Are oftentimes very stressful, and depending on the exact circumstances of the event, getting an outcome in your favor can be difficult. Even if someone’s dog seriously harmed you, there are various factors that might make it difficult to get compensation.
To help navigate the courtroom and increase your chances of being properly compensated, you need to find the best dog bite lawyer possible to represent you.
That can be a challenging task if you haven’t dealt with the legal field much in your life, but today, we’re going to go over 8 tips for choosing the best dog bite lawyer for your needs.
Let’s get started.
The first thing you need to do is ensure that you’re dealing with a qualified lawyer with all of their education requirements met, professional training, and professional experience. All of these things are provable, and they will typically be very easily verifiable just by checking the lawyer’s site or asking them outright. Much like doctors who frame their achievements and provide in-depth portfolios of their credentials, lawyers don’t hide their core qualifications or make you look for them.
It’s very unlikely that you’ll even find someone who isn’t properly qualified from an educational or certification standpoint, but it is important to ensure that you don’t hire a lawyer with no real-world experience. That is a plausible scenario, and it can go poorly for you.
Beyond the core qualifications being met, you also need to ensure that the lawyer you hire specializes in dog bite cases. This is the case for almost any type of court case. You don’t want to hire a lawyer that handles car accidents to work on your medical malpractice case, a Workers’ Comp lawyer to debate civil case with your neighbor, or any of that. You want one with lots of experience working on cases just like yours.
The fact is, the law is extremely complex, and each type of case is subject to its own niche laws. Without specializing in dog bites, a lawyer can be extremely talented in one principle of law, but they can miss very simple details specifically pertaining to dog bite cases. That can cost your case even if you technically deserve justice.
A lawyer will typically list their specialties on their website, and oftentimes, their core specialty is part of their marketing and branding. You’ve probably seen this with a lot of the lawyers who have ads taken out on television.
Of course, don’t look for a lawyer who only has “dog bites” listed as their specialty. Most lawyers work with multiple specialties that are similar to one another.
Dog Bites are often blown off or undermined as minor situations. In the average person’s life, a dog bite isn’t a serious injury. Overzealous nipping during playtime or when meeting a new person is common. However, when it goes to court, it’s typically far more serious. Even bites that don’t seem to be too serious can have dramatic side effects depending on the shots the dog has gotten, where the bite was, and more.
You want a lawyer who fully understands how serious a dog bite can be. Not only does it mean they’ll be able to present the case appropriately, but it also means that they’ll fully understand what your case is worth.
Hiring a lawyer is a lot like drafting a new quarterback in football. You have a lot on the line, and you want to know that your lawyer can get you the result you’re looking for.
In the simplest terms, you want a lawyer who wins a lot. If they have a history of losing cases or making bad decisions that leave their clients with minimal compensation, then you don’t want to hire them for your case.
However, don’t just look at their wins. Many cases end in settlements, and no one wins or loses on paper when that happens. Instead, high payouts that resemble what the client was originally asking for are good signs.
You’re not just hiring a lawyer. You’re also gaining access to all the resources that lawyer might or might not have.
Lawyers can have good relationships with expert witnesses, the ability to get more evidence that you don’t have access to, resources that help you with insurance claims, etc.
See what the lawyer has to offer beyond just representing you in the courtroom.
Look for an attorney who has handled dog bite cases under the Illinois Animal Control Act (510 ILCS 5/16) regularly - not a general personal injury lawyer who takes one dog bite case a year. The Illinois statute is a strict liability framework with very specific defenses (provocation and lack of lawful presence) that an experienced dog bite lawyer knows how to defeat. Ask the attorney how many dog bite cases they have handled and what their approach is to the standard 'provocation' defense the homeowner's carrier will run.
Yes - it matters more than most clients realize. Illinois is a strict liability state for dog bites, which means a victim does not have to prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous. But the statute carries narrow defenses (provocation, lack of lawful presence) that insurers raise routinely and that have generated decades of Illinois appellate case law. A lawyer who handles these cases regularly knows how the appellate courts have defined 'provocation' (narrowly), how the lawful presence defense actually works, and how to use the Act's strict liability framework rather than ordinary negligence to maximize recovery.
Nothing upfront. Dog bite cases are handled on a contingency fee basis. The standard personal injury fee in Illinois is one-third of the recovery. The lawyer advances case costs - expert witness fees, medical record fees, deposition costs, filing fees - and is reimbursed out of the settlement. If there is no recovery, the client owes nothing. The economics are the same whichever attorney handles the case, so pick based on experience and how the case will be handled, not on cost.
How many dog bite cases have you handled? Will you personally work on the case or hand it off to a paralegal or junior associate? How do you handle the provocation and trespass defenses if the homeowner's carrier raises them? What is your approach to documenting scarring and disfigurement damages? Do you work with plastic surgeons or scar revision specialists? Will you take the case to trial if the insurer refuses to make a fair offer? Are you familiar with the Illinois Animal Control Act and the case law interpreting it? How will you communicate with me as the case progresses?
Straightforward cases with clear liability and documented injuries often settle within six to twelve months. Cases involving significant scarring or scar revision surgery, nerve damage, or psychological trauma - particularly involving children - may take one to two years to fully develop the damages picture before serious settlement negotiations make sense. A good dog bite lawyer does not rush a case before the medical picture is complete because early settlements consistently leave money on the table.
Yes. Clients always have the right to discharge their attorney and hire a different one. The new attorney typically negotiates the prior attorney's fee out of the contingency fee at the end of the case so the client is not paying double. If the case has not been actively worked on, communication has broken down, or the prior lawyer's handling is clearly costing the case value, switching is sometimes the right move. Discussing it with a second attorney costs nothing - call 312-500-4500 for a confidential second opinion.
A lawyer who promises a specific dollar number at the consultation before reviewing the medical records is selling, not analyzing. A firm where you never speak directly with the attorney and only deal with intake people or paralegals. A lawyer whose website lists 'dog bite' but who, when asked, has not actually handled many Illinois Animal Control Act cases. A lawyer who pressures you to sign a contingency fee agreement at the first meeting before you have had time to consider it. A lawyer who downplays the severity of scarring or psychological trauma instead of treating those as major components of the case.
The lawyer needs to be licensed in Illinois and familiar with Illinois Animal Control Act case law - but they do not necessarily need to be in your specific suburb. Most dog bite cases are handled through written correspondence, telephone calls, video conferencing, and a handful of in-person meetings. What matters more is the attorney's experience with dog bite cases, their familiarity with the homeowner's insurance carriers that defend these claims, and their willingness to travel to your medical providers, the scene, or the venue where the case would be tried. My office is in Oak Brook and we serve clients throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
Would you like to know more about tips for choosing dog bite lawyer?
If you or a loved one is dealing with a situation like this, give us a call any time, day or night. We are here to help. 312-500-4500
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.
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