Personal Injury Lawyer Highland, IL
For Highland families, a serious injury should not mean hunting for help in another town. Hipskind & McAninch keeps an office right here in Highland, and one of our attorneys lives in this community, so our Highland, IL, personal injury lawyers know these streets and courts firsthand. Personal injury law is how the civil system holds a careless driver, business, or property owner responsible for the harm they cause, and we put it to work for injured neighbors.
Founded by Swiss immigrants and still close-knit, Highland is the kind of town where the person handling your case might run into you at the grocery store. That closeness is exactly how we like to practice.
Whether it was a wreck on Interstate 70, a fall at a local shop, or the loss of someone you love, we carry the legal weight while you tend to what matters. Call 618-641-9189 to tell us what happened. Your first conversation costs nothing, and you owe no fee unless we win.
Which Injury Cases Does Our Highland, IL, Personal Injury Lawyer Team Handle?
We take on the full sweep of injury claims for Highland and the rest of Madison County, from routine fender benders to the most serious losses. Our Highland injury cases include:
- Car accidents and rear-end collisions.
- Truck and commercial vehicle wrecks.
- Motorcycle crashes.
- Slip, trip, and fall injuries.
- Pedestrian and bicycle injuries.
- Dog bites and animal attacks.
- Wrongful death claims.
No matter which one brought you here, our team can tell you where you stand. Not sure if your situation fits? Ask our Highland team, and the first call is on us.
Results That Matter to Highland Families
We have recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for Highland-area families, including for a fatal house fire, a pedestrian crash, and a highway collision. Numbers never tell the whole story, but they show how far we go for the people we represent. A few of those results:
- $800,000 for a family after a loved one died in a house fire tied to a landlord’s ignored smoke detectors.
- $775,000 for a pedestrian struck while crossing the street.
- $500,000 for a driver rear-ended as traffic slowed on the highway.
Together, these results cover a fatal fire, a pedestrian crash, and a highway collision, which mirrors the range of cases we take.
Past results never promise what your own claim will bring, and every case turns on its own facts. Curious what a case like yours could be worth? Reach out for a straight answer, free of charge.
How Do Injuries Happen on Highland’s Roads?
Highland sits where quiet residential streets meet fast regional highways, and that mix is where a lot of wrecks happen. Interstate 70, U.S. Route 40, and Route 143 pull steady traffic through the area, from daily commuters to semis rolling between St. Louis and Indianapolis, and speed is often the thing that turns a close call into a crash.
The interchanges near town and the two-lane stretches out toward Silver Lake, and Grantfork see more than their share of rear-end and intersection wrecks. Speed is not only about the posted limit. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-601, a driver has to slow down for rain, fog, curves, and heavy traffic, so a driver going too fast for the conditions can be at fault even while under the speed limit.
Local crash records back up how often this happens: Madison County sees more than 5,200 reported collisions in a recent year, according to Illinois Department of Transportation crash data, and the highway corridors around Highland account for many of the most serious. Hurt on Interstate 70 or a Highland side street? Let our team look into what happened at no cost.
What if the Driver Who Hit You Had No Insurance?
You still have a path to compensation, even when the at-fault driver carries nothing. Illinois requires your own auto policy to include uninsured motorist coverage under 215 ILCS 5/143a, which is coverage that pays your losses when the other driver has none, including in a hit-and-run.
That coverage has to at least match your own liability limits unless you turned it down in writing, so most drivers have more protection than they realize. Underinsured motorist coverage works the same way when the at-fault driver’s policy is too small to cover your injuries. Reading your policy, stacking every layer of coverage, and dealing with your own insurer is work we take off your plate.
Worried the other driver had no coverage? Bring us your policy, and we will find the coverage that applies.
What Happens to Your Medical Bills After a Highland Injury?
Medical bills pile up fast after a serious injury, but Illinois law keeps them from swallowing up your whole recovery. When a hospital or doctor treats you and waits to be paid from your settlement, they file what is called a lien, a legal claim against your award.
Under the Health Care Services Lien Act, 770 ILCS 23/10, all of those medical liens together cannot take more than 40% of your total recovery. That cap means more of your settlement stays with you and your family. The cap does not erase what you owe, but it keeps the providers from claiming the lion’s share of what you win.
Sorting out liens, health insurance, and hospital billing is one of the quieter ways we add value to a case. Buried in medical bills? Let us step in and protect what you take home.
Time Limits: The Statute of Limitations in Illinois
Illinois sets a deadline for filing an injury lawsuit, and missing it usually ends the case for good. For most personal injury claims, that window is two years from the date you were hurt, or from the date of death in a fatal case.
