Practice Areas

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Premises Liability, Automobile Negligence, Construction Site Injuries, Aviation and Railroad accidents, with an emphasis in Traumatic Brain Injuries. 

Briefly summarized, personal injury occurs when you are harmed by the negligent acts of another person, product, corporation, partnership, or company. Everyone is held to a standard of care (or should be) when doing something, operating something, or placing something in the stream of commerce. If not, then society would grind to a halt and chaos would ensue.    

The issues generally become was there a duty to act or not to act and if so, what is that standard of care that should apply? Did the conduct complained of breach a duty causing an injury? If so, what is the damage to the individual? Not all breaches lead to compensable injury claims.  

The question then becomes what would a “reasonable prudent” person do in your particular fact situation? The State of Illinois has adopted a modified comparative negligence standard in determining this factor, which means if a plaintiff was more than 50% at fault for their injury, they cannot recover damages.   

Additionally, if the plaintiff is proven to be at a degree of fault (comparative) for their injuries, but less than 50%, the damages awarded are reduced proportionately by the plaintiff’s degree of fault. By way of illustration if Matteo Rago and Associates is awarded a verdict on behalf of our client for Five Million ($5,000,000.00) dollars at trial but a jury finds our client’s negligence contributed to their injury at a degree of 30%, the verdict shall be reduced to $3,500,000.00 by law. 

                                         • $5,000,000.00 verdict  

                                         • Finding of 30% contributed negligence 

                                         • 100%-30%= 70%                                

                                         • $5,000,000.00 x .70= 

                                         • $3,500,000.00 the amount client receives 

                                         • Minus costs  

Also, there are statutes of limitations that apply. Briefly, a statute of limitations is the period of time that an individual has to bring an action for recovery for an injury. Therefore, don’t hesitate in scheduling an appointment to review your matter.  

We at Rago Law pride ourselves in giving you a frank, candid, appraisal of your situation. We will not lead you on with empty promises. Life is too short for that and your time is too valuable to squander. Finally, there is no fee unless we recover a financial award on half of our client. Call us for an analysis of your situation.   

                                                   “He who hesitates is lost.” 

          “Swift and resolute action leads to success; self-doubt is a prelude to disaster.” 

                                                     -Joseph Addison, 1713 

A creature of statute, Worker's Compensation was brought into existence by the state legislative body to aid, assist, and make whole workers who were injured on the job. Prior to Worker's Compensation coming into existence, workers were not generally compensated for injuries occurring during the "course of their employment" or it was extremely difficult. Workers had to sue their employers because of their employer's negligence, which was close to impossible in those days considering the cost of litigation, appearance fee, and attorney fees. Therefore, to ensure compensation for workers' injuries, Worker's Compensation came into existence in 1911 by the Illinois Legislature. 

In exchange for compensation for workers' injuries "....arising out of..." and "...during the course of their employment..." employers agreed but demanded that caps were placed on the amount of their financial exposure. The employer must pay all "reasonable and necessary expenses" related to workers' injuries, i.e. medical, dental, rehabilitation etc. In exchange for a no negligent concept for employees' conduct, the statute has financial limitations for an employer's exposure. 

This is a brief overview of the Worker's Compensation area of law. Call Matteo Rago and Associates to discuss your particular situation and find out how we can assist in making you whole and "Taking Care of Your Needs." Matteo Rago has been a member of the Illinois State Bar Associated Worker's Compensation Committee for many years of his legal career and has authored numerous articles regarding Worker's Compensation in Illinois. 

Don't see the area you need listed? Contact us to discuss your needs and we will determine a course of action.