Your injury & civil rights questions, answered

Nothing upfront. Tober Law handles personal injury and civil rights cases on a contingency fee, so the attorney fee is a percentage of the money recovered for you. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney fee. The fee percentage and how case costs are handled are explained in writing before you sign anything.

Yes. Your first consultation is free, confidential and comes with no obligation. You can call or text 312-214-3175, email firm@tober-law.com or use the contact form, and Cam Tober will personally review what happened.

Yes. Cameron J. Tober personally handles every case at Tober Law. Your case is never handed down to a junior associate or case manager, and clients have direct access to Cam, including his cell phone.

Bring whatever you have, but don’t wait to call if you have nothing yet. Helpful items include photos, a police or incident report, medical records or bills, insurance letters, names of witnesses and any messages from an insurance company. We can gather the rest for you.

Tober Law is based in Chicago and represents clients throughout Illinois and Missouri, including the City of Chicago, suburban Cook County and DuPage, Lake, Will and Kane counties.

Yes. Tober Law regularly works with referring attorneys and co-counsel, including trial counsel, cost- and fee-sharing arrangements and litigation consulting such as mock trials and case valuation.

Generally two years from the date of the injury, under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. Shorter deadlines apply to many claims against local governments (usually one year), and medical malpractice claims have their own rules. Because exceptions can shorten or extend the deadline, confirm yours with an attorney early.

Usually one year. The Illinois Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/8-101) requires most civil actions against local public entities and their employees to be filed within one year of the injury, and some transit claims require earlier written notice. These deadlines are strictly enforced.

Generally five years for most personal injury claims under Missouri law (RSMo 516.120). Missouri medical malpractice claims generally must be filed within two years (RSMo 516.105), and wrongful death claims within three years (RSMo 537.100).

Many cases resolve within several months to two years, depending on the severity of the injuries, whether liability is disputed and whether a lawsuit is filed. Cases are usually not settled until your medical condition has stabilized, so the full value of the claim is known.

Most personal injury cases settle, but the strongest settlements come from cases prepared for trial. Cam prepares every case as if it will be tried, and several of his clients’ settlements were reached during trial.

Not before speaking with a lawyer. You are not required to give the other side’s insurer a recorded statement, and anything you say can be used to minimize your claim. Let your attorney handle those communications.

Yes, as long as you were not more than 50% at fault. Illinois follows modified comparative fault (735 ILCS 5/2-1116): your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you are barred from recovering only if you were more than 50% responsible.

Missouri uses pure comparative fault, so an injured person can recover damages even if they were mostly at fault, but the award is reduced by their percentage of fault.

Compensation can include medical expenses (past and future), lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, loss of a normal life and, in wrongful death cases, losses suffered by the family. The available damages depend on the facts and the law that applies.

It depends on the severity and permanence of your injuries, your medical costs and lost income, the strength of the liability evidence and the available insurance coverage. No honest lawyer can value a case without reviewing these facts, which is what a free consultation is for.

You may be able to recover through your own uninsured (UM) or underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage. Illinois requires auto policies to include uninsured motorist coverage, and a lawyer can identify every policy that may apply to your crash.

Get to safety, call 911, photograph the scene, exchange information without admitting fault, see a doctor promptly and avoid giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. Then contact a personal injury attorney to protect your claim and your deadline.

Truck crashes usually involve catastrophic injuries, multiple responsible parties (driver, motor carrier, broker, shipper, maintenance company) and federal safety regulations covering hours of service, driver qualifications and vehicle maintenance. Critical evidence like electronic logging device data must be preserved quickly.

Depending on what the rideshare driver was doing at the time, coverage can come from the driver’s personal policy or the rideshare company’s commercial policy, which provides substantially higher limits when a ride is in progress. Other at-fault drivers’ insurance may also apply.

Usually not your employer, because workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against an employer. But you may have a separate personal injury lawsuit against a third party, such as a general contractor, property owner, equipment manufacturer or another company’s negligent driver, which can recover damages workers’ comp doesn’t pay, like pain and suffering.

A products liability claim holds the companies that designed, manufactured, distributed or sold a dangerous product responsible for injuries it causes. Claims are typically based on a design defect, a manufacturing defect or a failure to warn about a known risk.

Yes. Keep the product, its packaging and any manuals, and don’t repair or alter it. If an employer controls the equipment, an attorney can send a letter demanding that it be preserved for inspection.

A property owner or occupier may be liable if they knew or should have known about a dangerous condition and failed to fix it or warn about it. Photos of the hazard, incident reports, surveillance video and witness names are key evidence.

Yes, in some circumstances. When an assault was reasonably foreseeable and a property owner failed to provide reasonable security, such as working locks, lighting, cameras or guards, the owner may be held responsible through a negligent security claim.

Usually, yes. Under the Illinois Animal Control Act (510 ILCS 5/16), a dog owner is liable for injuries when the dog attacks or injures someone who was acting peaceably in a place they were lawfully allowed to be, and who did not provoke the dog. The owner does not need to have known the dog was dangerous.

Generally two years from when you knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and that it may have been wrongfully caused, but no more than four years after the act or omission (735 ILCS 5/13-212). Different rules can apply to minors.

Illinois requires an affidavit and a written report from a qualified health professional stating that there is a reasonable and meritorious basis for the claim (735 ILCS 5/2-622). An experienced attorney obtains this expert review before or shortly after filing.

Warning signs include new or worsening bedsores (pressure injuries), unexplained falls or fractures, sudden weight loss or dehydration, poor hygiene, medication errors and unexplained changes in mood. The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act gives residents specific rights and remedies when they are neglected or abused.

Yes. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, you can sue state and local officers who violate your constitutional rights, including through excessive force, false arrest or malicious prosecution. Officers often raise qualified immunity and other defenses, so these cases require experienced civil rights counsel.

Federal Section 1983 claims in Illinois generally must be filed within two years. Related state-law claims against local police officers and departments are often subject to the one-year deadline in the Illinois Tort Immunity Act, so contact an attorney as soon as possible.

Sometimes. Claims for injuries caused by federal employees usually proceed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which requires filing an administrative claim with the agency within two years before a lawsuit can be brought. Constitutional claims against federal officers are more limited, so get advice early.

Immigration status does not take away a person’s constitutional rights or their right to seek compensation for injuries caused by others. Consultations with Tober Law are confidential.