Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

In order for us to take on a client’s case, you have to choose us to be your lawyer and we have to choose to take you on as a client.  Aside from liking to help people, let’s be honest, we are in the business to make money.  So we want to get new clients and we hope that you have a good case that we can take on and make some money for us and you as well as make sure you don’t get screwed over.

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If you think that exposure to a chemical at work caused your illness or condition, you may have a case under the Occupational Disease Act.  This is similar to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.  Both reimburse you for your medical bills and lost wages if your injury is work related.

In cases of chemical exposure, though, it can be very challenging to prove that your current health problems are related to your work environment.   The exposure is more difficult to investigate.  And because the symptoms can develop over a long period of time, it can be hard to show that other health conditions you may have are not the real reason for your illness.

If you are suffering from an illness that is related to your work, keep in mind that the chemical exposure at work does not need to be the sole cause of your illness.  You do not need to give up the idea of getting insurance benefits for your injury just because, for example, you are a long-time smoker.

Frequently the insurance company will point to other conditions or risk factors that do not related to work, such as smoking or other prior conditions.   And they will try to make the claim that because of these other factors, the chemicals at work are not to blame for your current condition.  Though the other complications may make your case for a work injury more difficult, you do not automatically lose your case.

What you do need though, is more medical proof to make a convincing case that the exposure in the work environment contributed to your disease or illness.  Cases have been won and lost on the amount and quality of the medical backing for the claim. 

For example, testimony from experts that a worker’s condition is the same at work and outside of work, and that others on the job site have similar issues can help to show a work cause.  Even if others at work only have very mild symptoms as compared to yours, that fact that your health makes your reaction more severe should not prevent you from proving a work injury.

On the other hand, a worker in Illinois recently lost a case because of the lack of medical evidence showing that the work chemicals caused the health condition.   Even though several experts pointed to the worker’s smoking as the cause of his illness, that alone would not necessarily have ended the case if there had been other strong evidence showing the chemicals made his health worse.

Because these illnesses can develop over time, you should not waste time in pursuing a claim if there is a chance that your health problems may have been affected by a chemical exposure on the job.  Most important of all of course is your health so above all else, head to the doctor ASAP no matter what is causing your problem.

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.

 12/28/11

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If you go to an arbitration (trial) in a workers’ compensation case, it is up to the Arbitrator to write a written decision as to how the case is decided.  What really happens though is that the attorney for the worker and insurance company submit a proposed decision as to how they think the Arbitrator should decide.  Basically we as lawyers write as if we were the Arbitrator.  Sometimes an Arbitrator will just pick one and stamp it as if it was theirs, other times they write a whole new decision in their own words.

The last thing an Arbitrator tells you after the trial ends is that proposed findings are due in two weeks.  While sometimes an Arbitrator may know what they are going to say anyway, we’ve seen many cases turn on brilliant or not so brilliant proposed findings.  This is your lawyer’s chance to be a real lawyer and persuade the Arbitrator to find for you.  That’s why you hire the lawyer, right?

Well there is an e-mail making the rounds of work comp attorneys in Chicago that shows a conversation between an Arbitrator, highly respected defense attorney and a longtime lawyer for injured workers.  They had a trial and the defense attorney turned his proposed findings in by the deadline.  The worker’s attorney did not and was scolded in an e-mail by the Arbitrator for being late.  Bad mistake, but not the worst thing in the world.  He could have profusely apologized, made up some excuse and his client would not have suffered.  Instead the next day he turned in a one page cover sheet that says how the Arbitrator should decide, but did not actually write the proposed findings that explain the reason why the Arbitrator should find in his favor.  When the Arbitrator asked where the proposed findings were and was told that was it, the Arbitrator said: “I’m sorry, you don’t have more to write?  You honestly believe what you have submitted is sufficient?  This is a joke and I would be thoroughly embarrassed to submit this to an arbitrator for consideration. “

The lawyer, who has been in practice for more than 35 years and works at a big firm that gets lots of union members as clients responded that he trusted that the Arbitrator would read the depositions of the doctors and make the decision that way.  That set off the Arbitrator further, understandably so.

