Skokie, IL asked in Personal Injury for Illinois

Q: Do I have a case if I was in a fight when unprovoked another girl jumped in and attacked me as well? + evidence ?

I got in a fight which started when the other girl had grabbed me by the hair and I started defending myself. The girl I was fighting then signaled her friend to jump in ( who had been waiting) and attacked me. I did nothing to her friend and she started striking me . Also The original girl had been holding me down while the other was hitting me. I didn't provoke the friend and when she did start hitting me I never laid a finger on her. So I would like to know I I would be able to sue, or file some sort of lawsuit or even get the police involved for both of the girls. I have evidence of the event as well. I lost an entire real nail and needed stitches I also have medical bills from this. Also this took place at a high school. I didn't contact the police at the time because I phone was taken by the school and no one else had thought of it. This took place because over the weekend she has she was gonna fight me over the fact that I was talking about about her like she had before me.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Charles Candiano
Charles Candiano
Answered
  • Chicago, IL
  • Licensed in Illinois

A: The girl who grabbed your hair committed a battery which is illegal and would have merited her arrest but you chose to fight with her rather than call the police.

Do you have hospital, ER, or other medical bills from the date of the incident? What is your permanent injury? Why didn't you or a bystander call the police at the time of the incident? These are probably all rhetorical questions. You can still report her conduct to the police but they didn't see anything happen so they cannot arrest her. The decision as to what if any criminal charges are filed against your assailant lies within the sole discretion of the state's attorney for your jurisdiction.

If you were at a restaurant or bar, the proprietor or person in charge would've had some responsibility to prevent another patron from attacking you and the entire event would have been captured on surveillance video. You do not tell us where this took place you do not tell us why it took place and you do not tell us the nature or extent of your injuries. Without that information, and perhaps more, it is impossible to advise as to your options.

It is important to remember that litigation is not a universal remedy. When you bring a lawsuit, there needs to be some way to collect if you win.

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