Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit
How Do I Know if I Should File a Birth Injury Lawsuit?
This isn’t the easiest question to answer if you have no legal or medical experience. To get the best answer, talk to Illinois birth injury lawyers. These experts in both the law and medical malpractice will be able to explain your options and legal rights. They can also give you the best advice about what to do next.
In general, you may want to file a lawsuit if you feel strongly that a doctor or nurse made a negligent mistake that led to your child’s birth injuries. If their injuries are serious and permanent, will affect them the rest of their lives, and have left you with significant medical bills, it may be a good idea to sue.
Is There a Time Limit for Filing an Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit?
Yes, which is why it’s important to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. The statute of limitations on filing a birth injury lawsuit in Illinois is two years. So you have two years from when your child suffered injuries to file.
How Will My Lawyer Prove Negligence?
Proving negligence is sometimes straightforward and, in other cases, more challenging. Birth injury cases tend to have a lot of complicating factors.
Your lawyer, along with your recollections and expert testimony, will prove medical negligence and malpractice through a few steps:
- Establishing a standard of care, what another doctor or nurse would have done in the same situation
- Showing that your medical professional breached that standard of care
- Proving that the breach in care resulted directly in your child’s injuries
- Showing that these injuries have resulted in significant damages
Your lawyer will need you to be honest about what happened. They will also rely on medical experts, physical evidence, evaluations of your baby’s injuries, and both current and expected future expenses related to those injuries.
What is My Case Worth?
Recovering damages is one of the main goals of a birth injury lawsuit. The compensation you may get will help cover your child’s costs for treatments, procedures, therapies, home care, and more. No lawyer can guarantee you will get a specific amount, but they can make a reasonable estimate based on the individual factors involved:
- The severity of your child’s injuries and resulting conditions or disabilities
- How permanent or disabling those injuries are
- How the injuries will affect your child’s quality of life and ability to live independently
- Current expenses related to the injuries
- Expected future expenses, for everything from medical care to travel costs and even your lost wages if you can no longer work
How Do I File an Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit?
To file a birth injury lawsuit in Illinois, you first need a good lawyer. Select an attorney or firm with experience handling birth injury cases and working with families like yours. They should offer a free case evaluation and contingency payment. Once you choose the right lawyer, they’ll take you through the process of filing a lawsuit in Illinois:
- Complaint
A lawsuit officially begins when your lawyer files a complaint. This notifies the defendants of your allegations and outlines the basics of the case and what you expect. - Discovery
The complaint begins a discovery period, during which both sides investigate and gather evidence. This includes talking to witnesses, working with experts, and holding depositions to prepare to make a case. - Settlement
Most defendants will negotiate at this point. They can usually save money with a settlement as compared to a jury verdict. Your lawyer will try to get a fair amount of compensation for your baby. - Trial
If negotiations fail, or never get off the ground, you can take your case to court and seek a jury award for damages.
Most of these lawsuits end in a settlement, but some go to trial. If you win the jury award, your compensation may still be delayed because the defendants can appeal the decision. In this case, your lawyer will continue to fight your case in a higher Illinois court.
Examples of Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuits
There are many examples of Illinois birth injury lawsuits that turned out well for the plaintiffs. These cases show you what might be possible if you file. Of course, a lawyer cannot guarantee you a similar outcome, but they give you the best chance of getting results like these.
A jury in Cook County awarded a boy and his mother $53 million in 2016. Lisa Ewing’s lawyers found nearly 20 mistakes made by doctors and nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center when she delivered her son Isaiah. These included failure to monitor the mother and baby and failure to perform a C-section on time. Isaiah suffered serious brain damage and now has permanent disabilities.[1]
Nyelle Brown suffered significant brain damage after being delivered at Franciscan St. James Health in Chicago Heights in 2011. Her family sued, alleging that the staff didn’t act fast enough when Nyelle showed troubling signs of distress. The hospital settled with the Browns for $15 million in 2013.[2]
Tequila Snow went to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park in 2014, 34 weeks pregnant and concerned about her unborn baby. Unfortunately, the staff did not act fast enough or take her concerns seriously, resulting in delays that caused brain damage in her son. He is now five years old and completely dependent on others for his care. Snow sued and won a $101 million jury verdict.[3]
These and other lawsuits from throughout Illinois show just how damaging medical malpractice can be for a baby. Families have a right to sue over negligence and to recover damages that will provide treatment and care. Contact a lawyer if you think you have a case for an Illinois birth injury lawsuit.