. Robert has represented thousands of clients and handled virtually every type of personal injury case, from complex nursing home abuse and neglect claims to motor vehicle accidents.
• Preparation from day one. Whether a case settles or goes to trial, Robert approaches every case with the expectation that it may one day be presented to a jury. So, if that’s ever the case, we’ll be ready.
• Clear communication. You’ll have a lawyer who will answer your questions, explain your options in plain language, and help you make informed decisions throughout your case.

Every client deserves to be heard and treated with respect. That’s what we believe, and that’s the approach we’ve taken for more than four decades.

What Injury Cases Does The Rooth Law Firm Represent?

Personal injury attorney Robert J. Rooth represents injured Illinoisans in cases involving:

• Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect: Protecting vulnerable nursing home residents is the primary focus of our practice. We represent nursing home residents and their families in cases involving falls, pressure injuries (bedsores), malnutrition, dehydration, medication errors, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and other forms of abuse and neglect that bring harm to residents.
• Car Accidents: From collisions on I-94 to crashes on neighborhood streets throughout the greater Chicago area, we help people who have been injured because another driver was distracted, impaired, speeding, or otherwise negligent.
• Truck Accidents: Collisions involving commercial trucks often raise questions that don’t exist in a typical car accident case. In addition to the driver’s actions, these cases may involve trucking companies, maintenance records, cargo loading, or violations of federal safety regulations.
• Slip and Fall Accidents: Property owners are responsible for addressing dangerous conditions or warning visitors about them. When they fail to do so, serious injuries can happen in businesses, apartment buildings, parking lots, and other properties throughout Illinois.
• Medical Negligence: Healthcare providers must meet accepted standards of care. When preventable mistakes cause serious harm, we help clients understand whether those failures may support a medical negligence claim.
• Dog Bites: Illinois law provides important protections for people injured by dog attacks. We represent clients who have suffered physical injuries, scarring, and other lasting effects after being bitten.
• Wrongful Death: When negligence results in the loss of a loved one, families are often left searching for answers as well as accountability. We help surviving family members understand their legal options while handling these sensitive cases with the care they deserve.

Each of these cases presents its own challenges, but they all deserve the same careful preparation and attention. Attorney Robert J. Rooth is here to make sure you get it.

When Does an Injury Become a Personal Injury Case in Illinois?

Not every injury warrants a personal injury claim. Accidents happen every day that no one could have prevented.

A personal injury claim is different. It’s based on the idea that someone else’s negligence caused the injury. In Illinois, a person who is injured because another individual, business, or organization failed to exercise reasonable care may have the right to seek compensation for injury-related losses.

How to Prove the Defendant Is Liable Under the Law

The key question your lawyer will have to answer is whether someone else’s actions—or failure to act—caused an injury that could have been prevented. That’s what turns an accident into a personal injury claim.

Duty of Care: People and entities have a responsibility to act with reasonable care, but that responsibility looks different depending on the situation. A driver is expected to obey traffic laws. A property owner should address hazards that could injure visitors. A nursing home has a duty to provide residents with appropriate care and supervision.

Our job is to establish the defendant owed you or your loved one a duty of care. Sometimes the answer is clear. Other times, it requires a closer look at records, witness accounts, company policies, or other evidence.

Negligence: Your attorney will also need to prove that the defendant failed to follow their duty of care by acting carelessly or recklessly. For example, a driver who operates a vehicle while impaired is negligent. A nursing facility that fails to regularly move bedridden patients is negligent. A store owner who fails to fix a broken handrail for a week is negligent.

Causation: But even if the defendant was careless or reckless, personal injury attorneys must connect the negligence to your injury. Insurance companies sometimes argue that an injury would have happened anyway or that it was caused by something unrelated to the accident. Your lawyer will work to show how the negligent act caused the injury, especially when an insurance company tries to point to another explanation.

Damages: An injury affects more than a medical chart. It can change how someone works, moves through their day, or cares for their family. Two people with the same diagnosis may experience very different recoveries, which is why we take the time to understand how the injury has affected the person sitting across from us.

A successful personal injury claim doesn’t come together on its own. It takes time to investigate what happened, anticipate the arguments the other side is likely to make, and present a clear explanation of why the injury could have been prevented.

If you’re unsure whether someone else’s negligence caused your injury, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Robert J. Rooth can review what happened, explain your legal options, and help you understand whether you may have a personal injury claim. Contact The Rooth Law Firm today to discuss your situation.

What Losses Are Recoverable in a Personal Injury Claim?

