Appleton Personal Injury Lawyer

Sigman Janssen Injury & Disability Lawyers is a personal injury law firm located at 303 S Memorial Dr in Appleton, Wisconsin. We have represented injury victims in the Fox Cities for nearly a hundred years, and we handle cases in the Outagamie County Circuit Court and the surrounding county courts our clients’ cases are filed in.

A serious injury reaches every part of your life. Medical treatment, time away from work, the strain on your family, and the question of whether you will recover the way you were before. Our Appleton personal injury lawyers handle the claim so you can concentrate on recovering.

Call our Appleton office at (920) 260-4528, or call (877) 888-5201, for a free consultation. There are no upfront fees, and you owe us nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

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Our Appleton Office

Sigman Janssen Injury & Disability Lawyers
303 S Memorial Dr
Appleton, WI 54911
Phone: (920) 260-4528

Our office is on South Memorial Drive in downtown Appleton, just south of College Avenue and a few blocks west of the Outagamie County Justice Center at 320 S. Walnut St., where Outagamie County Circuit Court cases are heard.

Attorneys James P. Pitz, Anastasia Burkham and Wesley Groot practice out of this office. If you cannot travel to us because of your injuries, we will come to you, whether that is your home, a hospital, or a rehabilitation facility. James Pitz has recovered more than $100 Million in compensation for Sigman Janssen clients, including $500,000 for a client that required a long recovery following a foot injury from a construction accident, and over $400,000 for a client that suffered multiple injuries in a car crash at an intersection.

We serve clients throughout Outagamie, Winnebago and Calumet counties, including Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Kimberly, Kaukauna and Little Chute.

Where an Appleton Injury Claim May Be Filed

Appleton crosses three county lines. Most of the city lies in Outagamie County, and parts of it extend into Calumet and Winnebago counties. Under Wisconsin’s venue statute, a lawsuit may be filed in the county where the injury occurred or where a party responsible for it lives or does substantial business. An injury that happens in Appleton may therefore be heard in a different courthouse than many people expect.

• Outagamie County Circuit Court: Justice Center, 320 S. Walnut St., Appleton
• Calumet County Circuit Court: 206 Court St., Chilton
• Winnebago County Circuit Court: 415 Jackson St., Oshkosh

When more than one county may apply, Sigman Janssen’s Appleton lawyers can review where an injury occurred and where each responsible party is based, to help identify where a claim may be filed before anything goes to court.

Where Serious Injuries Happen in Appleton

Appleton sits at the junction of two of northeast Wisconsin’s busiest routes. I-41 carries interstate and freight traffic along the city’s western edge, and WIS 441 loops traffic across the Fox River between Appleton, Menasha and Kaukauna. Crashes on these corridors tend to involve higher speeds and, in the case of I-41, commercial trucks. Both factors drive injury severity and both may potentially change how a claim is investigated.

Inside the city, the pattern is different. College Avenue, Richmond Street, Wisconsin Avenue and the downtown grid produce intersection collisions, left-turn crashes, and collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists. Winter conditions in the Fox Valley add rear-end and loss-of-control crashes from November through March.

Appleton has two hospitals with emergency trauma care:

• ThedaCare Regional Medical Center Appleton – on North Meade Street and Ascension NE Wisconsin
• St. Elizabeth Hospital – on South Oneida Street, both Level III trauma centers
• ThedaCare Regional Medical Center – Neenah is the Fox Cities’ only Level II trauma center

Records from these and other treating providers may become an important part of a damages claim, which is why we advise our clients to follow through on every appointment and every course of treatment their doctor recommends.

Do You Have a Case?

