Hartford Insurance
Group

A Personal Injury Law Firm Serving Greater Chicago and Illinois

The Hartford Insurance Group sits just outside of the top 10 players in the gigantic U.S. auto insurance market. Despite the millions of dollars it pays out in claims every year, the bottom line is that The Hartford operates just like every other for-profit business – it attempts to maximize revenue while minimizing expenditures. And, paying your auto accident claim is an expenditure that cuts into its profits.
When you are injured in an accident caused by another driver, you will face one of two possible scenarios: Making a third-party claim against the defendant’s insurance policy, or making a claim against your own insurance policy (if the defendant was uninsured, for example). There are two mistakes that you can make when you have a sizeable claim against The Hartford for an injury auto accident – attempting to negotiate with them yourself, and retaining substandard legal representation to do it for you. Negotiating insurance claims is what insurance companies do for a living, and they know exactly what they are doing. It is not enough, however, to hire a lawyer who knows how to negotiate auto accident claims. Insurance companies laugh at lawyers who know how to negotiate but lack the skills to enforce their claims in court, because negotiating skills are useless without the ability to actually compel an insurance company to pay if it refuses to raise its offer. The Hartford Insurance Group knows about Malman Law from years of experience resolving claims with us – and they’re not laughing. That is one of the reasons, ironically, that we settle 95 percent of our clients’ claims out of court. The term “95 percent” has two meanings at Malman Law – it represents the percentage of our clients’ claims that are settled out of court, and it also represents the percentage of our cases that are ultimately successful. Furthermore, our success rate is based on more than 20,000 personal injury clients over two decades of practice. Our track record is one of the reasons why we offer our Zero Fee Guarantee – if we don’t win, you don’t pay us a dime in legal fees. Moreover, any legal fees we charge you will be proportionate to the amount we recover for you. Unlike the relationship between you and The Hartford (where they make money only by diminishing your claim), your interests will be harmonious with ours. We understand that your main concern is to receive a recovery as fast as possible without having to settle for an amount that is less than your claim is worth, and that is what we will be aiming for from the moment we take your case. We will not hesitate to fight it out in court, however, if The Hartford insists on being stubborn.

Our Results Speak for Themselves

“Two years ago I was involved in a trucking accident involving a 14-wheeler truck that nearly disabled me for life. Steve fought to make sure that I received the most possible compensation for my injuries. I was about to take the insurance company’s lowball offer, but decided to call Steve first — it was the best decision I’ve made yet.” – Malman Law client

Practice Areas

• Vehicle accidents: A traffic accident can turn your life upside down in an instant. In most cases, however, accidents don’t “just happen” – they are caused by careless behavior such as texting while driving, speeding, drunkenness, and aggressive driving. Even if the accident was partly your fault, you may still be entitled to at least some compensation.
• Nursing home abuse: Symptoms such as fractures, bedsores, and even emotional problems can point to nursing home abuse. Since nursing homes are governed by  comprehensive regulations at both the state and federal level, tracing such symptoms to a regulatory violation is often crucial to establishing liability.
• Workers’ compensation claims: Workers’ compensation rules generally apply to occupational injuries. These types of claims offer both advantages and disadvantages over ordinary personal injury claims. It is not necessary to prove employer negligence, for example; yet, damages for “pain and suffering” are prohibited. Our lawyers fully understand the Illinois workers’ compensation bureaucracy and know how to make it work for you.
• Medical malpractice: Every one of us is forced to trust a doctor with our life at some point or another, which is why it is so shocking when a doctor harms a patient by breaching that trust. Illinois medical malpractice law provides for full compensation if you know how to apply it.
• Slip and fall accidents: Slip and fall accidents result in a wide variety of injuries, ranging from sprained ankles to broken hips to lifelong paralysis. The typical slip and fall claim arises when a property owner fails to keep the property safe for visitors.
• Product liability: A product liability claim arises when a product in the stream of commerce causes injury to a user or a third party. Product liability claims work differently than other types of personal injury claims, in part because they are based on well-defined product liability statutes that do not necessarily require the victim to prove negligence.
• Dog bites: Dog bite claims are governed by the Illinois dog bite statute. This statute holds a dog owner liable for injuries caused by the dog, with no need to prove the owner was at fault. Any dog bite injury will qualify – liability is not limited to bite injuries alone.
• Wrongful death: A wrongful death claim arises when a victim with a valid personal injury claim dies from his or her injuries. Any type of personal injury can qualify, including auto accident injuries, slip and fall accidents, product liability accidents, and even intentional criminal acts. Wrongful death settlements go to the victim’s estate and close relatives.