Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

A lot of readers ask how long they have to bring a case.  Some have only been hurt a few days ago, some are going on a few years.

The statute of limitations to bring an Illinois workers' compensation claim is the longer of three years from the accident date or two years from the last payment of compensation. 

Three years from the accident date is usually straight forward unless you have a repetitive trauma injury like a back problem from a lot of lifting over time.

Two years from the last payment of compensation includes not only workers' compensation benefits like TTD or payment of medical benefits, but also payments for medical bills related to the injury through group insurance (if obtained from your employer) or disability policy benefits (again it must be through your employer).  We have seen cases where a statute of limitation had passed, but because an insurance company paid a bill all of the sudden the case was alive again.  This is very rare and as far as we know, workers comp is the only area of Illinois law where you can miss the time limits for filing a case and then possibly get it back.

There is also a law that says you must give your employer notice of an injury within 45 days of when you knew or reasonably should have known that it might be related to a work accident.   Failure to do so can cause your case to be dismissed. 

The reality is that if you are hurt on the job you don't want to lose your right to benefits over a technicality.  By hiring an attorney this should never happen.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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When you hire an Illinois workers compensation law firm, they don't take your case before a jury.  All of our cases are either settled by negotiating with the insurance adjuster or defense attorney or before a trial in front of an Arbitrator.  We go to trial when there are disputes over whether your case is actually a work injury, if benefits you deserve aren't being paid, if there is a dispute over how much your case is worth or if we just want to keep your medical rights open as relates to the injury for the rest of your life.

The trial is usually just your attorney, the other attorney, a court reporter and the Arbitrator.  You can bring a friend for support and the hearings are open to the public, but other than witnesses it is very un-common for more than the attorneys, court staff and injured worker to be there.

While your testimony is important, the most important aspect of most cases is the medical evidence.  This is displayed in your medical records and sometimes by depositions of doctors.  It is also why (besides karma) that we tell all of our clients to be truthful with their doctors, especially in describing how they got hurt.

Early in my career I was with a small insurance defense law firm and was assigned to a trial before an older Arbitrator who has since passed on.  He was a bit ornery to say the least, but some Judges are that way.  The trial started and the injured worker was giving his testimony.  I was taking notes when all of the sudden I heard heavy breathing.  We all realized that the Arbitrator was asleep.  The trial stopped for a moment then kept going.  He slept for a good 15 minutes of what was around 40 minutes of testimony by the injured worker.

I was stunned and if I was the injured worker I would have been furious.  But looking back, both sides agreed that the worker had been hurt on the job, we just disagreed what his injury was worth.  The worker's testimony as to how the accident impacts his life currently was relevant (and the Judge awoke for that), but the background on where he lives, how he got hurt, etc. was not too relevant because his medical records - which hopefully the Judge actually read - told almost the whole story.

We don't think any current Arbitrator would take a snooze during a trial and if it happened to one of my clients I would pause the hearing.  That said, remember that usually medical evidence is what determines these cases when they are in dispute.  It will hopefully help you relax too if you have to testify because believe it or not, you are not the most important witness at a trial.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We tell a lot of our clients that we hope their case isn't worth in the six figures.  If it is that means they had a really big injury that is probably going to impact them long term.  I haven't met one person that would give up their health for any sum of money.

On the flip side of that is the fact that many workers in Illinois do sustain severe injuries that change their lives forever.  Some can go back to their old jobs.  Some can still work for their same company but in a new job.  Others end up making less money working elsewhere.  Still others may be able to do some work, but there is no stable job market for them.

If you are hurt on the job and your doctor's final restrictions don't say that you are permanently disabled, that doesn't mean that you aren't permanently disabled under Illinois work injury law.  You just have to show that there's no reasonable expectation that a job would exist for you.

The Arbitrators look at a bunch of factors in deciding this.  They include the age of the worker, their education, their language skills, job history and physical restrictions.  You may be able to make some money here or there, but if there is no stable market for you, you will likely be found to be permanently and totally disabled.  The case that decided this was called National Tea vs. Industrial  Commission.

