A serious car accident in Chicago can change everything in an instant - catastrophic injuries, mounting medical bills, lost income, and an uncertain future. When the injuries are severe and the stakes are high, you need a car accident lawyer who understands both the medicine and the law.
Cirignani, Heller & Harman, LLP (CHH Law) brings over 40 years of experience handling Chicago's most complex cases including car accident injuries and commercial vehicle collisions. Our law firm includes a department devoted to just medical malpractice cases and employs an Of Counsel licensed physician and a certified respiratory therapist, both of whom are also attorneys - giving us the ability to build the strongest possible case for maximum compensation.
Our medically trained attorneys don't just review your records - they assess the full scope of your injuries the way a treating doctor would. This means stronger causation arguments, more accurate damage projections, and a case the insurance companies can't easily dismiss.
We concentrate on serious car accident injuries - traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, amputations, severe burns, and permanent disability - where the medical complexity directly determines the car accident case worth.
Semi-truck collisions, delivery van crashes, and company car accidents involve multiple liable parties, layered insurance coverage, and federal regulatory evidence. Our team knows how to identify every source of recovery.
When hospital or emergency room treatment after a car crash falls below the standard of care - a delayed diagnosis, misread imaging, or untreated complications - we can pursue both the car accident claim and a medical malpractice claim simultaneously. This is where four decades of medical malpractice litigation become your greatest advantage.
CHH Law focuses on the car accident cases that demand the deepest medical understanding. We do not take routine fender-benders. We take the cases where the injuries are life-altering, the evidence is complex, and the outcome will define our client's future.
Under Illinois law, a catastrophic injury is understood as one that results in permanent, long-term damage significantly impairing a person's ability to live, work, or function independently. This is not about how dramatic the car crash looked - it is about the ongoing impact on your life.
Catastrophic car accident injuries we handle include:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) - often a hidden injury with delayed symptoms, requiring advanced diagnostics like MRI and CT to fully assess
Spinal cord injuries - paraplegia, quadriplegia, and incomplete spinal cord damage requiring lifelong care
Amputations and crush injuries - common in high-force collisions, particularly with commercial vehicles
Severe burns - covering significant portions of the body, requiring extensive grafting and rehabilitation
Internal organ damage - lung contusions, rib fractures, and respiratory compromise that our respiratory therapist attorney can assess with clinical precision
Catastrophic injuries can permanently prevent gainful employment. In Illinois, there are no caps on non-economic damages in ordinary car accident injury cases, which means fair compensation should reflect the full scope of your losses: future medical expenses, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and the cost of a comprehensive life care plan.
Whiplash is a common injury in rear-end collisions, back injuries often require long-term medical treatment after accidents, and broken bones are frequently reported in car accident injuries. Knee injuries can lead to significant recovery time and lost wages. But when these injuries escalate to permanent disability, you need attorneys who can translate medical complexity into compelling legal arguments.
Commercial vehicle accidents - involving semi-trucks, delivery vans, buses, and company cars - produce some of the most severe injuries on Chicago roads. From 2018 through 2022, truck-related fatal and serious injury crashes in Cook County saw serious injuries decline approximately 44%, yet fatalities remained stubbornly stable at roughly 12–17 per year. Rear-end collisions by trucks contributed approximately 28% of fatal and serious injury outcomes, followed by angle and turning crashes at roughly 24%.
These cases present unique legal challenges:
Multiple liable parties: The at fault driver, their employer, the leasing company, the vehicle owner, and maintenance providers may all share responsibility
Layered insurance coverage: Commercial policies are larger but harder to access without aggressive, evidence-backed demands
Regulatory violations: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations govern driver logs, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, and electronic logging devices. Violations serve as powerful evidence of negligence
Higher-force impacts: Collisions with large commercial vehicles produce more severe trauma - diffuse axonal injuries, vascular damage, spinal compression fractures - that our physician-attorneys are trained to identify and document
Commercial van and delivery vehicle accidents are particularly common in high-density Chicago business zones like the West Loop and Downtown Loop, where tight deadlines and congested traffic create dangerous conditions. Speeding factors into roughly one-third of Illinois auto accidents, and fatigue plays a role in 6–10% of motor vehicle accidents - both factors that are frequently present in commercial driving.
