Injuries in Metro East Illinois create problems that St. Louis lawyers don't understand and Chicago attorneys can't be bothered to handle—you're stuck between two major cities with most Belleville Personal Injury Attorney options being either out-of-state lawyers who don't know Illinois law or distant Chicago firms treating St. Clair County like an afterthought, meanwhile insurance companies exploit this geographic isolation assuming you'll settle cheap because you think nobody good will take your case, all while you're dealing with medical bills from Memorial Hospital or HSHS St. Elizabeth's that you can't pay and lost wages from missing work at Scott Air Force Base or one of Belleville's manufacturing plants. I'm Scott DeSalvo, a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who's fought for 27 years getting Metro East injury victims the compensation they deserve, and I know St. Clair County courts, understand Belleville's unique position across the river from St. Louis, and won't treat your case like it's not worth my time just because you don't live in Cook County.
My father was a Teamster truck driver—hardworking, honest, provided for our family.
Then a workplace accident when I was nine years old left him with permanent back, neck, and spine injuries. He couldn't work. He needed help.
So he hired attorneys who promised to fight for him.
Instead, they ignored him. They botched his case. They let it drag on for seventeen years while providing no real help. Then—and this still makes me furious—they sued my father for additional fees after delivering terrible results.
We went from working-class stable to poor. My mom worked herself sick. My dad suffered physically from his injuries but emotionally from the betrayal of lawyers he'd trusted.
I watched this destruction unfold throughout my childhood, and I knew something was fundamentally wrong—lawyers exploiting the people they'd promised to help.
That's why I became a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney. Every client who calls me is my father. Every injured person deserves better representation than what my family received. As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I promise you'll get the honest, aggressive advocacy my father never got.
Belleville sits in an awkward position—Metro East Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, too far from Chicago for most attorneys to care about, creating a legal services gap that insurance companies exploit.
Here's what makes Belleville different and why you need a dedicated Belleville Personal Injury Attorney:
When you hire a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who actually practices in St. Clair County, you're getting someone who knows these unique factors. I know which intersections are dangerous. I know local judges. I understand Metro East dynamics. A Belleville Personal Injury Attorney with real local knowledge makes a substantial difference in outcome.
St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville operates with its own local rules, scheduling systems, judge preferences, and legal culture distinct from both Chicago-area courts and Missouri courts across the river.
Attorneys unfamiliar with St. Clair County procedures struggle. They miss deadlines. They don't understand local court customs. They don't know individual judges' approaches to settlement conferences or evidentiary disputes.
As an experienced Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I know St. Clair County Courthouse thoroughly. I know courthouse operations. I know judges and their individual approaches. That institutional knowledge directly improves your case outcome because I'm not learning on your case—I already know how everything works.
Scott Air Force Base brings thousands of military personnel and civilian contractors to Metro East, creating unique injury scenarios requiring a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who understands federal law intersecting with state personal injury claims.
Scott AFB-related accidents include off-duty military personnel in vehicle collisions, civilian contractor workplace injuries, accidents near base entrances on major roads, military vehicle accidents on public roadways, and injuries at base-adjacent commercial properties.
Cases involving military personnel or federal property require understanding Federal Tort Claims Act, Feres Doctrine barring certain military claims, sovereign immunity exceptions, and specific procedural requirements.
A Belleville Personal Injury Attorney familiar with federal-state law intersection knows how to navigate complex jurisdictional issues and pursue all available recovery avenues.
Interstate 64 runs through Belleville connecting St. Louis to points east, while Illinois Routes 15, 159, and 161 create major accident exposure requiring an experienced Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who handles serious highway collision cases.
Highway accidents include high-speed I-64 collisions, interchange accidents, commercial truck crashes, multi-vehicle pileups, construction zone accidents, and hit-and-run incidents.
Interstate accidents often involve catastrophic injuries due to high speeds, out-of-state defendants complicating jurisdiction, and commercial trucking company defendants requiring sophisticated litigation.
Your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney needs experience with interstate accident reconstruction, understanding of federal trucking regulations, and ability to pursue defendants across state lines.
Poplar Street Bridge and Jefferson Barracks Bridge connect Metro East Illinois to St. Louis, creating unique accident scenarios on bridge structures that a knowledgeable Belleville Personal Injury Attorney must understand.
Bridge accidents involve high-speed collisions in confined spaces, multi-vehicle chain reactions, bridge structure defects causing accidents, construction zone dangers, and jurisdictional questions when accidents occur at Illinois-Missouri border.