A smart attorney or injured worker doesn't leave their fate to an injured worker.  They demand that the insurance company hire a vocational expert and they also hire one of their own.  Just like you have to prove through a doctor what your injury is, you should prove through a vocational expert your ability to get a job.

This process is a marathon, not a sprint.  As long as you are cooperating with vocational rehabilitation you should continue to be paid while you are off work.  By cooperating with the process you help yourself in the long run.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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Reason #4,826 to not go at it alone.

My surgeon canceled my laminectomy and said that he talked to the nurse case manager for the insurance company who convinced him to do three more months of physical therapy.  I've already have three months of PT, two epidural injections and NO RELIEF.  Why does she get to do that?  Also, is she allowed to schedule my appointments and attend?

This from a struggling injured worker in downstate Illinois that contacted us.  There is a law in Illinois that in plain English says that your employer or the insurance company are not allowed to talk to your doctor without your permission.  Of course they don't tell you that.  Quite often when you first get hurt the insurance company will act as nice as can be because they want to take advantage of you this way.  Why do they do it?  As shown above, in some cases they can get doctors who are push-overs to change their medical opinion.  They hope to frustrate you and save money.

Not only are they not supposed to talk to your doctors (other than to ask for copies of medical records and bills) they aren't allowed to schedule your appointments or attend any of your exams.  We can't guarantee any of our clients a result, but we do guarantee that if we are representing you that this non-sense will end.  We gladly communicate with the insurance adjusters, but we make sure that medical decisions are actually made by your doctor.

There is even a case that created a rule called the Petrillo Doctrine.  In plain English that means that if the insurance company or one of their representatives talks to your physician without permission, anything that doctor says is not admissible as evidence.  In other words, if your doctor says that your injury is work related, but then the nurse manager talks to him and gets him to change his opinion, that change of opinion will get tossed out of court.  This law was created to protect innocent workers.

It's an un-even playing field when you aren't represented.  If you are going to choose to go at it alone you are playing with fire.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact Us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We've received a lot of e-mail questions lately from the blog (thanks for that).  Here are five good questions that we thought readers would want to know the answers to:

I fainted at work because the air conditioning was out and hit my head.  Does my employer have to pay my bills?  Generally fainting is not covered unless you can show something about your job contributed to it like having to work in an unusually hot environment.  If that was the case here it should be covered.  FYI, if you had fainted on a scaffold, ladder or other dangerous device, even if the fainting wasn't work related, the fact you were in a dangerous position for your job would make the case a winner.

I have a scar on my face from a work injury.  Does the insurance company have to pay for plastic surgery?  If your doctor thinks it's medically reasonable then yes.  We can't imagine a Judge turning that one down.  If it was on a place like your low back, thigh, etc. it would be more of a challenge.

My job requires me to stand eight hours a day.  I now have tarsal tunnel syndrome.  Do I have a case?  The act of having to stand isn't a case.  However, if you have to stand on uneven floors, walk a great distance, wear protective shoes, etc., that could change things.  

I was in physical therapy for a back injury and during some of the exercises hurt my knee.  What now?  Because you were in PT for a work related injury, the knee injury would be part of that case too.  It's all covered (or will be by the time we are done with it).

Broken foot on the job.  Now my elbow hurts from using crutches.  Is that a  new case?  This happens all of the time and much like the physical therapy example, since the new injury can be traced back to the original injury it is all part of the same claim.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We get tons of calls from truck drivers.  Some were injured in Illinois, but otherwise have never been to Illinois.  Others have their terminal out of Illinois in places like Decatur, Chicago and Rockford, but work out of state.  Still others came to Illinois for their pre-employment physical and training, but haven't been here since.

If hurt on the job, all of those people would be eligible to pursue an Illinois workers' compensation claim.  They potentially would also have the ability to file a case in other states depending on where they were hurt, where their terminal is located and the laws of each state.