Sometimes the most devastating harm doesn't happen on the road - it happens in the emergency room afterward. When hospital treatment following a car accident fails to meet the standard of care, a second cause of action may exist.
Examples we have the expertise to identify include:
Delayed diagnosis of internal bleeding or organ damage
Misread CT or MRI imaging leading to missed fractures or brain injury
Failure to treat compartment syndrome, infections, or spinal trauma
Mismanagement of ventilator care or respiratory complications
The medical malpractice statute of limitations in Illinois is two years from discovery (or when the patient reasonably should have discovered the injury), with an absolute cap of four years from the negligent act. CHH Law's four decades of medical malpractice experience mean we know exactly how to prove standard-of-care deviations - and how to combine an auto accident lawsuit with a malpractice claim to pursue compensation from every responsible party.
You should contact a lawyer as soon as possible after an accident. Early action preserves evidence, protects your rights, and prevents you from making costly mistakes - like giving a recorded statement to the insurance company or accepting an early settlement that doesn't reflect your true losses. Here is what to expect when you contact CHH Law.
Your case begins with something no other Chicago car accident attorney can offer the same way: a clinical-level medical review. Our medically trained attorney and respiratory therapist attorney examine every piece of medical evidence - EMS reports, hospital and surgical records, imaging studies, rehabilitation notes, and psychiatric evaluations.
We identify injuries that may have been missed or underdiagnosed, assess the true long-term prognosis, and begin building the medical foundation of your personal injury claim. Evidence gathered includes police reports, witness testimonies, and all available documentation from the accident scene. Document the accident scene with photos and witness information - this material is critical to your case.
Beyond the medical records, we conduct a thorough investigation: accident reconstruction, traffic camera footage, dashcam and surveillance video, cellphone data, GPS records, and black-box data from commercial vehicles. For commercial vehicle cases, we obtain driver employment histories, maintenance and inspection logs, hours-of-service records, and regulatory compliance filings.
Our medical knowledge allows us to connect the physical forces of impact to the specific injuries sustained - establishing causation in a way that insurance adjusters and defense attorneys cannot easily challenge. Illinois follows an at-fault system for car accidents, and comparative negligence under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116 means we must demonstrate the other party's liability while protecting you from inflated fault allegations. Illinois allows recovery if you are less than 51% at fault, with your compensation reduced by your percentage of fault.
Insurance companies often offer lower settlements without legal representation - and they know it. Car accident victims with lawyers recover three to four times more than those who handle claims alone. A good lawyer will handle all communications with insurance companies, and that is exactly what we do.
We prepare comprehensive demand packages supported by life care plans, future medical cost projections, lost earning capacity analyses, and expert medical testimony. When the insurance company denies your claim or the insurance company's offer fails to reflect the severity of your injuries, we are prepared to take your case to trial.
Automobile accident claims generally settle without going to court, but catastrophic injury cases often require the credible threat of trial - and the medical expertise to back it up - before insurers agree to a full and fair settlement. Victims can seek damages for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement. Punitive damages may be awarded for reckless conduct such as drunk driving or extreme negligence.
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CHH was the only firm willing to take on our complex surgical injury case, and we are so glad they did. I truly don't believe we would have had the positive outcome we did without them.
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I don't know what we would have done without Dan during this difficult time. I highly recommend having Dan J. Pylman and his team to represent you & yours if you want to win your case.
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I can honestly say I felt the compassion from each member of the CHH team. You CAN NOT go wrong choosing CHH.