Bridge accident cases may involve Illinois Department of Transportation for maintenance failures, construction companies for work zone negligence, or Missouri entities complicating jurisdictional questions.
A Belleville Personal Injury Attorney experienced with bridge accidents knows how to identify all potentially liable parties and pursue claims across state lines when necessary.
Belleville's manufacturing and industrial base means frequent serious workplace injuries requiring a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who handles both workers' compensation claims and third-party liability cases.
Industrial accidents include machinery malfunctions, chemical exposure injuries, repetitive stress injuries, falls from heights, forklift accidents, crush injuries, and toxic exposure causing long-term health problems.
Illinois Workers' Compensation Act provides medical care and wage replacement, but carriers fight claims aggressively. Beyond workers' comp, third-party claims may exist against equipment manufacturers, property owners, or contractors.
An experienced Belleville Personal Injury Attorney maximizes total recovery through workers' comp plus all applicable third-party claims. My workers' comp fee is 20% by state statute, and I pursue every avenue of compensation available.
Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital serve Metro East Illinois, and when medical errors cause preventable harm, victims need a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who handles complex medical malpractice cases.
Hospital malpractice includes emergency department failures, surgical errors, diagnostic mistakes missing critical conditions, medication errors causing complications, anesthesia problems, and obstetric negligence causing birth injuries.
Medical malpractice cases require substantial investment in expert witnesses and are extraordinarily complex. Most attorneys avoid these cases entirely.
As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I accept medical malpractice cases when negligence is clear and harm is substantial. My fee is 33⅓%, which is standard Illinois rate. I'll hold negligent medical providers accountable.
MetroLink light rail serves Metro East connecting Belleville area to St. Louis, creating unique accident scenarios requiring a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who understands claims against public transit authorities.
MetroLink accidents include train-vehicle collisions at grade crossings, pedestrian strikes near tracks, passenger injuries from sudden stops or collisions, platform slip and falls, station stairway accidents, and inadequate security leading to assaults.
Transit authority claims involve governmental immunity issues, strict notice requirements, and shortened statutes of limitations. Missing procedural deadlines destroys claims permanently.
A knowledgeable Belleville Personal Injury Attorney understands governmental immunity limitations, knows notice requirements, and properly navigates claims against public transportation entities.
Car, truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian accidents happen daily throughout Belleville and Metro East requiring a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who handles all collision types.
Vehicle accidents include rear-end collisions, T-bone intersection crashes, left-turn accidents, drunk driving crashes, distracted driving accidents, hit-and-run incidents, uninsured motorist scenarios, and rideshare accidents involving Uber or Lyft.
Insurance companies use aggressive tactics to minimize payouts—recorded statements designed to elicit damaging admissions, quick lowball settlement offers, and blame-shifting to reduce their liability.
Your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney handles all insurance communications, negotiates aggressively for fair compensation, and files lawsuits when insurance companies refuse reasonable settlements.
Property owners throughout Belleville owe duties to keep premises safe, and when they fail causing injuries, a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney holds them accountable.
Premises liability includes slip and falls from wet floors or ice, inadequate lighting causing falls, broken stairs or handrails, inadequate security leading to assaults, dog bites, swimming pool accidents, and negligent property maintenance.
Property owners and their insurance companies fight premises liability claims hard. They claim hazards were obvious, you were trespassing, or you caused your own injuries.
Winning premises liability cases requires a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who documents dangerous conditions quickly before owners fix them and deny they existed, obtains witness statements, and proves owner had notice of dangerous conditions.
Metro East nursing homes and assisted living facilities sometimes fail to provide adequate care, and when elderly residents suffer preventable injuries, families need a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who pursues justice for vulnerable seniors.
Elder care negligence includes pressure ulcers from failure to reposition immobile residents, falls from inadequate supervision, malnutrition and dehydration from understaffing, medication errors, physical or emotional abuse, and wandering incidents.
Facilities deny wrongdoing, blame residents' pre-existing conditions, and conceal systematic failures through incomplete documentation.
As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I know how to obtain complete medical records, interview staff confidentially, consult geriatric care experts, and prove facility negligence.
Losing someone you love to preventable negligence creates devastating pain, and Illinois wrongful death law provides certain family members the right to pursue justice through a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney.
Wrongful death claims arise from fatal vehicle collisions, medical malpractice causing death, workplace fatalities, nursing home neglect leading to death, defective products, and any situation where negligence caused preventable death.
I approach wrongful death cases with profound seriousness and compassion. These cases address economic losses like funeral expenses and lost income but also immeasurable losses of companionship, guidance, and love.
