The Illinois Workers' Compensation Act is a no fault law. Employees in the state of Illinois give up the right (in most cases) to sue their employers for negligence. In exchange, if an employee suffers an injury that arises out of and in the course of his/her employment, that employee likely can make a claim for workers' compensation benefits.

Once an injury occurs, an employee has 45 days from the date he or she knows or should have known that it could be related to his or her employment to report the injury to the employer. Please note that this standard is interpreted very loosely. We do not recommend that you give up your claim for benefits without having first consulted with a lawyer.

To make a claim for a physical injury, an employee must show that his or her employment contributed to the injury. The employment does not have to be the sole cause or the major cause.

In a valid claim, an employee can expect the payment of reasonable and necessary medical expenses, weekly payments while he/she can not work and compensation for total or partial disability to a specific body part or the body as a whole.

Similar injuries can yield different monetary results based on the medical procedures that were performed, the average weekly wage of an employee and the physical recovery that the employee makes.

While the employee can see a doctor of his or her choosing for treatment, the employer also has the right to send the employee to a physician of their choice for an exam.

Generally speaking, if an employee retains an attorney in a workers' compensation claim, by law the attorney can not receive more than 20% of what he/she recovers for his/her client. In most cases, our fee is limited to whatever recovery we make for the permanent nature of your injury. If we do not obtain a settlement or verdict, you do not owe us any money.