You're reading this because someone you love died. And from what you're telling yourself, it didn't have to happen. Someone screwed up. Someone wasn't paying attention. Someone cut corners.
Now you're trying to hold it together while figuring out how to pay for a funeral, how to cover bills without their income, and how to answer questions from family members who keep asking what you're going to do.
I'm Scott DeSalvo. I help families in Bedford Park when someone dies because of another person's negligence. Been doing this for over 20 years now.
Here's something that happened last year. Guy was working at one of the big distribution centers here in Bedford Park—you know, the ones along Cicero Avenue. Loading dock accident. Forklift operator wasn't watching, truck driver got crushed. He didn't make it.
His wife called me from the hospital. She was crying so hard I could barely understand her. But I got the important part: "Scott, how am I supposed to tell our kids their dad's not coming home? How do I keep the house?"
I drove there that night. Because that's what you do.
Look, I can't bring your loved one back. Wish I could. What I can do is help your family get compensated, make sure the people responsible answer for it, and try to give you one less thing to worry about right now.
And here's the deal: You don't need money to hire me. I don't charge you anything unless I win your case. That's how I've always worked.
Give me a call. Let's talk through what happened.
The law gets complicated, but here's the simple version.
Wrongful death is when someone dies because another person or company did something wrong, was careless, or didn't do what they were supposed to do.
Easy test: If your loved one could've sued for their injuries if they'd lived, you've probably got a wrongful death case.
Bedford Park's different from a lot of other communities. You've got tons of industrial stuff—warehouses, distribution centers, truck traffic everywhere. I've worked a lot of cases here. Here's what I see:
This is huge in Bedford Park. All those warehouses and distribution centers? When companies care more about meeting shipping deadlines than keeping people safe, workers die.
Forklift hits someone. Guy falls off a loading dock. Gets pinned between a truck and a building. Crushed by falling merchandise. Chemical exposure in one of the facilities.
And here's what people don't always realize: Workers' comp pays some benefits, sure. But a wrongful death lawsuit can go after everybody else whose negligence contributed—the general contractor, the equipment company, whoever. That usually means more money for your family.
Bedford Park sits right where all the truck traffic is. Cicero Avenue is crazy with semis. Same with 65th Street and over near Midway Airport.
I've handled cases where:
When you've got that much commercial traffic and drivers who are tired, overworked, or not paying attention, people die.
People around here go to Christ Hospital, MacNeal, other hospitals in the area. Most doctors are good at what they do. But sometimes they make mistakes that kill people.
Surgeon leaves something inside you. Doctor misses cancer on a scan. Wrong medication. Anesthesia error. Baby dies during delivery because nobody was watching closely enough.
These cases are tough because hospitals have big law firms defending them. But I've done it before and won.
We've got nursing homes throughout this area. When they're understaffed or staff isn't trained properly, residents die.
Your parent develops bedsores so bad they get infected and die. They're not getting enough food or water. Wrong medications. They fall because nobody's watching. Sometimes staff is actually abusing residents.
If a nursing home's neglect killed your mom or dad, they need to answer for it.
Business owners, industrial sites, landlords—they all have a responsibility to keep their property safe.
Someone slips on ice that wasn't cleared and hits their head. Parking lot with no lighting where someone gets attacked. Stairway collapses. Pool drowning.
If someone died because a property owner wasn't doing their job, that's on them.
Dog attacks. Defective products. Construction accidents. Bar fights where security should've stepped in.
If you're wondering whether what happened to your loved one counts, just call me. We'll figure it out.
This trips people up because Illinois has weird rules about it.
Only one person can file—the personal representative of the estate. Usually that's whoever's named in the will, or if there's no will, someone the court appoints. Most of the time it's the spouse, an adult kid, or a parent.
Even though one person files, they're doing it for everyone—spouse, kids, parents, whoever lost someone.
Then at the end, whether we settle or win, the money gets divided up based on how dependent each person was on the deceased.
Sometimes families ask if everyone needs their own lawyer. Nope. One case, one lawyer. That's how Illinois does it.
I handle all the probate stuff—the paperwork, the court filings, all of it. You don't need to figure that out.
Let me be straight: Money doesn't bring them back. Can't do that. Nobody can.
But it can help. It pays the bills. Replaces the income. Covers your kids' college someday. Takes some of the financial pressure off while you're trying to figure out how to move forward.
Everything they spent on medical care from when they got hurt until they died. ER, hospital, surgery, ICU, medications, ambulance.
Around here you're looking at ten, fifteen grand or more. Funeral home, casket, burial, service, headstone. It adds up fast.
This is usually the big one. All the money they would've made for the rest of their working life. Salary, raises, bonuses, benefits.
I bring in economists who calculate this based on their age, job, work history, all of it.
Health insurance they had through work. Pension. 401k. Social Security. All that has value.
Taking care of kids. Fixing things. Managing money. Cooking. Driving everyone around. That all has economic value too.
For a spouse—you lost the person you were supposed to grow old with. Your best friend. Your partner in everything.
Losing someone to teach them about life. To be there for the big moments. To help them through the hard times.
The grief. The depression. The trauma. The empty chair at dinner. This is real and it counts.
Good news: Illinois doesn't say "You can only get X amount no matter what." If a jury thinks your case is worth five million, you get five million.
There are some exceptions for medical malpractice, but even those have workarounds.
One thing Illinois doesn't allow: punitive damages. Those are the extra damages to punish really bad behavior.
You can get them in regular injury cases, but not once someone's died. It's weird. I don't get it either.
But you can still get substantial money without them.
You call. We talk about what happened. I listen. I ask questions. I answer yours. I tell you honestly if I think you've got a case.