Now I don’t know the extent of the workers’ injury, but if it went to trial and depositions were taken, I’ll bet a nickel that it was a big one.  If true, the worker’s life is on the line so to speak and he puts that life in the hands of the attorney.  When the attorney won’t even half ass their effort, it’s stunning.  The poor worker of course has no idea what’s going on and probably never will.  And while the Arbitrator could find in favor of the worker, you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s going to hammer the lawyer and find in favor of the insurance company.

I don’t know how someone who “represents” clients this way can sleep at night.  It would eat me up.  I certainly hope that I never become so jaded or disinterested that I could let my actions literally screw up the lives of those who come to me for help.  This lawyer should retire, take a sabbatical, find a new career or do something other than not help his clients.  But he’s probably making great money half assing his way through work and probably can’t do anything else.  If he’s reading this, I plead with you to start showing some pride or walk away.  Or tell your clients that you aren’t going to fight for them.  It’s simply pathetic.

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.

 12/26/11

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Be careful out there. Happy holidays!!

12/25/11

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Before you are going to get surgery covered by workers’ compensation insurance, you are often asked to go for an Independent Medical Examination.  This is an evaluation by a physician that the insurance company sends you to, at their expense, to get a medical opinion about the cause and/or treatment for your injury.

Even with the best of intentions by all of the physicians involved, there is still frequently a disagreement about the recommended course of treatment.  If your treating physician recommends surgery, and you want to go through the procedure, you hope for the best that IME physician will agree, but prepare for the possibility that he or she will not.

How can you position yourself the best to win the battle of the “experts” and have your surgery covered?  First, be sure that the expert you are putting out there is qualified and credible.  The insurance company is likely to hire someone who specializes in the particular area your issue involves.  If your doctor does not have much experience in this type of procedure, or is a general physician rather than a specialist, then the recommendation may be given less weight.  Credibility is also key.  The reputations of the doctors can sway the opinion one way or the other.  Honestly, a lot of lawyers and insurance companies screw this part up by sending workers to “hired guns” that are known to say whatever needs to be said, not necessarily the truth.

Second, if your physician has the experience and expertise to give the opinion for surgery, be sure that he or she can back it up.  A recent Illinois workers’ compensation case was lost largely because the treating physician’s surgery recommendation was made without the necessary specifics to support it.  There was no rationale behind the decision, other than to say that if physical therapy did not work then this surgical procedure should be tried.

The IME physician was detailed and convincing in his opinion that surgery was not necessary under the circumstances.  He gave specific medical reasons why he did not think that this was the right procedure.  He also was detailed in his discussion of the worker’s risk factors that would make the surgery much less likely to be successful.   In the end, the insurance company’s physician was far more credible and convincing and surgery was denied.

When you want to get your surgery covered, it can be a frustrating process to have to fight to have your opinion accepted.  But with a good lawyer in your corner, and the right medical evidence and support to back you up, you have a good shot at winning the battle of the medical experts, if your case comes to that.

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.

12/24/11

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Workers’ compensation may cover a rehabilitation plan that will help you prepare to find a job, when your work injury has prevented you from continuing what you used to do.  This vocational rehabilitation can be a great opportunity to help you develop your skills and prepare for your future.  But the opportunity can be blown if it is not handled reasonably and diligently.

Vocational rehabilitation can provide you with services, such as job training, education, and job searching support.  But if you do not cooperate with the rehabilitation company, then you could lose your benefits, including your maintenance.  What can get in your way?  If you are not following through with the recommendations, you could be risking your benefits.  But also, your follow- through has to be reasonable and realistic.

The rehabilitation program is not necessarily going to completely change your career path altogether.  You can learn some new skills, and complete some education, and receive other supports.  But a worker recently in a case in Illinois, lost his maintenance benefits partly because his unrealistic job search efforts. 

He had been a meat cutter for a grocery chain, and did not have much of an academic record.  Yet on his job applications, he specified an unreasonably high salary request, and he was attempting to pursue management positions, for which he was not qualified.  On the other hand the rehabilitation company wanted him to pursue a literacy program that they thought would help him, and he did not do that.  He also did not make as many job contacts as was expected of him.

