The only time an Illinois work comp lawyer can charge more than 20%
We got a call from someone who was about to hire another (reputable) lawyer for their work accident in Glenview. She was panicking about signing the contract because she thought her lawyer had somehow pulled a fast one with the contract he sent her. When they talked over the phone he told her 20% was the fee by state law (it is), but when she got the contract she saw something about a 50% fee.
Under Illinois law, your lawyer fees can not exceed 20%, even if you switched lawyers. The exception to that is if you were made a settlement offer before you hired the attorney. In that case the lawyer can take 50% of what they get above and beyond the offer you were given before you hired them.
For example, if you are given an offer of $15,000.00 before your hired a lawyer and the lawyer gets the offer increased to $45,000.00, they can get a fee of $15,000.00 (that is 50% of the 30k increase they got for you). We choose not to add this clause to our contracts because it almost never happens and we don’t typically consider taking that much. I think it actually serves to confuse the client more than anything.
In this case, a good lawyer didn’t do a good job of explaining themselves and almost lost a client. We told the caller to stick with them and not worry about what the contract said as there was never an offer to begin with.
If this is confusing just let us know. We are happy to talk about this or any other issue.
We are workers' compensation attorneys who 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.