We are only Illinois attorneys so we can't give you advice about other states.  That said, we know many work injury attorneys throughout the country and everyone we've talked to has made it clear to us that the best benefits for injured workers are in Illinois.

Sometimes the insurance company will tell you that they are processing the benefits through one state.  They don't get to make that decision, you do.  Sometimes they do it because they don't know any better.  Often insurance companies do it because they know the case is worth less money in a state like Indiana, Tennessee or Texas than it would be in Illinois.  Many states have smaller limits as to what you can recover (we are told that the maximum for a Kansas case is $125,000.00) and they also sometimes give the insurance company control over your medical care.

Remember that if you want to bring your case in Illinois, as long as you were hurt here, hired here or have your employment principally based out of here you can bring an Illinois workers compensation claim.  Even if you settled your case through another state you may still be able to file your case in Illinois, even if your settlement agreement in the other state says that you can't bring any other cases.  Only the Illinois Workers'  Compensation Commission can close out your case.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We get calls all the time from bartenders, waiters, skycaps and others that work jobs where they make a lot of money off of tips.   None of them report everything they are making to the Government for taxes.  Because of the amount of money that skycaps make, we can't even get our clients to tell us how much they are truly getting in tips.  It's like a secret code that they don't want to let out.

We could care less about IRS issues.  Our concern is representing our clients in work injuries.  Generally speaking, the more money that you earn the more that your injury is worth.  Someone who has a torn meniscus from an Illinois job accident who makes $1,000 a week will get a much larger settlement than someone with the exact same injury who makes $400 a week.

When determining how much someone makes we calculate what is called the average weekly wage.  This looks at the last 52 weeks worked for your employer (or in some cases more than one employer) and we determine your average weekly pre-tax earnings.  This is easy when someone is salaried, not always easy if you are an hourly worker that gets overtime, someone who gets commissions or a person whose hours change every week.

In determining what someones average wage is, we look at reported earnings.  Tips that don't get reported aren't included.  Now some insurance companies will take our word for it when we tell them what you really earned, but some just go off what the employer says.  This is not a good issue to litigate because you might be forced to testify under oath that you have cheated on your taxes.

For injured workers who have been paid cash "under the table" the same problem exists, although many Arbitrators like to punish employers that do this rather than punish the injured worker.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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Under Illinois workers' compensation law, if your medical treatment is reasonable and related to your work injury, the insurance company for your employer has to pay for 100% of your bills.  No co-pays, no out of pocket expenses.  So what happens if they don't pay?

First off, if the doctor sends you to collection, once they learn that you have filed an Illinois workers' compensation claim there is a law that says that as long as you are actively pursuing the case the can NOT collect against you.

Second, if there is no valid reason for the bills not being paid your lawyer can file a petition for immediate hearing and get an Arbitrator to order the bills be paid and if needed that any recommended treatment be authorized.  On top of that, if there is no good reason for the bills going unpaid you can file a petition for penalties and fees which could cause the insurance company to have to pay a 50% penalty (e.g. if the unpaid bill is $10,000, they'd have to pay the bill and you'd get $5,000 as punishment for their unreasonable behavior).

Finally, if you are in a car accident in Illinois the doctor can put a lien on your case.  That means that you can't receive a settlement until their bill has been paid or someway resolved.  There are no liens in Illinois work injury cases for unpaid bills from private medical providers.  While we almost never suggest that a client settle a case while related bills aren't paid, the doctor or their collection agency can't hold up a settlement because their bill hasn't been satisfied.

If you have unpaid bills the key is to be organized.  If you have an itemized statement of services and a report from a doctor that says your treatment was related to your work injury then you are in a great position to succeed if the insurance company is not following the law.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We are very up front about our service.  We are workers' compensation lawyers in Illinois that are advocates for our clients.  Our team is a state-wide network of attorneys and whoever takes on the case is based on the facts of your unique situation.  Some things that determine this are the type of injury, the company you work for and who we think the Arbitrator will be if the case goes to trial.  In almost every instance the attorney that you speak to will handle your case from beginning to end and be available to answer all of your questions.  A couple of calls to us by potential clients have shown that not every firm works that way.