In other cases, benefits have been terminated where the vocational rehabilitation program recommended obtaining a GED and to research appropriate job sites, as well as for not handling interviews properly. 

What is generally expected to not run into a problem is to put out reasonable efforts at cooperating with the program.  But also, it should be done in a meaningful way to help the plan succeed.  Otherwise, your efforts at rehabilitation might not seem sincere, and you could risk losing your right to your benefits for the vocational rehabilitation and maintenance.  Even if your job search is not a success, your part in the retraining and applying should be genuine and reasonable.  If it’s not, it could literally cost you tens of thousands of dollars if the Arbitrator doesn’t like your approach to looking for work.

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.

 12/22/11

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If you sustain an injury on the job, there is a chance some day that you will have to appear before an Arbitrator that will decide whether or not to award you work injury benefits and/or how much your case is worth.

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.

12/20/11

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Clearly not everyone feels pain to the same degree, and the same injury may produce more pain in one person than another.  It would make sense, then, that treatment for the injury would be specific to each person.  Two workers with the same lower back strain from heavy lifting could take different periods of time to recover and be able to get back to work, if at all.

When you need to prove your case for workers’ compensation benefits to reimburse you for the full extent of your recovery, you want to be sure to not make some simple mistakes that could blow your case.  Since pain is real, and needs to be treated, yet it is subjective and needs to be proven somehow, the way you go about it can make all the difference.  In a case decided recently in Illinois, a mechanic who injured his back at work made some of these mistakes. 

First, he did not have medical testimony from his treating physicians that backed up his complaints of ongoing pain.  The physician’s reports lacked any medical basis for continued treatment, or for his current reduced functioning based on the pain he claimed to be suffering. 

In contrast, another very similar Illinois case where a mechanic suffered back strain and chronic pain, the medical testimony was specific and supported the worker’s claims.  He had two treating physicians that gave medical opinions that his injury was likely caused by heavy lifting on the day of the accident, and testified about his current limited functioning.  Also, the worker had continued to receive additional treatment to try to relieve the pain, including acupuncture and massages.

The second mistake the worker made in proving his case, was not conducting himself within what he claimed his own physical limitations were.  If you are in pain, and need further treatment and work limitations, then you have to limit your activities accordingly.  This worker did not.  When the insurance company used video surveillance to check on his activity, what they saw on the video was that he was doing things that were outside of his work restrictions, and that were inconsistent with his claims of pain.

When you are trying to prove this kind of a case, credibility is critical.  Any support you can bring in the form of medical testimony can help to show that you are not inventing your pain.  And you are only hurting your case if you try to push yourself too far and do activities that are not the type someone in your condition should do.  You lose the credibility of your own testimony about your pain, if you say you cannot bend and lift at work, and then you are out shoveling your snow---regardless of how much pain you are in when you do it.

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.

12/18/11

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Workers’ compensation insurance covers injuries that happen when you are on the job, but with some jobs, it is not so clear when you are working and when you are not.  Employees that are on call for their employers are waiting to be called into action, but not exactly working.  When and if an on-call employee is back on duty and back within the workers’ compensation coverage, is a question to be determined in each case.

Typically, an employee that is on call for the company is standing ready to work, but is not necessarily working during the periods of time that he or she is waiting.  The employer has to actually call the employee into action, for the status to change.  If you may be called to work, and you have your cell phone by you to get the call, that is likely not enough for an injury to be covered under worker’s compensation.

But when you are specifically called into action by your employer, at that point there is a shift in your status.  When you are once again under the control of your employer, then an accident that happens is more likely to be considered a work accident.

Police officers face a different situation when they are on call or even when they are off duty.  They can be called into action to perform job duties by more than just a call from their employer.  They can observe situations out in public that create a need to spring into action and perform their duties as an officer.

Whether the police officer is off duty and sees a troubling situation, or whether he or she is on call and monitoring the radio in case a scenario arises that should be responded to, the result may still be the same.  If a police officer’s job duties provide for vigilance and action whenever necessary, then the officer does not necessarily need to be specifically called to action in a particular situation for the situation to be covered by workers’ compensation insurance in the event there is an injury.