As each case is unique, this question is difficult to answer until we learn more about your injuries – and how they occurred. When pursuing a personal injury compensation claim, a number of components must be established and proven. Some of these include:

• Existence of duty of care – It must be proven that the at-fault party had a legal responsibility to act in a way to prevent you from suffering an injury. This means he or she must not be careless or reckless and fail to act the way a reasonable person would in the same kind of circumstance.
• Breached duty of care – When the duty of care is not upheld, the at-fault party could be liable for your injuries.
• Causal link between duty of care and your injury – It must be proven that your injury would not have occurred unless there was negligence (breach of the duty of care) on the part of the other party.
• Damages from your injuries – Your injuries must be linked to damages – for example: medical bills and other monetary damages. You may also pursue compensation for emotional damages and physical pain.

In negligence claims, Wisconsin follows a comparative negligence rule under Wis. Stat. § 895.045. An injured person who shares some of the fault may still recover, as long as that person’s negligence is not greater than the negligence of the party being pursued. Any recovery is reduced by the injured person’s percentage of fault.

For example, if a jury finds total damages of $100,000 and assigns 20% of the fault to the injured person, the recovery may be $80,000. An injured person found 50% at fault may still recover half. An injured person found more at fault than a particular party cannot recover from that party. Fault is measured separately against each party found negligent.

Because the allocation of fault directly affects what can be recovered, Sigman Janssen’s Appleton lawyers can review the evidence and identify every party whose negligence may have contributed to the injury.

Have a Question? Call us at (877) 888-5201.

What is Your Personal Injury Case Worth?

This is a common inquiry that largely depends on the severity of your injuries, how those injuries have affected various parts of your life and the limits of the insurance policies that may be available. As every case is unique, we recommend that victims contact an injury lawyer at our firm, and let our team review the details of your specific incident. We will then be able to advise you of the options that are available.

Limits on Damages in Wisconsin

There is no cap on damages for most personal injury cases in Wisconsin. Claims against government bodies and their employees are an exception, as explained below.

Deadlines For Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Wisconsin

In many personal injury cases in Wisconsin, a lawsuit must be filed within three years from the date of the injury. If the lawsuit is not filed in time, it may be barred under state law. This three-year deadline applies to injury claims including motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall accidents and dog bites. The deadline is two years for a wrongful death claim arising from an accident involving a motor vehicle, while other wrongful death claims generally carry a three-year deadline.

If the injured person was under 18 when the claim arose, Wisconsin law allows a lawsuit to be filed within two years after the person turns 18, when that date falls later than the ordinary deadline. This extension does not apply to claims against health care providers.

Injuries Involving a City, County or State Employee

Some Appleton injuries involve a government body. Examples include a fall on a defective public sidewalk, a crash with a city plow truck or bus, or an injury inside a county or school district building. Wisconsin applies separate rules to these claims, and the first deadline arrives far sooner than the three-year limit that governs many injury lawsuits.

Claims against a city, county, town, village, school district or other local government body (Wis. Stat. § 893.80)

• Notice of injury within 120 days. Written notice of the circumstances of the claim is required within 120 days after the event. A late notice may still be accepted if the government body had actual notice of the claim and the delay did not prejudice it, but the court decides whether that applies.
• A separate written claim. A claim that lists the injured person’s address and an itemized statement of the relief sought must be presented to the government body’s clerk. If the body does not respond within 120 days, the claim is treated as denied. Once the body serves a written denial, a lawsuit must be filed within six months.
• Limits on recovery. Recovery is limited to $50,000 per person, and punitive damages are not allowed. Government bodies may also be immune from claims based on certain discretionary decisions.
• Snow and ice. Under Wis. Stat. § 893.83, a city, village, town or county is generally immune from claims based on a natural accumulation of snow or ice on a bridge or highway that has existed for less than three weeks. Wisconsin courts have applied this rule to at least one sidewalk fall involving snow plowed from the street.

Claims against a state officer or employee (Wis. Stat. § 893.82)

• Sworn notice to the Attorney General. A sworn written notice must be served on the Wisconsin Attorney General within 120 days of the event, by certified mail. Wisconsin courts require strict compliance with this method of service.
• Limits on recovery. Recovery is limited to $250,000, and punitive damages are not allowed.