Firm #1 is run by a lawyer that just does a ton of advertising including a great amount with the Yellow Pages.  We are told that he makes the client think they are hiring him, but just sends the client on to another firm.  We have never seen this lawyer actually directly handle a case.

Firm #2 is run by a lawyer who has a huge volume of work injury cases, but hires very young, inexperienced attorneys to handle them.  We are told that quite often clients start with one lawyer and then end up with three or four different attorneys before the case is done.  None of them are very aware about what is going on with the claim when they take over and of course the clients are frustrated.

Firm #3 does a great job by reputation with Rockford workers' compensation cases, but only has a handful of cases outside of that area.  A caller explained to us a situation that could be quickly resolved with a trial motion, but they've been waiting for six months to go to court because the lawyer hasn't made time to travel to Chicago.

All of these situations are complete B.S.  In some ways, if you have a serious work injury your life as you know it is on the line.  We will never understand how some of these attorneys can look themselves in the mirror every day. 

Whether you find a lawyer for us or through anyone else, don't be afraid to ask up front who will be handling your case, how they will communicate with you and what the firm will do if that lawyer leaves.  Ask that attorney what percentage of their practice is workers' compensation and how many cases they have handled in the county where the case is going to be filed over the last two years.  Then ask them how many lawyers have left their firm in the last five years.  If your prospective attorney doesn't do at least 80% workers comp and hasn't handled at least 30 cases in the last two years in the area where your case is going to be filed it's a red flag.   And if over the last five years more than four attorneys have left their firm (for most of our network attorneys only leave to become a Judge) then you should probably keep looking.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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Every now and then we hear from someone who tells us with 100% certainty that their current or former attorney was bought off by the insurance company.  It's just not true.

Look, we point out lawyers that don't fight for their clients all over our blog.  We are shocked by some of the behavior that we see.  But there is no way an Illinois work comp attorney would get bribed by an insurance company.  There are so many reasons:

1. There is no way that an attorney would risk his career when he could just do the work and make the money.

2. Even if a lawyer would sell out his client and take a bribe, there is no way that an insurance company could or would bribe a lawyer over a simple work injury case, even if the exposure is huge.  Aside from the fact that it's a felony, the insurance company, who likely makes tens or hundreds of millions a dollars a year, would lose the right to write insurance in Illinois.  To get a check cut for the settlement of a case would take a conspiracy amongst many people including an insurance adjuster.

3. Most adjusters on workers' compensation claims gain nothing by having the case settled.  Why would they commit a felony to help out the company.

We agree that many lawyers don't fight for their clients and don't get as good of a result as an attorney who gives effort could get.  But are they on the take?  No way.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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Occasionally we'll get a call from someone who is stressed out by their job, usually because of long hours or a boss that screams.  Other people have legitimate depression that is work related.  Under Illinois law do these people have a case?

Although we have probably the most employee friendly laws when it comes to work injuries, most psychological injuries are not compensable.  In the above examples, unless there is something physical involved, e.g. your boss screams and pushes you, then the case wouldn't be a winner.  The law is that a psychological injury from something that isn't physical is not covered unless it's sudden, severe and shocking.  The classic example is the worker who saw their co-worker's arm get cut off by a machine.   Witnessing that led to nightmares and post traumatic stress disorder.  That worker won benefits.

If you have a physical injury like a herniated disc in your back and then have legitimate depression because of subsequent weight gain, pain, job loss or anything else, that would be a separate injury that would be covered.  In other words, you would be compensated for your physical injury as well as your psychological injury.

Also, if your mental stress leads to a legitimate physical injury like a heart attack, that could be a case too.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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In no particular order, here are five things that most new clients didn't seem aware of until they talked to us:

1. If you don't have health insurance it doesn't matter.  On compensable cases the workers' compensation insurance carrier has to pay for 100% of your medical bills.  There is no network of doctors, you see whoever you want.

