CHICAGO & THE COLLAR COUNTIES
Chicago car accident lawyer.
Attorney Jeffrey Kooi has been licensed in Illinois since November 2000 and keeps an office on South Michigan Avenue in the Loop. Crashes on the Kennedy, the Ryan, the Eisenhower, Lake Shore Drive, and the arterials and intersections in between — worked by one attorney from the first call to the final check.
No fee unless you recover. Evenings and weekends available.
NEIGHBORHOODS AND COUNTIES
Where Chicago-area cases come from.
A crash at Western and Belmont, a pileup on the Kennedy at rush hour, and a T-bone at a two-way stop in unincorporated Will County are three different cases. They involve different investigating agencies, different evidence, different defendants, and different juries. Treating them as interchangeable is how claims get undersold.
This practice takes motor vehicle claims from the city and from every collar county. Below are the counties the work most often lands in, with the courthouse that hears the case.
Chicago neighborhoods
Suburbs and collar-county communities
This list is not a limit. Jeff is licensed in every county in Illinois — if your crash happened somewhere that is not listed, it gets the same review.
LOCAL CRASH PATTERNS
Where Chicago crashes actually happen.
Chicagoland is the densest crash environment in either state, and the density cuts both ways. There is usually more evidence available than in a rural crash — cameras, witnesses, transit records — and far less time to go get it before it is gone. These are the corridors and conditions that produce most of the serious injury claims here.
I-90/94 from the Jane Byrne Interchange out past O'Hare. Reversible express lanes, a left-hand exit pattern that surprises out-of-town drivers, and chronic stop-and-go make this the city's leading producer of rear-end and lane-change collisions. Chain-reaction crashes here frequently involve four or more vehicles and four or more insurers.
I-90/94 south of the Loop, with local and express lanes separated by a barrier. Weaving between the two at the lane splits, combined with heavy truck volume heading toward the Skyway and Indiana, generates high-speed multi-vehicle crashes.
I-290 west from the Byrne Interchange, with the CTA Blue Line in the median, short merge ramps, and the three-way junction with I-88 and I-294 at Hillside. Narrow shoulders mean a disabled vehicle often becomes a secondary collision.
I-55 southwest toward Joliet, carrying intermodal and warehouse truck traffic out of the Corridor. Truck volume plus the Lake Shore Drive and Ryan junctions make this a common site of commercial-vehicle claims.
I-94 north through Skokie and Northbrook, I-94 south through the Calumet area, and the Chicago Skyway toll bridge toward Indiana. Older geometry, tight ramps, and constant freight.
I-294 Tri-State, I-88 Reagan Memorial, I-355 Veterans Memorial, and I-190 into O'Hare. Construction staging, cash-to-electronic lane transitions, and airport traffic merging at speed. Tollway crashes are typically investigated by Illinois State Police rather than a municipal department.
Sharp curves at Oak Street and at the museum campus, no shoulder for long stretches, pedestrian underpasses, and weather blowing straight off the lake. Single-vehicle and fixed-object crashes cluster at the curves.
Western, Cicero, Ashland, Halsted, Pulaski, Milwaukee, Archer, Ogden, North, Roosevelt, Cermak, 79th, and Stony Island. Six-corner intersections, left turns across multiple lanes, double-parked delivery vehicles, and bus stops next to bike lanes. Most of the city's in-town injury crashes happen on these streets rather than on the expressways.
CTA buses and trains, Pace suburban buses, and school buses all belong to public bodies, and a claim against a public body runs on a much shorter clock than an ordinary crash. Their vehicles are also camera-equipped, which helps — but only if the footage is requested before the retention window closes.
O'Hare and Midway pickup zones, Loop and River North late-night volume, and the app-based delivery fleet. Coverage depends on the driver's app status at the moment of impact, so the trip record is often the single most valuable piece of evidence in the file.
Downtown crosswalks, protected and unprotected bike lanes, dooring on residential streets, and right-hook turns at intersections. Injuries are severe and the defense is almost always that the person on foot or on a bike was at fault, which makes camera footage decisive.
Chicagoland has more at-grade rail crossings than anywhere else in the region. Crossing crashes raise questions about gate and signal maintenance, sightlines, and warning time — and the potential defendants include railroads and public agencies, not just drivers.
Lake-effect snow, black ice on viaducts and bridge decks that freeze before the road surface does, and a pothole season that damages steering and suspension. An insurer calling a weather crash unavoidable is not the same thing as no one being at fault.
VENUE
Which court your case lands in, and why it matters.
Two identical injuries can be worth materially different amounts depending on where the case is filed, because the jury pool is different in each place. In Cook County, larger injury claims go to the Law Division at the Daley Center downtown, while smaller claims are heard in the Municipal Department district that covers the crash location — Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Maywood, Bridgeview, or Markham. A collar-county crash is normally filed in that county's circuit court.
Venue is usually the county where the crash happened or where the at-fault driver or company can be sued, and in a multi-defendant case there is often more than one legitimate option. That choice is part of the strategy, not a clerical detail, and it is one of the reasons a Chicago-area case should not be worked by someone who has never tried a case in these courthouses.
