Read The Stories Of Real Clients Our Attorneys Have Helped

Police officer Joseph injured his back when responding to an auto accident involving an elderly man crashing into a traffic signal. Joseph and other officers on the scene moved the traffic signal out of the roadway. He thought a little rest would cure the radiating pain in his back and down his right leg, but time just increased it. An MRI later revealed two herniated discs in his spine. After many visits to back and pain specialists, followed by two spine surgeries performed by a neurosurgeon, the pain continued in his leg and back. The injury prevented him from returning to active duty on the police force. At 40 years old with a wife and two children to support, Joseph needed help.

“I wasn’t getting any better after a year of physical therapy and two surgeries,” Joseph said. “I started having some doubts about my treatment plan and if my employer had my best interests in mind. They wanted me to go back to work, though I had serious medical problems. I needed legal representation for my workers’ compensation claim. I was hopeful that if I got in touch with the right people legally and medically that the situation would resolve and I could get back to normal.”

Another law firm referred Joseph to Ryan Theriault for his combined experience in personal injury, workers’ compensation and public safety claims. Theriault had an excellent record in representing police officers injured in the line of duty, and a legal team considered to be one of the state’s top workers’ compensation firms. Ryan and his legal team have successfully represented hundreds of clients in workers’ compensation cases that resulted in settlements with long-term financial, pension, and health care compensation.

“Ryan gave me sound legal advice and was the buffer between me and the insurance company that was handling the workers’ comp claim,” Joseph said. “He could tell me what was right and wrong. And I trusted him to give me the honest answer.”

After aligning with Theriault, Joseph visited a new doctor outside of the workers’ compensation doctors referred by the nurse caseworker. That doctor, along with subsequent doctors he visited for second and third opinions, confirmed that his injury was permanent. They tried aqua therapy and physical therapy, but nothing improved his condition.

“You know every morning, I wake up and hope I am going to feel a little better, but it is exactly the same,” Joseph said.

Joseph is permanently disabled. He must use a cane to walk and a scooter when out of the house. He has nerve damage in his back and constant numbness in his right leg. Joseph was forced to leave the police department at 40 years old due to his disability.

Theriault filed a disability pension claim for Joseph, as well as a third-party case against the driver of the offending vehicle.  Theriault also ensured that Joseph receives health care insurance for the rest of his life as part of his retirement disability, due to his injury in the line of duty.

“Ryan went out of his way to represent me at the pension board hearing for my disability pension. And he put my mind at ease, as I had medical issues and a family that depends on me. Ryan and the whole legal team worked hard for me and went above and beyond to get me a fair settlement. For such a terrible situation, I couldn’t have imagined a better outcome. Without hesitation, I would refer my colleagues in the law enforcement community to Ryan Theriault.”

On an idle November evening after work, Fran walked across a strip mall parking lot with her new laundry basket and detergent in hand when she was hit by a landscaping truck. The head-on impact threw Fran across the parking lot and knocked her unconscious. When the police and ambulance arrived, her eyeglasses hung on the front grille bug screen of the truck. She was rushed by ambulance to a hospital.

She woke up disoriented in the hospital hours later with broken ribs, a broken collarbone and right wrist, a gash above her eyebrow with nerve damage underneath and nerve damage in the right shoulder blade. She had surgery on her wrist and scans on her brain.

“I didn’t even see the truck coming,” Fran said. “I woke up in the hospital with my sons and sister surrounding me. The only thing that I could remember was walking out of the store with my wonderful new laundry basket and keys in my hand.”

In an instant, her life changed, yet she had no recollection of the accident. Her son recommended that they retain a lawyer. Through a family referral, they contacted attorney Ryan Theriault, experienced in bodily injury and automobile accident cases.

She found out that Ryan has an indisputable record in the Chicago area and throughout the state of Illinois. He and his legal team combine decades of experience in complex automobile litigation to achieve positive results for every client.

Though she was not in her car, Fran worried that these injuries would end up affecting her auto insurance. She feared how she would handle the insurance company. Ryan and his team spent time gathering Fran’s story, though she could not remember much. He had the police report and witness accounts and hospital records.

After Fran explained her story to Theriault, he instructed her not to speak to the insurance company. A representative from the insurance company contacted her three times before he finally contacted her lawyer.

“I have absolutely no idea what I would have done without Ryan and his legal team,” Fran said. “From the beginning, I felt very confident and secure with him. Ryan was able to pull out all those nuances of the law for my particular case.  And they were correct! I would have ended up destitute with all the medical bills, and probably would have paid them, because I wouldn’t want them to go to collection. It was thousands of dollars. Ryan informed me that my insurance and Medicare would take care of the bills until the settlement. He took care of everything for me.”

With Ryan taking care of her case, she was able to focus on recovering from the accident. She was out of work for two months. Her family had to take care of her 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I had the utmost confidence, peace of mind and overall comfort with my lawyer, Ryan, and his legal team” Fran said. “I was more than pleased with the outcome. He was able to get me a generous settlement that paid my bills and took care of my recovery from my injuries.”

Ed, a Community Restitution Coordinator at a suburban Chicago police Department, happened to be on snow duty during the big snowfall of 2011. Cars were fishtailing all over the place, getting stuck on the expressway, abandoned. There was a big shake-up at City Hall as to who could better handle the mess.

Snow duty meant putting on his boots during downtime and physically getting out and removing four-foot drifts of snow from the entrance to the offices. The gigantic equipment was unfamiliar to operate, and it slipped away from Ed at the end of the driveway. He could not turn it around. Ed tumbled and landed sprawled on the ice.

The next day, his entire arm was black and blue. His shoulders, his arms, his knees and his legs were in severe pain that lasted into the next weeks.

“I’m going home every night and eating 800 milligrams of Ibuprofen, and then, I’m icing it,” he said.

He toughed it out for two months – and then he called his old friend Ryan Theriault, who worked with him for years at the police department. Theriault had moved on to become a lawyer. Ed knew Theriault was a workers’ compensation attorney renowned for protecting his clients and obtaining benefits for injuries in the line of duty, which turned out to be a very good thing for Ed. After 17 years working for the police department, Ed was facing a bleak future.

Ed knew workers’ comp cases could drag on for years unless he had a legal team that acted quickly and decisively. He was comforted to learn that Theriault had an excellent reputation and a solid team who could cut through delays and avoid costly mistakes.

Adding to the experience of the firm, Ed had the highest professional respect for Theriault.

During the accident on the ice, Ed tore the meniscus in his left knee and ruptured the bicep in his right arm. Theriault set Ed up on a path to recovery with a recommendation to a surgeon who operated on his shoulders and knees.

“Ryan is one of those types of people, not just attorneys, but a person, who goes out there and aims to get the best possible deal to bring to his clients,” Ed said. “When he brought back the first deal, I said, ‘Is this the best we can do?’ He said, ‘I can push them a little more,’ and he called me back less than half an hour later and the deal was significantly increased.”

The settlement helped Ed to be comfortable in his early retirement.

“For the most part, I’m back to a hundred percent.” Of Ryan, he cannot say enough. Ed has now recommended additional family members and friends to the firm.