These deadlines can pass while an injured person is still in treatment. Sigman Janssen’s Appleton lawyers can help to identify early whether a government body may be involved and prepare the required notices on time.

Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Appleton

Our Appleton personal injury lawyers handle a range of injury claims across the Fox Cities, including:

• Appleton Truck accidents – I-41 is a major passenger and freight route connecting the Fox Cities to Fond du Lac and Milwaukee to the south and Green Bay to the north. The Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association has described the route as a primary corridor between Green Bay and Chicago. WisDOT has also said the I-41 corridor has a higher crash rate than many similar highways with similar traffic volumes, and it began a multi-year expansion of approximately 23 miles between Oshkosh and Green Bay. A truck crash claim may involve the driver, the motor carrier and other companies responsible for the truck or its cargo.
• Appleton Slip and fall accidents – Appleton’s municipal code requires snow to be removed from public sidewalks no later than 36 hours after a snowfall ends. Falls on private walkways, parking lots, stairways and building entrances may be governed by different rules, depending on who owns or controls the property.
• Appleton Car accidents – Wisconsin Department of Transportation data showed 1,640 crashes from 2015 to 2019 on the 23-mile stretch of I-41 between WIS 96 (Wisconsin Avenue) in Appleton and County F in De Pere. A WisDOT map showed the stretch from College Avenue to Lyndale Drive with a crash rate more than 50% above the statewide average. WisDOT began reconstructing and expanding this stretch from four to six lanes in the spring of 2024.
• Appleton Motorcycle accidents – Riders injured in Fox Valley crashes may face disputes over fault and the extent of their injuries. Our lawyers can review the crash and the insurance coverage available.
• Appleton Dog attacks – Dogs in Appleton are licensed through the Appleton Police Department. Under Wis. Stat. § 174.02, a dog’s owner is liable for the full amount of damages caused by the dog injuring a person. Damages may be doubled if the owner was notified or knew the dog had previously, without provocation, bitten a person hard enough to break the skin and cause permanent scarring or disfigurement. Under Wisconsin law, “owner” includes anyone who owns, harbors or keeps a dog.
• Appleton Wrongful Death – Under Wis. Stat. § 895.04, a wrongful death action may be brought by the personal representative of the deceased person or by the person to whom the amount recovered belongs. Damages for loss of society and companionship are capped at $500,000 for a deceased minor and $350,000 for a deceased adult.

We also handle Appleton workers’ compensation cases and help people with disabilities pursue Social Security Disability benefits.

If you have been injured due to the negligence of another individual and believe that you may have a case, contact our attorneys for a free legal consultation to discuss what happened. We can determine if you have grounds for an insurance claim or lawsuit, and the potential value of your claim.

Contact us by calling (877) 888-5201.

Slip and Fall Claims and Wisconsin’s Safe-Place Statute

Many falls in the Fox Valley happen in stores, restaurants, apartment buildings and workplaces. When they do, Wisconsin’s safe-place statute, Wis. Stat. § 101.11, may apply. The statute requires every employer and every owner of a place of employment or a public building to construct, repair and maintain it so it is safe. “Safe” means as free from danger as the nature of the premises will reasonably permit. Wisconsin courts treat this as a higher standard than ordinary care.

The statute has limits that may affect a claim:

• Physical conditions only. It applies to unsafe physical conditions, not to activities on the premises.
• Public buildings. A public building includes any structure used by the public or by three or more tenants. In a multi-unit residential building, the owner’s duty under the statute extends only to common areas.
• Notice. For an unsafe condition associated with the structure, the owner may be liable only if it had actual or constructive notice. Constructive notice means the condition existed long enough that it should have been discovered. A structural defect from design or construction may create liability whether or not the owner knew of it.
• Not an insurer. The statute does not make an owner an insurer of everyone on the premises.
• Government buildings. For a building owned by a government body, courts have treated safe-place duties as discretionary. This means the immunity rules described in the deadlines section may apply.