A Chicago address does not automatically mean a Chicago case. If the at-fault driver lives in DuPage, works for a company headquartered in Lake County, or the crash happened on the Indiana side of the Skyway, the filing options change — and so does the deadline. It is worth pinning down early rather than at the end.
ILLINOIS LAW
The Illinois rules that decide what a Chicago claim is worth.
Deadlines, fault percentages, and available coverage decide most outcomes long before anyone argues about pain and suffering. These are the provisions that most often control a Chicago-area motor vehicle claim.
Two years to file suit
Most Illinois injury claims from a crash must be on file in court within two years of the collision. Negotiating with an adjuster does not stop that clock — only a filing does.
735 ILCS 5/13-202One year against a public body
If the at-fault driver worked for the City of Chicago, a county, a township, a park district, a school district, or a transit agency, suit generally must be filed within one year instead of two, and some agencies require written notice within months. This is the deadline that quietly ends strong claims.
745 ILCS 10/8-101CTA claims need notice in six months
The Chicago Transit Authority requires written notice of an injury claim within six months of the incident and suit within one year. A bus, a train, or a CTA service vehicle puts the case on that schedule immediately.
70 ILCS 3605/41The 51% fault bar
Illinois reduces recovery by your share of the blame and bars it entirely once your fault passes 50%. The gap between 50% and 51% is the difference between half your damages and nothing, which is exactly why adjusters argue percentages so hard in multi-vehicle expressway crashes.
735 ILCS 5/2-1116State-minimum coverage is low
Illinois requires only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash in bodily injury liability. A single serious injury can exhaust that in the emergency room, which makes finding every additional policy a central part of the work.
625 ILCS 5/7-601Uninsured motorist coverage you cannot waive
Every Illinois auto policy must carry uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage of at least $25,000 per person. In a hit-and-run — common in the city — that coverage is often the claim, even when nothing else seems available.
215 ILCS 5/143aThree feet to pass a bicycle
Illinois requires a driver to leave at least three feet of space when overtaking a bicycle, and Chicago ordinances separately address opening a door into a cyclist's path. Both matter when an insurer argues the cyclist came out of nowhere.
625 ILCS 5/11-703Dram shop claims run out in one year
Where a bar or restaurant over-served the driver who hit you, Illinois allows a separate claim against that establishment — but only for one year, not two, and the damages are capped. In a drunk-driving case this has to be evaluated early.
235 ILCS 5/6-21Provider liens are capped at 40%
Illinois limits what health care providers can collectively claim out of a settlement or verdict to 40% of the recovery. Unreviewed hospital liens routinely overstate what is owed, and reducing them can change your net recovery as much as the settlement number does.
770 ILCS 23/10Not wearing a seat belt is not evidence against you
In Illinois, failure to wear a seat belt cannot be used as evidence of negligence or to cut your recovery. Adjusters raise it anyway. It does not belong in the fault analysis.
625 ILCS 5/12-603.1If a public vehicle was involved, assume the clock is short. A CTA bus, a city truck, a plow, a school bus, a Pace bus, a county vehicle, or an ambulance can cut your window from two years to one — or to six months for the written notice. Get the case reviewed in days, not months.
FIRST STEPS
What to do after a crash in Chicago.
- Get the right crash report
Crashes on the expressways and tollways within the city are generally investigated by the Illinois State Police; street crashes go to the Chicago Police Department, and suburban crashes to that municipality or the county sheriff. The Illinois Traffic Crash Report is the document every adjuster starts from, and knowing which agency holds it saves weeks.
- Chase the video in the first few days
This is the step that is unique to a dense city and the step people skip. Intersection and business cameras, CTA bus and rail cameras, garage and residential doorbell footage, and dashcams in the vehicles around you all record in short loops and overwrite on a cycle measured in days. A preservation request has to go out before anyone is done treating.
- Be examined even if you feel functional
Adrenaline masks a great deal for the first day or two, and soft-tissue and closed-head injuries often present late. A gap between the crash date and the first medical record is the most common argument an insurer uses to discount a claim.
- Screenshot the rideshare trip
If you were a passenger, a driver, or were struck by an Uber or Lyft, capture the receipt, driver name, trip times, and route from the app immediately. Coverage turns on the driver's app status, and that record is far easier to preserve now than to subpoena later.
- Decline the recorded statement for now
The other driver's insurer will call early and ask to record you while you are still hurting and still missing facts. You are not required to give that statement, and nothing good generally comes from giving it before anyone knows the extent of your injuries.
- Move fast in truck and commercial cases
Semi, delivery, and commercial-vehicle claims involve engine control module data, electronic logging device records, dispatch and maintenance files, and testing records that carriers only have to retain for limited periods. A spoliation letter needs to go out before the data cycles out.
- Identify every public body immediately
A CTA bus, a city or county truck, a school bus, a Pace bus, or an ambulance changes the deadline to one year, and the CTA notice requirement to six months. This is the single most time-critical fact in a Chicago case.
