An Illinois Workers’ Compensation Riddle?

I like a good riddle.  See if you can figure out this one.

Q. Why did the Chicago workers’ compensation attorney not file the case even though the client hired him one month ago?????

A. To get to the other side.  No, wait, that ‘s the answer to why did the chicken cross the road. 

The real answer as to why the attorney didn’t file the case is that it costs too much.  Wait, that’s wrong too, filing an application for adjustment of claim is free.

So why didn’t the lawyer file?  There is absolutely, positively no good reason other that this lawyer is incredibly lazy beyond comprehension. 

In the meantime, the caller to my office, who told me that her lawyer had yet to file the case, is being evicted from her house as she hasn’t received any benefits yet.  There’s no good reason for not having received benefits other than the attorney being a lazy bum.

She asked me what we could do to solve her problem.  Unfortunately we can’t build a time machine and file the case a month ago.  Had that happened then it’s likely benefits would be coming in and the caller wouldn’t be facing an eviction.  So all we can do now is file the case and a petition for immediate hearing, but the reality is that we are probably 60-90 days away from getting in to court if she hires us today.  She didn’t like that answer, but it’s the honest one.

When you hire a lawyer, you will sign a couple of documents.  One of them is called the application for adjustment of claim.  It’s the paperwork that officially files your case with the State.  It gets file stamped and you should receive a copy.  Quite honestly, the case number should probably be on any piece of correspondence you get regarding your case.

If you hire a lawyer on Monday and ten days later they don’t have a filed copy of your document then you probably hired the wrong firm.  The reality is that cases should get filed within 24 hours.  And if it’s a month later and the case hasn’t been filed, you should bang your head against the wall and then go find a new attorney.  Actually you should bang your lawyer’s head against the wall and then go find a new attorney.