Some claims run on a shorter clock. If a city, county, or another public body may share the blame, you often have just one year to act, and a formal written notice can be due even sooner.
A couple of exceptions can change the math. Injured children usually get more time, since the clock may not start until they turn 18, and a hidden injury can fall under a discovery rule that starts the count when the harm is found.
Not sure how much time you have left? Check with our team today before the clock runs out.
What Types of Compensation Can I Recover?
In Illinois, an injured person can recover economic damages, non-economic damages, and, in rare cases, punitive damages, plus wrongful death benefits when a loss is fatal. What fits your case depends on the injury, but these categories cover most claims.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the out-of-pocket costs you can add up with bills and records. They usually include:
- Emergency treatment, hospital stays, and surgery.
- Follow-up care, physical therapy, and future medical needs.
- Lost paychecks and reduced earning power.
- Property damage, such as vehicle repairs.
- Travel to appointments and other direct costs.
We gather the paperwork that puts a firm dollar figure on every one of these.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages cover the harm that never shows up on a receipt. Our Highland, IL, personal injury lawyers build the proof for losses like these:
- Pain and suffering: the physical hurt an injury causes, during recovery and long after.
- Emotional distress: the anxiety, fear, and lost sleep that follow a serious wreck.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: the hobbies, routines, and moments an injury takes from you.
- Disfigurement and scarring: the lasting visible marks a crash or fall can leave behind.
These losses are harder to count, so we bring in the evidence that shows what they are truly worth.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are rare, and Illinois allows them only when someone’s conduct goes far beyond ordinary carelessness. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1115.05, you must show by clear and convincing evidence, a high standard of proof, that the wrongdoer acted with evil motive or reckless indifference to your safety, and any award is capped at three times your economic damages. We pursue them when the facts, like a drunk or hit-and-run driver, truly call for it.
Wrongful Death Benefits for Families
When a Highland injury turns fatal, close family members can bring a wrongful death claim for their own losses. That can include funeral and burial costs, the income and benefits the person would have provided, and the loss of their love, care, and companionship.
In most cases, the family has two years from the date of death to file. We handle these claims with patience and never lose sight of the person at the center of them.
Ready to find out what your losses add up to? Let our Highland team put real numbers to them.
The Hipskind & McAninch Difference in Highland
Hire us, and you get Highland, IL, personal injury lawyers who treat your case like it belongs to a neighbor, because in Highland, it often does. A few things make our approach stand out:
- A direct line to our attorneys: we hand out our cell numbers, so you reach the lawyer on your case, not a call center.
- A fair 33% fee: our starting contingency rate sits below the 38% to 40% many firms charge, with the final rate set by the facts of your case.
- A real Highland office: you can meet us close to home instead of driving across the Metro East.
- Madison County know-how: we try cases in the Madison County Circuit Court in Edwardsville and know how the local system runs.
- Decades in the courtroom: John Hipskind and Brady McAninch each bring well over a decade of trial practice, and Stephen Buser, Of Counsel, adds more than four decades.
It all rests on a promise we stand behind: big firm resources, small firm care, every case, every time. Feel the difference of a hometown firm, starting with an honest read on your case.
FAQs: Highland, IL, Personal Injury Lawyer
A few more questions come up once someone is ready to move a claim forward.
We keep an office right in Highland, so you do not have to drive to Belleville to sit down with us. Meeting close to home is easier when you are hurt, and we can also come to you when travel is hard. Same-day and next-day appointments are usually available.
Yes, Madison County is home turf for us. We regularly file and try cases in the Madison County Circuit Court in Edwardsville, and we handle claims across Bond, Clinton, and St. Clair counties, too. Knowing the local judges, clerks, and procedures helps us keep your case moving.
Most of the money from a personal injury settlement is not taxed, since compensation for physical injuries is generally excluded from income. Some pieces, like interest or certain punitive awards, can be taxable. We flag anything that might carry a tax question and point you to a tax professional when it matters.
Yes, a prior injury does not close the door on a claim. Illinois follows the rule that a wrongdoer takes you as they find you, so if a crash makes an old condition worse, the person at fault answers for that added harm. We use your medical history to show exactly what the new injury changed.
Ask who will actually handle your file, how you will reach them, and how their fee works. Get the fee in writing, and make sure the people doing the work have taken cases like yours to trial. A good firm will answer all of that plainly, without pressure.
Reach Our Highland, IL, Personal Injury Lawyer Team. We Put Highland First
An injury can leave you sore, out of work, and unsure who to trust, and the other side’s insurer already has a team on its side. You do not have to sort it out by yourself, and learning where you stand costs nothing. Call or text Hipskind & McAninch at 618-641-9189 today, and let our Highland, IL, personal injury lawyers stand with you from the first call to the last.