Paranoia and your Illinois workers compensation attorney
Every so often we get a call or e-mail like this:
I am really concerned that my Illinois workers' compensation lawyer has sold me out to the insurance company. I say this because my case is taking forever and he was yucking it up with the defense attorney when we went in for a hearing before the Arbitrator. After seeing the two of them talk in a corner, my attorney told me that the case was continued. I could see them talking and they were laughing the whole time. When they both came over to me, my lawyer introduced the insurance company as his friend. Am I crazy to think that the insurance company is paying off my lawyer at my expense?
There are a lot of attorneys that we don't like at the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission and many more that we both like and respect. But no matter who the lawyer is, there is no way that an attorney is being "bought off" to harm a client and make a case go away.
First, workers' compensation cases aren't worth enough to risk your career and jail time over something like this. Second, it takes multiple people from an insurance company to resolve a case and those cases and the checks written on them are audited. You'd need a huge conspiracy of many people to make this happen. The reality is that the insurance company has so many cases that they don't care about your case over any other. And if they did this and got caught their company would go out of business.
Third, it's a good thing if your lawyer and the defense attorney are friendly. We have to deal with these attorneys all of the time and if they don't like your lawyer then they are more likely to make the case hard on you. It's the same thing with insurance adjusters. We never pick a fight unless it's called for because it's just a fact that the decision makers (e.g. the ones that approve or decline benefits) are more likely to cooperate when they like who they are dealing with.
Fourth, if this ever happened, don't you think at least one person in the history of time would have been caught doing it? In the history of Illinois work injuries this has never happened. Insurance adjusters have been caught and charged with crimes when it comes to something like creating their own investigation company and then assigning cases to their company, but that's a scam that only requires them to participate. Hundreds of lawyers have been busted for stealing from clients (e.g. failing to turn over a settlement check). Many workers have been prosecuted for faking claims. But not once has an elaborate scheme been discovered that involved an insurance company paying off a lawyer. It hasn't been discovered because it doesn't happen. Can you imagine the balls it would take for an attorney to approach an insurance company and propose such a scheme?
Fifth, only a work comp Arbitrator can officially close out a case. If your lawyer tells you your case is closed and you do some easy investigation, you'd find out that it wasn't true and the lawyer would be exposed to a legal malpractice lawsuit, possible loss of his law license and maybe even jail time. The insurance company would also then still have to pay you for whatever your claim is worth once you hire a new lawyer.
Sixth. Ok, I'm not going to go on, but I could. Trust me though, this doesn't happen. You might not have a good attorney or one that is fighting for you, but it's not because they have bribed to treat you that way. It's just that they aren't good at what they do.
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.