If you've lost a family member to negligence in Metro East Illinois, please contact me as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney. I'll pursue justice with the dedication these heartbreaking cases demand.
Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries causing paralysis, severe burns, amputations, and multiple trauma create permanent disability requiring lifetime medical care and compensation that reflects full scope of losses—which requires an experienced Belleville Personal Injury Attorney.
Catastrophic cases demand life care planners projecting future medical needs, vocational experts assessing lost earning capacity, economists calculating present value of lifetime losses, and rehabilitation specialists designing long-term treatment plans.
Insurance companies fight catastrophic cases hardest because they know stakes are highest. They hire experts to minimize projected costs. They offer settlements sounding substantial but won't last even five years.
My trial training at Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College prepared me specifically for high-stakes catastrophic cases. As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I work with nationally recognized experts documenting your losses' full scope and testifying convincingly at trial when insurance companies won't settle fairly.
Zero upfront costs. Zero consultation fees. Zero case expenses until we win.
As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I advance every expense: filing fees, medical records, expert witnesses, depositions, court costs, everything. You pay absolutely nothing out of pocket.
My fees are straightforward: 20% for workers' compensation (state statutory rate), 33⅓% for personal injury cases, 40% if litigation becomes necessary, 33⅓% for medical malpractice. These are standard Illinois rates.
If we lose, you owe me nothing. I absorb all advanced costs. That's contingency representation done properly, and it's how I've operated as a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney for 27 years.
Call me at 3 a.m. Call me Sunday afternoon. Call me on holidays if you need help. I mean this literally as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney—24 hours daily, 7 days weekly, 365 days yearly.
You reach me or my team directly. No automated phone trees. No answering services promising callbacks that never materialize. No waiting until business hours.
Injuries don't respect business hours. Insurance adjusters call weekends betting you'll talk without a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney present. Medical questions arise at midnight when you're in a hospital bed.
That's why I'm available whenever you need me. Accessibility matters as much as legal skill when you're injured and need guidance.
When you hire me as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, you work with me personally throughout your entire case—not paralegals, not junior associates, me.
I return your phone calls personally. I meet with you. I negotiate with insurance companies myself. If we try your case, I stand beside you in court.
Some firms operate like assembly lines where the Belleville Personal Injury Attorney meets clients once then hands everything to staff. That's not my practice. You're not a file number—you're someone who's been hurt and deserves dedicated personal representation.
Most attorneys graduate law school, pass the bar, hang a shingle, and never pursue additional training. As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I've invested over $100,000 in advanced trial training with America's premier trial lawyers.
I graduated from Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College—one of the most selective trial training programs existing. I completed The Edge program—elite training fewer than one in 10,000 lawyers ever attempt.
This training matters tremendously when facing insurance companies with unlimited resources and defense teams. You need a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney who knows how to try cases and win. That's what I bring to your case.
As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I give honest assessments even when truth isn't what you want to hear.
If your case has weaknesses, I explain them clearly. If settlement offers are inadequate, I tell you exactly why. If litigation is necessary, I explain realistically what that means for timeline and outcome.
I don't make guarantees I can't keep. I don't pressure you into hiring me. We talk like normal people, I give straight answers, you make your own informed decision.
Even if you don't hire me as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I want us to end our conversation as friends. That's how I operate and how I've built my practice for 27 years.
See a doctor immediately even if you feel relatively okay. Many serious injuries don't produce immediate symptoms—whiplash manifests hours later, internal bleeding isn't always obvious, traumatic brain injuries take days showing effects.
Insurance companies use delayed treatment as evidence you weren't really injured. Don't give them that weapon. Get evaluated by medical professionals immediately, then contact a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney.
Photograph accident scenes from multiple angles. Photograph your injuries as they develop. Photograph property damage. Photograph hazardous conditions that contributed to your injury.
Collect witness names, phone numbers, addresses. Witnesses disappear quickly and memories fade fast.
Keep every document: medical records, bills, prescription receipts, insurance correspondence, wage loss documentation. This creates your evidentiary foundation that your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney needs to win your case.
Insurance adjusters call quickly sounding friendly and concerned, requesting recorded statements "just to document what happened."
Decline politely but firmly. Tell them you need to consult a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney first.
Adjusters use interrogation techniques eliciting damaging statements. They ask leading questions. They get you minimizing injuries or accepting partial fault. They create inconsistencies they'll exploit later to deny your claim.
Contact a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney immediately. I'll handle all insurance communications protecting your rights.