Wisconsin’s comparative negligence rule also applies to safe-place claims. Because notice may turn on how long a hazard existed, Sigman Janssen’s Appleton lawyers can review incident reports, inspection records and other evidence of when a hazard first appeared.

How Are Compensation Amounts Calculated?

One of the first steps taken to determine the value of a case is identifying the damages that an injury victim has sustained. This information may be obtained from:

Invoices For Medical Treatment

Expenses associated with medical treatment can be significant. Some of these may include:

Lost Wages

Many victims are unable to return to work immediately following an injury. This often results in lost income and can make it very difficult for victims to pay their bills and support their families. Injury victims may also need to leave work at various times to be seen by doctors and for other treatments, such as physical therapy.

As injuries increase in severity, the risk of a continued loss of earning capacity also increases. This means:

1. Victims may not be able to work in the same job as they did before the injury
2. They may need to work fewer hours than they did before the accident
3. They may need to re-train and possibly switch to a different field due to the physical limitations imposed by their injury

Our attorneys understand how difficult these issues can be and are committed to aggressively pursuing the compensation you need to support yourself and your family when your career outlook changes.

Damaged Property

If any of your personal property was damaged in the incident, you may be eligible to recover compensation to repair the property or replace the item(s) at a fair market value. This is often an issue after a motor vehicle accident (car, truck or motorcycle crash).

Insurance adjusters and the defence counsel cannot be depended upon to determine the value of these items. Our Appleton personal injury attorneys can help determine the fair market value of damaged property and ensure that your interests are protected.

Pain and Suffering

Our lawyers understand that a personal injury is about more than just medical expenses. The pain and suffering you experience on a physical and emotional level should not be overlooked. These damages can make it very difficult to work, sleep or simply function at a regular level on a consistent basis.

Waking up every morning to a sore neck, or an aching knee that may never go away can be very aggravating – especially when it was caused by the negligence of someone else.

There are many potential examples of pain and suffering caused by a personal injury, such as:

Our Appleton personal injury attorneys carefully review the medical records of each case we handle – including any accounts of the pain and suffering that our clients are dealing with. As there are no defined economic values for these damages, recovering them is a task that our attorneys are very familiar with.

Loss of Consortium

When a personal injury causes significant damage to your relationships with your spouse, children or other loved ones, you could be entitled compensation for loss of consortium. Damage to your relationships could be in the form of:

Loss of Enjoyment of Life

Often, personal injury victims are unable to take part in the things they used to enjoy. For example, maybe they cannot play sports because of the physical limitations of their injury. This could be because of the loss of a limb or due to the loss of one (or more) of the five senses following an injury.

Our attorneys may need evidence showing how you used to enjoy a particular activity before you were injured, which may include pictures of you engaging in that activity and testimony from friends and family members about how you enjoyed the activity.

Punitive Damages

This form of compensation is rarely awarded as it is reserved for cases involving extreme negligence, maliciousness or reckless disregard for human life. The purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate for some specific loss you suffered as a result of your injury. Instead, these damages are meant as a form of punishment against the at-fault party. The intention is that awarding punitive damages will deter other parties from engaging in the same kind of behavior in the future.

The following factors are considered when victims attempt to recover punitive damages:

If a jury decides to award punitive damages, you cannot recover more than the higher amount of twice the total value of compensatory damages or $200,000.

Steps to Take When a Personal Injury Occurs

No two personal injury accidents are the same. In some instances, victims are completely incapacitated and taken away from the scene in an ambulance. Other times, victims are still able to walk and may even transport themselves to the local hospital or a doctor’s office.

However, even though the specific details of the accident and the injury may be different, victims can take many of the same steps after an accident to begin building a case against the party that may be responsible for their injuries.

Step 1: Give Your Injuries the Attention They Deserve

Your safety is paramount in the immediate aftermath of an accident. If you are bleeding or have other injuries, you must get medical attention and take steps to stabilize your condition. For example, if you are injured in a store in a slip and fall accident, employees may be able to apply first aid to cuts or bruises.