This costs nothing. You're not committing to anything.
If you hire me, I get to work. Police reports, medical records, witness statements, video if it exists, all of it.
I go to the accident scene myself. Take pictures. Figure out what went wrong.
We need to set up the estate and get someone appointed as representative. There's court stuff.
I do all that. Don't worry about it.
Usually there's more than one defendant. The person who caused it, their employer, insurance companies, property owners, equipment makers.
More defendants usually means more money available.
Before filing a lawsuit, I usually send the insurance company a letter saying "Here's what happened, here's why you're liable, here's what we want."
Sometimes cases settle here if they see we've got them.
If they're being unreasonable, I file in Cook County court.
Both sides exchange information. I ask them questions under oath. I demand documents. I take depositions.
This takes months but it's where I build the case.
Most cases settle before trial. Insurance companies settle when they see you've got a lawyer who knows what he's doing and isn't scared of trial.
If we can't settle for what it's worth, we go to trial. I've done it before. Multiple times.
Once we settle or win, the court approves how it gets divided, we pay any debts, you get your share.
I keep you updated the whole time. You can call me with questions anytime.
Important: You don't have forever to file. Miss the deadline and that's it. You lose the right to sue.
Illinois gives you two years from when they died to file. Not from when they got hurt. From when they died.
If someone killed your loved one on purpose, you get five years or one year after the criminal case ends, whichever is later.
Medical malpractice cases have their own timing rules. Basically two years from when you discovered it, but never more than four years from when it happened.
If a doctor's mistake killed your loved one, call me sooner rather than later.
Evidence disappears. Witnesses move. Video footage gets deleted. The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
And your bills aren't waiting two years.
Find Out What YOUR Case Might Be Worth...for free.
Most people don't know this, but Illinois gives you two types of lawsuits.
This one's for the family. Compensates you for losing them—lost income, lost companionship, grief.
This one's for what they went through before they died. Pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages during that time.
Why? Because filing both means more money for your family.
Example: Your husband was in an accident at work. He was in the hospital for a week before he died. He was conscious and in pain that whole time.
Wrongful death action compensates you and your kids. Survival action compensates for that week of suffering.
Call me at midnight. Call me on Sunday. I'll answer.
This is all I do. Not divorces. Not business stuff. Just injury and wrongful death cases.
Twenty years means I know how these cases work, what they're worth, and what tricks insurance companies pull.
I've spent over a hundred grand on advanced trial training. Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyer's College. "The Edge" program.
Most lawyers never do this kind of training. I do it because it makes me better at getting you results.
Not a paralegal. Not some intake person. Me.
No retainer. No hourly bills. Nothing out of pocket. I only get paid if you get paid.
Some lawyers settle everything because they've never been to trial. I've tried wrongful death cases in front of juries.
Insurance companies know that. They know I'm willing to go to court. That's why I get better settlements.
I'm not some downtown lawyer who's never been here. I know the industrial areas, the roads, the accident patterns.
Depends. Every case is different. I'll give you my honest opinion when we talk.
Maybe. If we settle, probably not. If we go to trial, family members usually testify. I prepare you if that happens.
Simple cases, maybe 6-12 months. Complicated cases, could be a couple years. I work as fast as I can while making sure we get full value.
Yep. They're separate. You can sue no matter what happens in criminal court.
Illinois reduces your money by their percentage of fault. But if they were more than half at fault, you can't get anything.
I look everywhere—your family's insurance, employers, property owners, manufacturers, workers' comp. Sometimes I find money other lawyers miss.
When I was nine, my dad got badly hurt at work. He was a truck driver. Hard worker. Never complained about anything.
Then one day everything changed. Permanent injuries. Couldn't work anymore.
He hired a lawyer who treated him like garbage. The case dragged on for 17 years. At the end, his own lawyer sued him over fees.
We went from doing okay to struggling. I watched my dad deal with his injuries and with how the system failed him.
I put myself through school with one goal: Make sure what happened to my dad doesn't happen to other families.
I only represent injured people. Never insurance companies. I take the tough cases. I keep training to get better.
Your fight really is my fight.
Every day you wait, evidence disappears.
Call anytime. Two in the morning, Sunday afternoon, doesn't matter.
We'll talk. I'll answer your questions. I'll tell you if you have a case.
Free. No pressure.
Your family deserves justice.
Hiring Scott was one of the best moves I have made in my life. Scott is a down to earth person and attorney. Scott is a 5 star first class act who really knows his stuff. The Judge said his presentation was one of if not the best he had ever seen. Take my advice, hire Scott I’m sure you’ll be 200% satisfied I was.
Scott not only cares about the case, but he truly cares about his clients and that makes him the best lawyer I have ever met and hired! He won my case! He is thorough in everything he does. I highly recommend Scott, and will always refer him to family and friends.
I hired Scott DeSalvo upon a friend’s recommendation. His office kept me informed of developments as they happened, and I felt the settlement reached was fair considering my injuries. I would highly recommend Scott DeSalvo to represent your personal injury case.
I work with families throughout Bedford Park and nearby communities—Burbank, Bridgeview, Justice, Summit, Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, and the Southwest Chicago suburbs.
Call Me: 312-500-4500
I also handle: Worker's Compensation | Nursing Home Abuse | Construction Accidents | Car Accidents | Slip and Fall | Dog Bites | Medical Malpractice | Motorcycle Accidents
Main Office:
1000 Jorie Blvd Ste 204
Oak Brook, IL 60523
New Cases: 312-500-4500
Office: 1 312-895-0545
Fax: 1 866-629-1817
service@desalvolaw.com
Chicago and Other Suburban Offices
By Appointment Only