Insurance companies make rapid lowball offers betting you don't understand your case's value and are financially desperate enough to accept anything.
Once you accept and sign the release, you can never return for additional compensation—even if you later discover injuries are far worse than initially understood.
Before accepting any settlement, call a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney for free consultation. I'll assess whether their offer is remotely fair or exploitative.
Insurance companies monitor social media obsessively searching for anything contradicting injury claims or suggesting exaggeration.
That photo of you smiling at a family event? They'll claim you can't be in pain. That gym check-in? They'll argue injuries aren't serious.
Safest approach: complete social media silence until your case resolves. If impossible, absolutely don't post about your accident, injuries, activities, or emotional state. Discuss this with your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney.
Evidence vanishes quickly. Surveillance footage gets recorded over. Witnesses move or forget. Property owners repair hazards and deny they existed. Insurance companies solidify denial positions.
By the time you finally hire a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, critical evidence may be permanently lost. The winnable case becomes impossible to prove.
Don't wait. Contact an experienced Belleville Personal Injury Attorney immediately. Early intervention preserves evidence and protects your rights from the start.
Insurance companies employ full-time adjusters and attorneys whose sole purpose is minimizing payouts. They know you don't understand Illinois law. They know you don't know fair case values. They know you're probably financially desperate.
They'll exploit every advantage ruthlessly against unrepresented claimants.
Even seemingly simple cases benefit enormously from experienced representation by a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney. The difference between self-representation and hiring a skilled attorney can easily be tens of thousands of dollars in additional compensation.
Be completely truthful with your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney about injuries, medical history, and accident impact. If you've had prior injuries, disclose them. If you can do some activities but not others, explain specifically.
Insurance companies investigate everything thoroughly. They'll obtain all medical records. They'll hire investigators. They'll search social media exhaustively. If they catch you lying, your case evaporates completely.
Complete honesty with your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney is essential. I need truth so I can address potential problems proactively rather than get blindsided at trial.
If you skip appointments or ignore doctor recommendations, insurance companies argue injuries can't be serious. Consistent medical care proves injury severity and creates documentation your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney needs to win.
Attend every appointment. Follow prescribed treatments. Take medications as directed. Complete recommended therapy. This helps you heal and strengthens your legal claim simultaneously.
The other party's insurance company is not your friend. They exist to pay you as little as possible—ideally nothing.
They'll seem pleasant. They'll tell you that hiring a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney just complicates things. Every word is calculated deception designed to save them money.
Don't engage with them. Let your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney handle every interaction. That's what you hire me to do—protect your interests against insurance company tactics.
Find Out What YOUR Case Might Be Worth...for free.
Illinois generally allows two years from injury date to file personal injury lawsuits. Workers' compensation cases provide three years, but you must notify your employer within 45 days.
Exceptions exist—medical malpractice, governmental liability, and other situations have different deadlines that your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney must track carefully.
The sooner you contact a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, the stronger your case becomes. Evidence quality degrades rapidly with time, and waiting reduces your leverage substantially.
Illinois law allows comprehensive compensation beyond just medical expenses that your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney will pursue:
Insurance companies won't inform you about these categories. That's why you need a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney pursuing every dollar you're entitled to receive under Illinois law.
Illinois uses modified comparative negligence. You can recover damages as long as you're less than 50% at fault. Your award gets reduced by your fault percentage.
Example: You're 25% at fault. Total damages are $160,000. You recover $120,000.
Insurance companies always try inflating your fault percentage to reduce their payout. A skilled Belleville Personal Injury Attorney fights to ensure fault allocation is accurate and fair, protecting your full compensation.
We begin with no-obligation consultation. Call me 24/7 as your potential Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, or we'll meet wherever is convenient—my Oak Brook office, your home in Belleville, even the hospital if necessary.
I'll listen carefully, answer questions honestly, and give you genuine assessment—strengths, weaknesses, realistic expectations. You decide whether to hire me as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney. No pressure. No obligation. No cost.
If you hire me as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I launch into immediate action. Obtaining police reports. Interviewing witnesses. Photographing scenes. Collecting medical records. Analyzing insurance policies. Consulting experts when necessary.
I use proprietary case management software I developed to handle cases more efficiently than traditional firms. This means we discover critical information earlier and build stronger cases faster for better outcomes.
Your health is absolute priority. If you have insurance, use it. If you lack insurance, I'll connect you with quality providers who treat on a lien basis—waiting for payment until we resolve your case.