- Do not sign a release to get a quick check
Early offers arrive before anyone knows what your treatment will cost or whether you will fully recover. A signed release closes the claim permanently, including for the surgery nobody has recommended yet.
MEDICAL CARE
Where injured people in Chicagoland get treated.
Serious injuries in the region are routed to the trauma centers in the city and the near suburbs, with community hospitals handling the initial workup. Where you were treated shapes the claim in two practical ways: it determines which records have to be gathered and read, and it determines who will assert a lien against your settlement.
Bills and liens are negotiable more often than people expect. Hospitals, providers, health plans, and Medicare or Medicaid can all claim a share of a settlement, and those claims are frequently overstated. Illinois caps total health care provider liens at 40% of the recovery, and reducing what comes off the top can change your net recovery as much as the settlement figure does.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Chicago questions.
Yes — 122 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 1390, across from Millennium Park in the Loop. Call to arrange a time to sit down. An office visit is never a requirement, though. Most of a Chicago injury case runs by phone, text, and email, documents can be signed electronically, and Jeff will come to you at home or at the hospital when that makes more sense than putting an injured person on the Red Line.
In Cook County, larger injury claims are filed in the Law Division at the Richard J. Daley Center downtown, and smaller claims go to the Municipal Department district covering the place of the crash — Chicago, Skokie, Rolling Meadows, Maywood, Bridgeview, or Markham. A crash in the collar counties is normally filed in that county's circuit court: Wheaton for DuPage, Waukegan for Lake, Joliet for Will, St. Charles for Kane, Woodstock for McHenry. Venue matters more than people expect, because jury pools in different districts value identical injuries differently.
Significantly, and this is the mistake that ends otherwise strong Chicago claims. The Chicago Transit Authority requires written notice of an injury claim within six months of the incident, and suit within one year rather than the ordinary two. The same short clock applies in substance to other public bodies — the City of Chicago, the Park District, Pace, a school district, a township, or a county. If any public vehicle, bus, plow, or ambulance was involved, the case needs to be reviewed immediately rather than at your convenience.
It depends on what the driver's app was doing at the moment of the crash, which is why the trip record matters so much. With a passenger in the car or en route to a pickup, the rideshare company's commercial policy generally applies and the limits are far higher than a personal auto policy. App off, and it is an ordinary personal auto claim. App on but no ride accepted, and a smaller contingent policy may apply. Screenshot the trip in the app — receipt, driver name, times, and route — before that history scrolls away.
Yes, in two ways. The injuries tend to be more severe, and the fault argument is almost always that the pedestrian or cyclist did something wrong — crossed mid-block, left a bike lane, or was not visible. That argument is answered with evidence rather than with assertions, which means moving fast on intersection and business camera footage, CTA bus cameras, and doorbell video in dense neighborhoods, because most of it is overwritten within days. Illinois also requires a driver to leave at least three feet when passing a bicycle, and Chicago ordinances specifically address opening a car door into a cyclist's path.
Usually not. Illinois requires every auto policy to carry uninsured motorist coverage of at least $25,000 per person, and you cannot waive it, so a hit-and-run or an uninsured driver often means the claim moves to your own policy instead of disappearing. Underinsured motorist coverage, a resident relative's policy, an umbrella policy, an employer's policy if the at-fault driver was working, or a commercial or rideshare policy can all add coverage on top. Finding the policy nobody mentioned is a large part of the job.
No. Jeff is licensed in every county in Illinois and every county in Indiana, and reviews motor vehicle claims from anywhere in either state. This page exists because Chicago and the collar counties generate a large share of the calls, not because it is a boundary. Cross-border claims are routine here too — a Chicago resident hurt on the Borman in Indiana does not need a second firm.
BEYOND CHICAGOLAND
Licensed in two states, not one metro.
Chicago generates a large share of the calls here, but it is not the extent of the practice. Jeff is licensed in every county in Illinois and every county in Indiana, which matters more in this metro than most: the Indiana line is twenty minutes from the South Side, and a crash on the other side of it is still one attorney's case rather than a referral to a second firm.
Premises cases from Chicagoland as well. The same two-state coverage applies to slip and fall and premises liability claims — store and restaurant floors, apartment stairwells, garage and lot ice, and CTA platforms and city sidewalks, where the notice deadline can be six months rather than two years. Chicagoland also has more cameras than anywhere else in either state, and they overwrite in days.
FREE CASE REVIEW
Tell Jeff what happened.
Send the facts of your Chicago-area crash and they go directly to Jeff — the attorney who would work the file — whether it happened on the Kennedy, on an arterial like Western or Cicero, in a rideshare, or in a crosswalk downtown.
What comes back is a straight answer: whether there is a claim worth pursuing, what the deadline on it actually is, and what the next step should be. If the answer is that you do not need a lawyer, you will hear that too.
- Read by the attorney who would handle the case — not an intake service
- Free, with no obligation to hire anyone
- Most submissions get a call or text back the same day
- Evenings and weekends included
Talk to Jeff, not an intake line.
Free, no-obligation case review for motor vehicle accidents anywhere in Chicago and the collar counties. Most calls are returned the same day.