Attorneys' fees for Illinois workers' compensation cases
In many areas of the law, hiring a lawyer means you have to come up with the money to pay him or her first, before you can file a lawsuit to recover money you’re owed. In workers’ compensation cases, though, lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means you don’t have to decide first whether you can afford to pay an attorney.
A contingency fee is an arrangement where your lawyer’s fee depends on your case’s success. Your lawyer gives up an hourly fee for working on your case, and takes a risk that you will recover money. What the lawyer gets for a fee is based on a percentage of what you recover after your case is done. Illinois law limits workers’ compensation contingency fees to 20% of your recovery.
This should give workers peace of mind, knowing that they can benefit from having an attorney without worrying that if they don’t win they will be in a worse position than if they didn’t try.
In some routine situations, attorneys shouldn’t charge you at all, even if they have helped you. For example, if there is no question about the amount of medical benefits you’re owed, you shouldn’t have to pay for an attorney to give you advice or help you out with paperwork or a phone call. Illinois law says that some cases are so routine that lawyers should not get a fee, or should get a very nominal fee.
But where your attorney is going to have to do a lot of work on your behalf to bring you a successful outcome, you will only have to pay your limited percentage of what you get.
Just because your attorney is getting paid from your recovery, you are still able to change attorneys if you need to. The fee that the old and new attorneys may get is worked out, but in no event will it cost you more than if you hadn’t switched. The 20% cap doesn’t change.
Illinois workers’ compensation law has made it possible to be able to have an experienced attorney helping you to get what you are owed for your work injury, without having to risk financial injury to get there.
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.
