For those who have suffered catastrophic bodily harm in an accident, understandably the immediate concern is to make sure they get the best medical care they can, as fast as possible. It can be an overwhelming event not just for the accident victim, but all those who love and care about them, family and friends.
Serious personal injuries often entail days, weeks, or even months of treatment. The pain can be excruciating and extensive. Sadly, sometimes the victim faces an altered life, with permanent disabilities. Making sure that the injured person as well as their suffering loved ones get the help they need – physical and psychological – is paramount.
Added to these burdens are the realities that the victim and their family members will have to deal with legal responsibilities. For instance, stress in changed financial circumstances mean an almost immediate need to file for workers’ compensation benefits when the victim was hurt in a work accident on the job. And then, there is the consideration that the victim (and their family) may have legal claims for civil damages available to them under state law. See, The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois.
The civil law injury claims are there to provide justice. However, the responsibility to pursue those civil damage claims is placed upon the hurting victim. No matter if the wrongdoer is well aware that they caused the accident and are liable for its aftermath, there is no law that forces them to come forward and do the right thing.
It is overwhelming to realize: on top of all the medical care and financial stressors, the accident victim has the job of demanding these civil rights against those responsible for the accident. This is where the personal injury attorney and law firm can help.
Attorneys throughout Illinois and Indiana are available to be interviewed and considered and then hired as the accident victim’s advocate in pursuing their legal rights as defined under the law. These advocates are also able to help make sure things like workers’ compensation benefits are properly provided to the accident victim.
Accident victims are encouraged to investigate and consider more than one personal injury law firm or accident attorney before deciding which advocate best suits their needs.
How to do this? Victims, together with family and friends, can consider many things. Among them: awards and accolades that signal competence and proficiency in the type of law that applies to their situation. In a previous article, we discussed an attorney’s inclusion in Best Lawyers®. See, Why Best Lawyers® Recognition Matters When Choosing a Personal Injury Attorney.
Another signal for the victim seeking representation is Super Lawyers® recognition.
What is a Super Lawyer®?
A “Super Lawyer®” is an attorney named to the Super Lawyers® list, which is an annual, state‑by‑state rating of lawyers judged to have high peer recognition and professional achievement. This is a respected recognition in both Illinois and Indiana.
No attorney selected to be a Super Lawyer® pays for this distinction; they are included in the published annual lists at no charge. It is important to note that this is not a formal certification by any state authority (like certifications in the State of Indiana), nor is it any kind of licensure, of course.
An independent enterprise operating in every state in the country, Super Lawyers® publishes an annual magazine that identifies the attorneys in that state selected through their “patented multiphase selection process” to be considered a Super Lawyer®:
Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis. The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel. Since Super Lawyers is intended to be used as an aid in selecting a lawyer, we limit the lawyer ratings to those who can be hired and retained by the public.
Nominations are made by a peer of the attorney, or by the research department. Super Lawyers® is careful to have “several safeguards that prevent lawyers from “gaming” the system. For example, we track who nominates whom. This helps us detect any excessive “back-scratch” nominations (lawyers nominating each other) and “block nominations” (where members of the same law firm all cast identical nominations). We also prohibit lawyers from engaging in “campaigning” or solicitation of nominations from other lawyers.”
The final result of their complicated selection process? Publication of a list of those attorneys considered to be in the “top 5 percent of lawyers in the state.”
- For details, read more about the selection process explained at the Super Lawyers® website.
How to Use the Super Lawyers® Designation When Hiring an Attorney
For accident victims and their loved ones, choosing who to hire as the attorney to represent their interests against those who have cause devastating harm is often one of the most important decisions of their life. Many different considerations come into play, including things like past experience in their particular kind of case (have they helped other worker victims hurt in construction accidents? How many cases have they had involving semi-truck crashes?) Nothing can take the place of a face-to-face interview with a prospective attorney, where all sorts of things can be discussed, of course.
Nevertheless, verifying their recognition as a Super Lawyer® in their particular area of legal practice can be very helpful when hiring an attorney here in Illinois or Indiana. It is confirmation that the attorney has been independently evaluated on twelve different indicators (think verdicts, settlements, scholarly contributions, other honors, etc.) by the enterprise’s patented process and found to be worthy of inclusion on their list.
For more, read:
- Questions To Ask When Choosing A Personal Injury Lawyer In Illinois Or Indiana
- How To Choose the Right Personal Injury Lawyer for You and Your Family
- What To Look For in a Personal Injury Lawyer in Indiana or Illinois.
At Allen Law Group, the following attorneys have been recognized as Super Lawyers® or Rising Stars®:
- Kenneth J. Allen
- Bryan L. Bradley
- Otto J. Shragal
- Jack Kramer
- Christopher R. Hansen
- Andrew T. Tkacs II
- Ryan O’Day
- Hunter J. McKee
- Thomas R. Benton.
Choosing the right fit for the attorney who will fight for you and your loved ones is extremely important. Working together with various experts, a team is built to bring legal accountability against wrongdoers for the harms sustained in an accident which is often found to have been preventable if there had not been breaches in legal duties of care and safety. One of the factors available to the victim in making this decision is Super Lawyers® recognition. Please be careful out there!