2. Pre-existing conditions don't matter if they were aggravated or accelerated by a job injury.  This is especially true when they try to deny your case because you broke your leg as a kid or were in a car accident years ago.

3. You have to notify your employer within 45 days of when you knew or reasonably should have known that your injury was work related.  Failure to do so could result in your case getting dismissed.

4. A workers' compensation claim in Illinois is not a lawsuit.  Although you have an attorney, we are not suing anyone.  Rather we are making a claim for benefits similar to health insurance.   In almost every case we deal with an insurance company and not the employer.

5. In most cases, the insurance company is supposed to approve or deny benefits within two weeks and if they deny benefits they need a valid reason (and "we are investigating the claim" is not a valid reason.  If they don't follow the law on this we can't ask for punitive damages (doesn't exist in Illinois work comp), but we can file a petition for penalties and fees which acts in a similar manner and can pressure the insurance company to do the right thing.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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The Arena Football League is reportedly going out of business.  One of the players who got hurt in a game, but has never formally filed his case wants to know what to do.  The answer for him is the same for any other Illinois injured worker whose employer went belly up.

Even if your employer files for bankruptcy your case doesn't go away.  Most employers have paid for insurance that covers your claim.  If they were self-insured then the Illinois Employer's Guarantee Fund will take over your case.

The short answer is that unless you were working for an employer that carried no insurance at the time you got hurt, there is really nothing to worry about as long as we get your case formally filed with the State of Illinois.  It's possible that your benefits could get delayed, but the case itself will never go away.  And that is true whether you play football, install cable lines or sit at a desk all day.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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If you are claiming that a repetitive trauma injury like carpal tunnel or anything else is work related, at some point a credible medical doctor is going to have to put in writing that your job caused, aggravated or accellerated your condition.  Typically if you get that you will win.

To make that opinion stand up, you need to be very clear with the doctor about what your job duties involve.  In many repetitive trauma cases the insurance company will find a "hired gun" IME doctor to say that your problems were not caused by your job.  To combat that you need to show that your doctor has a true understanding of what your job entails.

This was demonstrated in a recent decision by the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission.   A computer analyst won his case when the Commission found that the treating doctor had adequate knowledge of what the analyst job involved.  They specifically said that this was persuasive in their opinion.

Don't assume that your doctor knows what being a secretary or lineman or analyst or any other job means.  Tell him or her what you do all day, how often you do it, how many hours you work and what you notice when this activity is happening.  

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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If you read this blog you will see over and over that we preach if you are honest your case will work out just fine.  That said, you can be honest and still hurt your case.  Here are five examples from recent cases where a legitimately injured worker didn't help themselves:

1. Stop smoking.  If your doctor tells you to quit smoking and your failure to do so makes it harder for you to recover, don't be surprised if the insurance company tries to end your benefits.  Smoking hurts circulation which can make it harder for a surgery like a lumbar fusion to work.

2. Cooperate with vocational rehabilitation.  If your employer can't provide you a job and you have restrictions, they have to work with you to find a new job.  Sometimes this can be a tedious process.  You might have been a laborer your whole life and now they want you to work on a computer.  Give it your best.  Failure to do so could cost you tens of thousands in the long run.

3. Don't miss doctor's appointments including physical therapy.  Like the smoking example, this could be seen as not cooperating with reasonable medical advice and could cause your benefits to be suspended.

4. Return phone calls to your lawyer.  We are here to help you.  If you don't communicate with us there is nothing we can do for you.  Be a team player with us.  It doesn't happen a lot, but we are always shocked when a client doesn't respond to calls.

5. Don't give a recorded statement.  This typically is attempted before you have an attorney.  Often an insurance company will do this and twist your words against you or ask questions at an inappropriate time like when you are in the hospital.  You don't have to give a statement.  It won't impact your case in any way.  If they have questions for you it should be in writing and go through your attorney.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We spend a lot of time telling people about various ways we can help you.  Here are four times when you don't need us.