It is really the same analysis as other on-call employees.  Did the employer have authority over the employee at the time of the injury?  If the answer is yes, then you are more likely to have your injuries covered as job-related.  Your employer could have authority because you were specifically summoned back to work while you were on call.

Or your employer could have authority over you because, in the example of the police officer, your job contemplates you will act when needed to help others.

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.

 12/16/11

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Following a work injury, while you are still recovering, you are entitled to receive temporary total disability benefits (TTD), to help you financially until you have improved as much as you are able.  If you are able to perform some job task, your employer can give you some “light duty” work so you can still follow your doctor’s restrictions.  Workers’ compensation benefits continue to support your recovery and financial loss.

But this can sometimes bump against another area of Illinois law.  In most instances employees may be fired for good reason, or for no reason at all, unless there is some agreement that says otherwise.  If you are working light duty at the job where you were injured, and you are fired from that job, what happens to your benefits?

Your rights as an injured worker should still be protected, allowing you to continue to collect from your old employer’s insurance, even if you have been fired from your job for misconduct, or some other cause which you are responsible for.  Employers have tried to make the case that if you are fired for misconduct, they should not have to continue paying TTD.  But this argument has been rejected.

The goal of workers’ compensation is to protect injured employees financially, and help them to return as healthy as possible to the work force.  To achieve this goal, it makes sense that the law would simply look at whether the employee was entitled to TTD benefits in the first place, and if so, whether the employee is still in the process of recovering from the injury and not yet at the maximum level of improvement. 

TTD benefits should not be affected at all, just because you were fired, regardless of you blameworthiness in being fired.  If you are continuing to follow your doctor’s orders and your condition is still improving, then the cause for your firing should not be able to be used against you for the purposes of workers’ compensation benefits.

It should be mentioned, though, that your employer, on the other hand, cannot fire you just because you have filed a workers’ compensation claim.  Even though Illinois generally allows for terminating employees for any reason if there is no other agreement preventing this, one of the reasons that is not allowed for firing an employee is his or her involvement in a workers’ compensation case. 

Either way, employees’ TTD benefits are generally protected when the employer later decides to terminate the employment.

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.

 12/14/11

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When you’re hired for a job, your employer hires your whole self—warts and all.  So if you’re injured on the job, you should be able to receive workers’ compensation benefits to cover you, even if your prior medical conditions played a role in your current medical condition.

In one Illinois case, a teacher severely injured her knee at work while she was performing her job duties.  The accident required medical care and lost time at work.  What made this case more complicated, was the teacher’s medical history.  She had other medical conditions, which included surgery, and she had been taking blood-thinning medication.

For these reasons, the issue was raised whether or not workers’ compensation benefits should be available to cover the recent accident involving her knee.  Perhaps she would not have been so badly injured by this accident, had she not had the other medical factors coming into play as well.

But under Illinois workers’ compensation law, if your work injury was a cause of your current medical condition, then you should be covered and entitled to receive benefits to compensate you for your loss.  The fact that you may have been in a weakened condition, or otherwise more prone to injury, should not cut off your right to benefits. 

The significant question to answer, is whether your work accident made your medical condition worse, or made it degenerate faster than it would have otherwise.  If the answer to this is yes, then likely your current condition is covered.  If, though, your injury is just the result of the typical process your medical issues would ordinarily take, separate and apart from the recent accident, then you’re not likely to be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

For the teacher and her knee injury, she had several factors that may have contributed to the treatment she needed for her injury.  But after the accident she did have a significant increase in pain and swelling, and there was no other explanation for that other than the work accident.  For this reason, it was covered under workers’ compensation.

Employees are not expected to be in perfect health and fitness.  Each has his or her own conditions and limitations that are unique to the individual.  The workers’ compensation system was designed with this in mind, and therefore it does not necessarily penalize workers for prior injuries or conditions which may have made the current situation worse.

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.

12/12/11

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I don’t want to paint the picture that every insurance adjuster is the devil and they will screw you at any opportunity, but that said, there is no debating that an insurance company isn’t looking out for an injured worker, they are looking out for their bottom line.  Claims reps for insurance companies get paid in part based on how quickly they can close cases and how little they can spend per case.  The less you get, the better off they are.  That’s why they will sometimes refuse to approve a surgery without a good reason.  If they don’t spend $10,000 to fix your knee that is money in their pocket.

