Hit & Run Accident Lawyer in Chicago

Trial-Tested Leverage for Chicago Hit & Run Victims

When another driver causes a crash and flees, you’re left to pursue compensation without the person most responsible at the table. Under Illinois law (625 ILCS 5/11-401), any driver involved in a crash causing injury or death must stop, provide their information, and render reasonable assistance. Leaving the scene is a criminal offense: a Class A misdemeanor for property damage only, and a felony when someone is hurt or killed. That legal duty means nothing if the driver is never found.

The practical burden shifts to you. Recovery in a hit and run accident in Chicago typically depends on negotiating with your own insurance company under your uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, not pursuing the fleeing driver directly. That negotiation is adversarial. Insurers have every incentive to minimize what they pay, and without real leverage, victims frequently recover less than their losses warrant.

Trial-Ready Representation Insurers Take Seriously

Most personal injury firms settle. Our attorneys at MDR LAW LLC go to trial when the outcome demands it, and that posture changes how insurers respond at the negotiating table. Our team brings over 250 years of combined trial experience to every case. Partners Lauren Levin Budz and Martin J. Lucas demonstrated this directly when they won a $4.5 million jury verdict against the City of Chicago in a police pursuit case, choosing trial over an inadequate settlement against an institutional defendant.

That track record matters in hit-and-run claims because UM negotiations involve an insurer that knows whether your attorney will actually litigate. Our attorneys can. MDR LAW LLC was founded in 2005 by Joseph J. Miroballi, Albert E. Durkin, and Scott H. Rudin, and has represented Chicago injury victims for nearly two decades. Our team communicates in Spanish, Arabic, American Sign Language, and several other languages so that nothing is lost in the process.

How Illinois Law Handles an Unidentified Driver

Illinois treats an unidentified hit-and-run driver as an uninsured motorist, which means your own UM coverage becomes the primary source of compensation. Every Illinois auto policy must include UM coverage at minimum limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash, and that coverage can’t be waived (215 ILCS 5/143a). If the driver is later identified and turns out to be uninsured, your UM coverage still applies. If they carry insurance but not enough, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage may cover the gap.

One limitation to know: many Illinois UM policies include a physical-contact rule, requiring that the fleeing vehicle actually struck yours before the policy pays. Under Illinois law, insurers are permitted to impose this restriction on uninsured motorist property damage coverage. If your vehicle was run off the road without direct contact, coverage eligibility turns on your specific policy language, which is one reason having an attorney review that policy early matters.