1.  If your accident resulted in a one time medical visit with no additional problems and the insurance company paid the bill.  Call them up and ask for a settlement if you are all better.  It's probably not worth much, but you don't need an attorney for something like that.

2. If you are a Federal employee.  Typically Illinois workers' comp law firms don't handle Federal cases because the laws and rules are completely different and apparently the Government has cut out the ability for an attorney to help in many cases.  If you work for a state or local agency we can probably help, but if your employer is the post office or someone like that, we don't know of a single lawyer in Illinois that has good experience with those types of claims.

3. If you live in Illinois, but work in a different state and were not hurt in Illinois or hired in Illinois and if your employment has no real connection to Illinois, we can't do anything for you.  In that case you are probably best served by an attorney in the state where you got hurt or where your employer is based.  In the reverse situation, we represent a lot of people that live in Indiana, Wisconsin or Iowa, but work here.

4. If your issue is really about compensation like overtime, unemployment or being paid for breaks, you actually need an Illinois labor lawyer, not a work injury attorney.  The term "workers' compensation" refers only to job related injuries, not money owed to a worker for something else from the job.

And of course, if you have any questions about whether or not we can help, just ask.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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Understandably, a lot of people that come to us for help are anxious about their case and thinking about what it might be worth if it's settled.  We can't tell you what it's worth until your treatment is done with and you are at what a doctor calls maximum medical improvement.  In other words you are as good as you are going to get.  Even then we might not tell you to settle.

If you are still under a doctor's care there is no reason to settle your case.  Once you do settle you are responsible for all medical bills.  So what do you do if you want to get paid for what your case is worth, but don't want to give up your medical rights?

The answer is go to trial.  If you go to trial and the Arbitrator rules that your condition is work related then you keep medical rights open for life as it relates to that injury.  In other words, if you have knee surgery, wake up five years from now with a stiff knee and your doctor at that time says it's arthritis from the old work injury, the workers' compensation insurance company would have to pay for 100% of your medical treatment at that time.

The only drawback is that by going to trial you don't get a lump sum settlement, but rather you get paid paid over a period of weeks depending on how much the Arbitrator thinks your case is worth. 

If you have hardware in your body from a surgery like a lumbar fusion or ankle replacement or any reasonable belief that you might need medical treatment in the future, it's a real good idea to think about keeping your medical rights open.  If you don't, you may find yourself in a situation where you have no one to pay for your bills and treatment that you can't get.  Some workers' compensation trials take less than 60 minutes to complete.  We think an hour of your time is worth a lifetime of medical security.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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We have mentioned a few times in this blog about 19(b) petition's for immediate hearing, but haven't clearly stated what it is.  Simply put, a 19(b) petition is the way that you can get immediately in to court if you are owed benefits that are wrongly denied.

Usually your case appears for status before an Arbitrator every 60 days or so.  So if your case is on the July status call, the next time you can ask the Arbitrator for a trial date is September.  By filing a 19(b) motion, we can get your case on to the next hearing date which in this example would be August.

A normal trial motion has the Judge decide every issue in your case, including what it is worth.  A 19(b) decides just some of the issues such as whether or not you are owed TTD benefits, whether or not the insurance company has to pay for your surgery or if your case is in fact work related at all. 

Many work injury lawyers in Illinois file 19(b) petitions, but few actually go to trial on them.  This is usually because they haven't prepared their case.  For example, to go to trial your lawyer needs to secure all of your medical records and possibly take a deposition of your doctor or the company IME doctor.  This takes organization and preparation and is the number one reason why you should file a case formally before a problem occurs.  Otherwise your attorney is scrambling and it can take months to get your case ready for trial.

If your benefits are being denied unfairly, you should insist that your lawyer get the case ready for trial and file a 19(b) petition.  It should almost never take more than 30-60 days for that to happen.  We've had calls from people whose benefits haven't been paid for more than a year and they've never been to court.  That's just lazy lawyering, plain and simple.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

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