In four decades as a practicing personal injury attorney in Illinois, Robert J. Rooth has witnessed the many ways that injuries can affect every part of a person’s life. That’s why we look well beyond the immediate medical expenses and days away from work when we represent our clients.

Financial Losses

Some losses are simpler to calculate than others because they come with bills, receipts, or employment records. However, these economic damages can be extensive and are easy to underestimate, especially when you may have long-term expenses or losses.

Our team will ensure we seek the full extent of your financial losses, such as:

• Medical expenses, including emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, follow-up appointments, and prescription medications.
• Ongoing medical care, such as physical therapy, rehabilitation, future treatment, or adaptive technologies.
• Lost wages if your injuries prevent you from working during your recovery.
• Reduced earning capacity when an injury affects your ability to earn a living in the future.
• Property damage when it is part of a personal injury claim, such as damage to your vehicle after a car accident.
• Other out-of-pocket expenses related to the injury, such as transportation to medical appointments or necessary modifications to your home in serious injury cases.

Insurance companies often focus on these numbers because they’re easy to quantify, especially the short-term expenses and losses. While those losses are important, they don’t always reflect the full impact an injury has had on a person’s life.

Non-Financial Losses

Illinois law allows injured people to seek compensation for losses such as:

• Physical pain
• Emotional suffering
• Disability
• Disfigurement

These damages recognize that a serious injury doesn’t stop affecting someone once the medical bills are paid. It can change how a person works, spends time with family, enjoys hobbies, or simply goes about everyday life.

Insurance companies don’t always agree on the value of these losses. Part of our job as your legal representative is making sure the injury is understood as more than a collection of medical records and invoices. We work to present a complete picture of how the injury has affected our client’s life so that the claim reflects the harm that was actually suffered.

What If You Were Partly at Fault for the Accident?

In our experience, many people involved in accidents assume they don’t have a personal injury claim if they made a mistake or contributed to the accident. That isn’t always true. Illinois law recognizes that more than one person can share responsibility for the same injury.

Questions about fault are rarely as simple as they first appear. Insurance companies don’t always see an accident the same way you do. In many cases, they’ll argue that you were partly (or even mostly) responsible because every percentage of fault assigned to you can reduce what they have to pay.

Being partly at fault doesn’t automatically prevent you from recovering compensation. Under Illinois’ modified comparative negligence rule, you may still recover damages if you were less than 51% responsible for the accident. Any compensation you receive is generally reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you’re 20% responsible, a $100,000 award would generally be reduced to $80,000.

We’ve spoken with many people who assumed they didn’t have a case because they believed they were at fault or because an insurance company told them they were. Before you reach the same conclusion, it’s worth having a personal injury lawyer review your case. A closer look at the evidence often tells a different story.

When You’re Ready to Talk, Robert J. Rooth Is Ready to Listen

Every personal injury case is different, and the details matter. The best way to understand your legal options is to talk through what happened and how your injury has affected your life.

If you’re looking for a personal injury attorney in Illinois, Robert J. Rooth is here to listen, answer your questions, and explain your options in plain language. Contact The Rooth Law Firm today to schedule a consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Illinois?

At The Rooth Law Firm, we handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. That means you don’t pay attorney’s fees upfront. Instead, we collect attorney fees only if we recover compensation on your behalf. During your consultation, we’ll explain how contingency fees work, answer your questions, and make sure you understand what to expect before moving forward.

Will My Personal Injury Case Go to Trial?

Probably not, but it’s a possibility. Many personal injury claims resolve through settlement, while others require filing a lawsuit or presenting the case to a jury. Whether a case goes to trial depends on the facts, the evidence, and the insurance company’s willingness to offer a fair settlement. Our team prepares every case thoroughly so you’re ready for whichever path your case takes.

How Long Does Illinois Law Give to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Many personal injury lawsuits in Illinois must be filed within two years, but there are important exceptions. Different deadlines may apply depending on the type of case and the people or organizations involved. Waiting too long can also make it more difficult to preserve evidence and investigate what happened. If you have questions about how much time you have to file, speak with an attorney as soon as possible.

Should I Accept the Insurance Company’s Settlement Offer?

Not before you understand exactly what you’re agreeing to and the long-term effects of your injuries. Once you accept a settlement, you generally can’t go back and ask for additional compensation if your injuries turn out to be more serious than you first realized.

Before you sign anything, we’ll review the offer, explain what it covers and whether it fairly reflects your injuries, and provide guidance on accepting it or continuing negotiations.