Blumenshine Law Group Warns Airport Injury Claims at O’Hare and Midway Can Face a One-Year Deadline

Illinois usually allows two years to sue. At O’Hare and Midway, the deadline depends on who was responsible for the hazard.

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, August 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Most people hurt in Illinois have two years to file a lawsuit. Travelers injured at O'Hare or Midway International Airport may have only one year. It depends on who caused the injury. Blumenshine Law Group, a Chicago personal injury firm, says the biggest mistake in these cases can be missing the deadline, not a lack of proof.

Chicago's airports keep getting busier. O'Hare served nearly 85 million passengers in 2025, about 6% more than the prior year, and summer is the heaviest travel season. Bigger crowds mean potentially more wet floors, more crowded jet bridges and more traffic on the ramps. Passenger carts, cleaning carts and other equipment often share those same walkways.

"Nobody hands you a shorter clock and tells you about it," said founding partner Scott Blumenshine. "If the City of Chicago caused your fall, you get twelve months instead of twenty-four. When someone calls me at eighteen months, the question isn't how good the case is. It's whether they still have one."

The Deadline Depends on Who Was at Fault

The City of Chicago owns both airports and the Department of Aviation runs them, but the City does not control every part of them. Airlines rent gates, cleaning companies handle floors, and shops run their own space. So every airport case starts with one question: who was responsible for the spot where the injury happened?

- The City of Chicago or the Department of Aviation: one year. This comes from the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a)).

- A cleaning company, airline, shop or restaurant: two years. This is the standard Illinois injury case filing deadline (735 ILCS 5/13-202).

- Airport and airline workers: workers' compensation. An injured worker can still sue another company that caused the injury (820 ILCS 305/5(b)). The deadline to file a Workers' Compensation Act claim is three years.

For example: "Take a jet bridge. The airline runs it, the City owns the building it connects to, a contractor cleans it, and another company built its moving parts," Blumenshine said. "That is four possible defendants and two different deadlines. You cannot sort that out from a photo of the floor. It comes from maintenance records and contracts."

Blumenshine also corrects a myth that circulates online. Some websites tell injured travelers to send the City a formal notice before suing. Illinois dropped that rule years ago. "The trap isn't a missing letter," he said. "It's that your lawsuit has to be on file within 12 months."

What Injured Travelers Should Do

Blumenshine recommends these steps:

- Report the injury to the airport and the airline before leaving, if able, and request the report number.

- Photograph what caused the fall, any warning signs, and the wider scene.

- Record the exact location: terminal, gate or closest store. "Near baggage claim" is too vague.

- Note the company name on the uniform of anyone who responds.

- Contact a competent airport injury lawyer promptly. Video is sometimes erased within a few weeks.

Travelers taken to the hospital without filing a report have not lost their claims.

"Video is the best evidence in these cases, and it disappears the fastest," Blumenshine said. "The first letter a lawyer sends should demand that the airport save it."

About Blumenshine Law Group

Blumenshine Law Group is a Chicago personal injury firm handling car, truck, construction, slip-and-fall and wrongful death cases across Illinois. Founding partner Scott Blumenshine has practiced injury and insurance law in Illinois since 1987. He helped write changes to the Illinois Insurance Code. The firm takes cases on a contingency fee basis.

Scott Blumenshine is available for interviews.

More information: blumenshinelawgroup.com/ohare-midway-airport-injury-lawyer

General information only; not legal advice.

Scott Blumenshine
Blumenshine Law Group
+1 312-766-1000
sblumenshine@blg-legal.com
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