As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I ensure all treatment is thoroughly documented. This creates the medical evidence foundation we need to prove your case and maximize compensation.
After you complete treatment, I calculate your case's full value. This includes medical expenses, wage loss, pain and suffering, permanent disability, and all other damages.
I send comprehensive demand packages to insurance companies. Having negotiated thousands of settlements over 27 years as a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I know these cases' true values. I don't accept inadequate offers.
Approximately 90% of my cases settle during negotiation. But that high settlement rate exists because insurance companies know I'm fully prepared to try cases as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney.
If insurers refuse fair compensation, I file lawsuits without hesitation. I've handled over 30 jury trials plus hundreds of depositions and arbitrations. Some attorneys fear courtrooms. I don't.
When insurance companies see you have a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney ready to take the case to verdict, they typically settle rather than risk jury judgment.
Whether through settlement or verdict, my goal as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney is always maximizing your compensation. When we succeed, I deduct my contingency fee, subtract advanced costs, and you receive the remainder.
If we lose—which happens rarely—you pay me nothing. That's my promise as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney.
Illinois typically allows two years from injury date to file personal injury lawsuits. Workers' compensation cases provide three years, but employer notification is required within 45 days.
Exceptions exist to these rules. The sooner you contact a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, the better your case prospects become because evidence degrades over time and witness memories fade.
Nothing upfront, nothing out of pocket. Pure contingency—I only get paid when you get paid first.
My fee as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney is 20% for workers' compensation (statutory rate), 33⅓% for injury cases, or 40% if we must file suit. These are standard Illinois rates. I advance all costs. If we lose, you owe me nothing.
Absolutely not. Never accept without consulting a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney first.
Initial offers are always lowball. Insurance companies bet you don't know your case's true value and are desperate enough to accept anything quickly.
Once you sign the release and accept payment, you can't return later for additional money—even if injuries prove far worse than initially thought. Call a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney before accepting anything.
Yes, provided you're less than 50% at fault. Illinois uses modified comparative negligence, reducing your award by your fault percentage.
Example: You're 30% at fault. Damages are $150,000. You recover $105,000.
Insurance companies love inflating your fault percentage. A skilled Belleville Personal Injury Attorney fights to ensure fault allocation is accurate and fair.
Don't let insurance absence prevent you from getting necessary care. As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I can connect you with medical providers who treat on a lien basis—providing care now and receiving payment later from your settlement.
Your health is paramount. I'll ensure you receive proper treatment regardless of current insurance status.
It depends on multiple variables: your injury severity, treatment duration, whether litigation becomes necessary, insurance company reasonableness, and court schedules if we proceed to trial.
Some cases settle within months. Others require a year or longer. What I promise as your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney is aggressive case prosecution because you need money now, not years from now.
Probably not. Roughly 90% of my cases settle without trial.
If we file suit, you might need courtroom appearances for depositions or hearings. If we actually try the case, you'll need to testify.
But most cases resolve through negotiation. When insurance companies know you have a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney prepared to try the case, they typically settle rather than risk jury verdict.
Pre-existing injuries don't automatically kill your case. Illinois law permits claims for "aggravation" or "exacerbation" of pre-existing conditions.
The key is complete honesty with your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney about medical history. Insurance companies will obtain previous records anyway. If you lie or conceal past injuries, it destroys your credibility completely.
A Belleville Personal Injury Attorney experienced with pre-existing condition cases knows how to prove this accident significantly worsened your prior condition.
No. Illinois law prohibits retaliation for filing workers' compensation claims.
Of course, proving retaliation can be challenging. Employers rarely admit "we fired you for filing workers' comp." They'll claim performance issues or other pretexts.
If you believe you were fired in retaliation, call a Belleville Personal Injury Attorney immediately. I handle retaliatory discharge cases and know how to prove them.
You might still recover through your uninsured motorist (UM) coverage.
Many people don't realize their own auto policy includes this coverage. It protects you when hit by uninsured or underinsured drivers.
As your Belleville Personal Injury Attorney, I examine every insurance policy thoroughly—yours, the at-fault driver's, any other potentially liable parties—to identify every possible recovery source.
Scott DeSalvo founded DeSalvo Law to help injured people throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, IARDC #6244452, Scott has represented over 3,000 clients in personal injury, workers compensation, and accident cases.
No Fee Unless You Win | Free Consultation | 24/7 Availability Call or Text: (312) 500-4500
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Main Office:
1000 Jorie Blvd Ste 204
Oak Brook, IL 60523
New Cases: 312-500-4500
Office: 312-895-0545
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