If you are incapacitated or it is not safe to move, particularly after a car accident, you should remain where you are and call 9-1-1 or have someone else call 9-1-1.

Once you have received treatment from the doctor, you can begin the process of pursuing compensation by contacting an injury lawyer to learn more about your legal options.

Step 2: Gather Information About the Accident

If you are able, try to begin collecting information at the scene right after the accident occurs. The advantage of acting quickly is you can prevent evidence from being lost or damaged. You are also more likely to forget important details as time goes on.

If you have a smartphone:

1. Take pictures of your visible injuries.
2. Take pictures of where the accident occurred.
3. Take a lot of pictures – as the images may provided valuable information that can be used at a later date.
4. Take notes on what you remember about the accident before you forget.

You should also discuss the accident with any witnesses. Write down what they tell you. You could also record a video on your smartphone, with their permission. Be sure to get phone numbers or other contact information. You or your attorney may have more questions later.

Step 3: Officially Document the Accident

• If you have suffered an injury at work, there is usually a specific procedure for documenting your injury so be sure to follow it.
• If you were involved in a motor vehicle accident, a police officer will most likely be dispatched to the scene and he or she will complete a police report to officially document that an accident happened.
• If you are injured in a retail store or government building, ask the owner or person in charge about completing an accident report.
• Whenever possible, it is important to have official documentation that an accident happened, and you were injured in it. These documents can help to validate your claim.

The more official documentation you have, the stronger your case may be.

Step 4: Contact a Lawyer

Many injury victims are hesitant to contact a lawyer, fearing that they may not be able to afford the expense of having legal representation.

However, most personal injury cases that are handled by a licensed attorney settle for significantly more compared to those when an attorney is not hired. Furthermore, our Appleton personal injury lawyers operate on a contingency fee basis – which means that there are no upfront fees if we take on your case and no costs to you if we do not recover compensation on your behalf.

There are no guarantees when working with a personal injury attorney, but we have decades of combined litigation experience and millions of dollars in compensation recoveries for our clients. We know what it takes to build a strong case, how to thoroughly investigate accidents, how to aggressively negotiate, how to determine fair compensation for your damages, how to interpret and apply relevant state and local laws and ordinances, and how to deal with counter arguments from the defense counsel.

After our initial consultation, we will explain if we believe you have a case and if we think it is in your best interest to pursue it. The decision to proceed is entirely up to you.

Questions Appleton Injury Clients Often Ask

Where will my case be filed?

Many Appleton injury claims may be filed in Outagamie County Circuit Court, but Calumet or Winnebago County may apply depending on where the injury occurred and where the responsible party is based. Our lawyers can review this before anything is filed.

Do I have to come to your Appleton office?

No. We will meet you at your home, at the hospital, or wherever you are recovering. Most initial conversations start with a phone call to (920) 260-4528 or (877) 888-5201.

How long will my case take?

Every case is different – it may depend on the severity of your injuries and whether the insurer disputes liability. Cases that settle may potentially be resolved more quickly compared to cases that go into litigation.

The status of your medical treatment may also be a factor. Until your treating physicians are able to assess the extent of your injuries and what future care may be required, it may be difficult to determine what a claim could be worth. A settlement generally resolves a claim in full, which may include costs that have not yet been incurred.

What does it cost to hire an Appleton personal injury lawyer?

Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee, which means our fee comes out of the recovery. If we do not recover compensation for you, you owe us no attorney’s fee.

Contact Our Appleton Personal Injury Lawyers

The injury attorneys at Sigman Janssen Injury & Disability Lawyers recognize that compensation does not change the outcome of an accident however, it can help to ease the financial burden that is often associated with the recovery process.

Our Appleton office is at 303 S Memorial Dr, and our legal professionals are ready to discuss your claim today.

We offer a free, initial legal consultation to learn more about your claim. There are no upfront fees or costs. We only get paid if we collect money for you through a settlement or court victory.

For your free consultation, call our Appleton office at (920) 260-4528 or use the form on this page.