Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

A laborer asked us this question recently.  We have been surprised by the number of union workers who are told that they "have" to hire a certain attorney.

The answer is that this is not true.  Nothing about being in a union changes how a case gets handled.  Unlike employment law agreements (e.g. how many hours a week you can work, having a hearing process for firing someone, etc.), a union agreement with an employer can't change how the law is enforced.  Some employers and unions have tried to limit the benefits that members can receive and this has been thrown out of court.

Why would a union steward tell you that you have to hire a certain attorney?  A reasonable guess is that they are getting something out of it.  We are certainly aware of law firms that regularly "entertain" union officials with golf outings, tickets to sporting events, trips and even gifts.  We've heard rumors of some firms providing illegal financial kickbacks.

Some of the attorneys the union tells you that you have to hire are outstanding and others are not.  We hear from a lot of clients that they felt the attorney was more concerned about the union boss than them as an actual injured client.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the union telling you that they think attorney X is a good lawyer or having them suggest multiple firms for you (that happens with us by the way).  But for them to tell you that you must hire a certain law firm is false and certainly implies that they are looking out for themselves, not for you.   That simply doesn't happen in strong union organizations that really care about their members.

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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If you are claiming that a repetitive trauma injury like carpal tunnel or anything else is work related, at some point a credible medical doctor is going to have to put in writing that your job caused, aggravated or accellerated your condition.  Typically if you get that you will win.

To make that opinion stand up, you need to be very clear with the doctor about what your job duties involve.  In many repetitive trauma cases the insurance company will find a "hired gun" IME doctor to say that your problems were not caused by your job.  To combat that you need to show that your doctor has a true understanding of what your job entails.

This was demonstrated in a recent decision by the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission.   A computer analyst won his case when the Commission found that the treating doctor had adequate knowledge of what the analyst job involved.  They specifically said that this was persuasive in their opinion.

Don't assume that your doctor knows what being a secretary or lineman or analyst or any other job means.  Tell him or her what you do all day, how often you do it, how many hours you work and what you notice when this activity is happening.  

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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One of the most common allergies is a reaction to latex products, most often latex gloves.  Some people develop such a severe allergy that just being around latex causes them to break-out, have trouble breathing and in the worst case scenario can cause a death.

If you work for an employer and then develop a latex injury, it is a covered workers' compensation claim in Illinois.  Your employer has a duty to take the latex exposure away from you and if they don't, they will have to pay you for your time off of work.  Either way they will have to pay for all of your medical bills related to this problem.

If you are having a latex exposure problem we strongly encourage you to get prompt medical attention, explain to your doctor (preferably an allergist) what is happening and follow their recommendations.

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 have a big philosophy on how we treat our clients.  You can sum it up that we do what we think gives them the best chance of success and that we treat them like we would a family member or friend.

Case in point is a recent client.   We are helping them with their work injury, but it happened in a car accident that was someone else's fault, so we connected them with a good personal injury attorney for that.  They were off work for a long time so they needed a referral to a social security lawyer.  Again, we didn't try to handle that in-house, we sent that to someone we think is an expert.

From there regrettably their doctor messed up their surgery so we recommended an Illinois medical malpractice lawyer.  And finally, their ex-wife is making a claim against their benefits so we referred this client to a family law attorney.

It's not the desired path for a case, but it's not uncommon either. 

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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If you follow this blog you know that we preach honesty.  We were called by a woman today that hurt her back on the job and has a herniated disc.  Since the company is struggling she agreed to lie to her doctor about how she got hurt.  She did this thinking she was being a good employee.

As you can probably guess, she now needs back surgery, just got laid off and of course they are disputing that she got hurt on the job.  Unless a miracle occurs, this woman has lost all of the rights of the Illinois workers' compensation system.

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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