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.

12/10/11

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Mean boss, bad work environment, cruel coworkers:  a recipe for job-related stress.  But psychological stress injuries, even if caused by your job, are not generally covered under workers’ compensation in Illinois. 

Sometimes the stress and pressure from your job can cause you to suffer emotionally and psychologically, as it builds up over time.  This type of injury, though, without more, usually will not trigger workers’ compensation benefits.  There are a few additional factors, that if part of the picture, could change the result and allow compensation.

Instead of the cause of the psychological injury being stress that wears at you over time, if there was a sudden event that you could point to as the cause, you’re likely to have your injury covered.  This type of event could either be something physical or emotional. 

An example of a physical event that could trigger benefits, would be if your boss inappropriately hit or touched you in a way that caused you to suffer panic attacks.  In proving your case, you could point to specific incidents on specific days that began your psychological injury.

An emotional event that could trigger benefits for a stress injury, would be witnessing something sudden, severe, and shocking that occurred at work, such as the death of a coworker.  If, for example, you work in a factory and saw your coworker violently injured or killed by the machinery, you could suffer serious psychological injuries from this specific event.

Another type of stress injury that could be covered under workers’ compensation, that may seem psychological, really is, for the most part, physical in nature.  If your job stress has caused you to suffer a physical injury such as hypertension, then this is a different scenario. Here you are not suffering from a psychological injury, but instead, you have a physical injury that may have been brought about by the emotional stress of your job.  Even though there is a psychological aspect to your injury, your body itself can suffer and deteriorate as a result. 

Each of these stress-related job injuries has some other element to it other than a lousy job making you feel lousy.  That’s not to say that the way you feel from a stressful job isn’t significant.  Stress injuries can be very real and make it difficult to work--but Illinois workers’ compensation does not usually cover it.  That does not mean that you should ignore injuries that are related to stressful work situations.  Just as these examples show, there are those cases where, when you look at the total picture, you can justify getting benefits for your injury. 

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.

 12/6/11

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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.

12/4/11

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There are deadlines in Illinois workers’ compensation cases that can prevent you from getting benefits you may be entitled to, if you miss the time period.  First, you are required to notify your boss of your injury within 45 days.  And second, there is a statute of limitations, which is the time period that you have for bringing a claim regarding your injury and benefits.  Missing these deadlines may mean missing your chance to receive benefits for your injury.

If you work in a warehouse and a box fell on your back and injured you, then your deadlines are easy to figure out.  You can count the days from the date the box fell.  But if you injure your back day by day lifting boxes, then the date of your injury becomes much more blurry, and more difficult to be sure you don’t miss your chance to bring your claim.

The safest course is not to wait, and to notify your employer as soon as you think your job may have caused your developing injury.  You’ll want to see a doctor right away, and be sure to explain all of the facts of your situation:  what type of pain or sensations you are feeling, and when you first noticed it; what types of situations cause you to feel pain; what your job duties entail; and what other activities your are involved in.   Your medical records can help you to prove your workers’ compensation case, and of course, can help you get the necessary medical treatment.

Sometimes, though, you are not aware that the discomfort you are feeling is something that needs medical attention; or you might not associate the pain that has been escalating, with your job duties.  By the time you look back and realize that your repetitive movements at work have slowly hurt some part of your body, it may seem too late to do anything about it.

But for these types of repetitive trauma injuries, the clock should not start to count down on your notice and filing deadlines until the time that it should be fairly clear that you are injured and it was related to work.  You don’t have to stop working the minute you experience some pain, nor do you have to keep working until your body gives out, just so there would be a definite date of your injury.   The date can instead be pinned to the time when a reasonable employee would discover that that he or she is injured, and it was related to the job.  At that time, your periods of giving notice and bringing a claim would start to run.

Being aware of your body and the stress that it is under can benefit you in the long run—both in getting your medical treatment sooner to ensure a better recovery, and in starting a timely process to getting workers’ compensation benefits to pay for your recovery.

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.

 12/2/11

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