CHH Law represents seriously injured drivers and accident victims across Chicago, IL and the surrounding region. We serve clients in:
Chicago neighborhoods: West Loop, Downtown Loop, South Loop, Near South Side, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Lincoln Park, Hyde Park, Pilsen, and Bridgeport
Suburban Cook County: Evanston, Oak Park, Cicero, Skokie, Des Plaines, Berwyn, and surrounding communities
Greater Chicagoland: DuPage County, Lake County, Will County, and Kane County
For clients with catastrophic injuries who cannot travel, we are willing to come to you - whether you are at home, in a hospital, or in a rehabilitation facility anywhere in Illinois. Multi-vehicle accidents often occur during rush hour or poor weather across the entire Chicago metropolitan area, and we handle cases from every major expressway and corridor.
CHH Law is not your typical personal injury law firm. We built our reputation over 40 years as one of Chicago's premier boutique firms where the most difficult cases in Chicago have come. One of our strengths is that, We bring a specialized medical expertise to catastrophic car accident cases. Our team includes a licensed physician and a certified respiratory therapist, both of whom are also attorneys. This means we read your medical records the way a clinician would, identify injuries and treatment failures that other firms miss, and build cases grounded in medical precision. Choosing the right lawyer can significantly impact claim outcomes, and a lawyer familiar with local courts has an advantage in case navigation. Lawyers should specialize in personal injury and car accident cases - and our specialization runs deeper than the law alone.
We focus on serious car accident cases involving catastrophic injury - traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, severe burns, and permanent disability. We also handle commercial vehicle accidents involving semi-trucks, delivery vehicles, and company cars, as well as cases where medical malpractice after a car accident worsened the injuries. In 2022, Illinois reported 299,133 motor vehicle accidents. Rear-end collisions are the most common type in Illinois. Pedestrian accidents account for 1.7% of total crashes in Illinois. Drunk driving causes over 20% of fatal traffic accidents in Illinois, and alcohol was a factor in 30.4% of fatal crashes in Illinois. Speeding contributed to 45% of fatal crashes in Illinois in 2024. Distracted driving causes thousands of crashes annually in Illinois, and texting while driving is illegal in Chicago and Illinois. We take the cases where medical complexity demands attorney-level clinical knowledge.
Most car accident lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, and CHH Law is no exception. You pay nothing upfront. Our fee - a percentage of the recovery - consistent with the standard in Chicago personal injury cases - is collected only if we win your case. We advance all costs, including filing fees, expert witness fees, and medical record fees. If we don't recover compensation for you, you owe us nothing. Legal representation can significantly increase compensation amounts, and an attorney can negotiate with insurers to secure fair compensation. We offer a free consultation to evaluate your case before you make any commitment.
Under Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/13-202, you have two years from the date of the car crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Property damage claims have a five-year deadline under 735 ILCS 5/13-205. However, if the at fault driver is a local government entity - such as a city bus or municipal vehicle - the deadline drops to just one year under 745 ILCS 10/8-101. Illinois law requires a two-year statute of limitations for claims, so do not delay. You have two years to file a lawsuit after a car accident in Illinois, and missing that deadline typically bars your claim permanently. After an accident, the first thing you need to do is call 911 for medical attention. Once your health is stabilized, the next thing to do is seek legal advice. Do this before accepting any insurance settlement Your health and your legal rights both depend on acting quickly. Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance company before speaking with an attorney.
This is exactly where CHH Law's background gives you a decisive advantage. If emergency room care, surgery, or post-accident hospital treatment fell below the standard of care - a delayed diagnosis of internal bleeding, misread imaging, failure to treat complications - you may have a medical malpractice claim in addition to your car accident claim. The medical malpractice statute of limitations is two years from discovery, with an absolute four-year cap from the negligent act. Our medically trained attorneys can identify treatment failures that other personal injury attorneys would never catch, and we can pursue both claims simultaneously to recover compensation from every responsible party. Illinois law requires uninsured motorist coverage for drivers, and we also evaluate whether additional insurance coverage may be available through your own policy. Hiring a lawyer helps ensure fair treatment from insurance companies throughout this complex legal process. Attorneys handle all communications with insurance companies for clients, relieving you of that burden.
