Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

We have talked a lot on our blog about jurisdiction.  In plain English, that means do you have the ability to bring an Illinois workers compensation claim.   To do so you have to show one of three things:  The accident happened in Illinois; your employment is principally based out of Illinois; or the last act to hire you took place in Illinois.

The "last act" requirement has different interpretations.  We have seen cases won when you were offered the job while on the phone, but physically in Illinois.

For truck drivers, you often have to receive a drug screen before the employment is official.  For many Illinois based trucking companies, they bring you to Illinois for that to take place.  If the drug screen happens in Illinois we have seen many cases won because that happened.  On the flip side, we have also seen cases lost because a drug screen took place out of state and there is no other real connection to Illinois.

If you are hurt on the job and are wondering if you can bring an Illinois workers' compensation claim, it's important to think of every possibility that exists for you.  It is especially true when you weren't hurt here.  Remember to think back to when you were hired and exactly what happened.

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.

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We recently were called by an injured worker who works for a company that is based on the west coast and was injured out on the east coast.  Kind of an odd trucking outfit in that he applied for the job on-line and without an interview got offered the position by e-mail with his first assignment.  No drug screen, no conversation.  Perhaps that's how things are going to be done these days, but when I first heard about it I thought it was quite odd and perhaps a scam.

But it's a legitimate company and he sustained a legitimate tear of his ACL in his left knee.  The question was does he have a case he can bring in Illinois?

To have the right to bring an Illinois workers compensation case you need to show that the accident took place in IL (not on this one), the employment is principally based here (nope) or the contract for hire took place in Illinois.   Contract for hire is deemed to be the last act necessary for the job to be offered. 

Since our guy was physically in Illinois when the job was offered and accepted he gets to pursue Illinois workers' compensation benefits.  This is significant for two reasons.  First, our benefits are great for workers, much better than most states.  Second, if he ever has to go to trial on his case he won't have to travel thousands of miles to a hearing location where he will also have to pay for a hotel.

Moral of the story is that if your employment has any relation to Illinois you can probably bring your case here and in the least it's worth investigating.

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.

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We get tons of calls from truck drivers.  Some were injured in Illinois, but otherwise have never been to Illinois.  Others have their terminal out of Illinois in places like Decatur, Chicago and Rockford, but work out of state.  Still others came to Illinois for their pre-employment physical and training, but haven't been here since.

If hurt on the job, all of those people would be eligible to pursue an Illinois workers' compensation claim.  They potentially would also have the ability to file a case in other states depending on where they were hurt, where their terminal is located and the laws of each state.

We are only Illinois attorneys so we can't give you advice about other states.  That said, we know many work injury attorneys throughout the country and everyone we've talked to has made it clear to us that the best benefits for injured workers are in Illinois.

Sometimes the insurance company will tell you that they are processing the benefits through one state.  They don't get to make that decision, you do.  Sometimes they do it because they don't know any better.  Often insurance companies do it because they know the case is worth less money in a state like Indiana, Tennessee or Texas than it would be in Illinois.  Many states have smaller limits as to what you can recover (we are told that the maximum for a Kansas case is $125,000.00) and they also sometimes give the insurance company control over your medical care.

Remember that if you want to bring your case in Illinois, as long as you were hurt here, hired here or have your employment principally based out of here you can bring an Illinois workers compensation claim.  Even if you settled your case through another state you may still be able to file your case in Illinois, even if your settlement agreement in the other state says that you can't bring any other cases.  Only the Illinois Workers'  Compensation Commission can close out your case.

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.

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Illinois is what we call a worker friendly workers' compensation state.   One of the odd rules that we have is called "contract for hire."

In plain English, this means that if the last act needed to make you an employee took place in Illinois, then any work injury claim you have for that company can be filed in Illinois.

For example, let's say you are a trucker that lives in Florida and are sent to Chicago for a physical before you get hired.  If you pass the physical and accept the job while in Chicago then for the rest of your employment you can file an Illinois workers' compensation claim.

This would be true even if the only time you ever were in Illinois was when you got hired; no matter when the injury took place.

So if you are a trucker, flight attendant or anyone else that might benefit from this rule, pass it on to your co-workers.

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.

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