Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

A reader asks:

I suffered a severe injury at work a few years ago and have been getting TTD benefits since then.  I can either have surgery or conservative care.  I chose not to have surgery and reached MMI and can not return to my previous labor job.  The insurance company says I am not eligible for wage differential or vocational rehabilitation benefits telling me that if I had the surgery I wouldn't have had any permanent restrictions and could have returned to my old job.  Are they telling the truth?

They are not telling the truth.  Under Illinois workers' compensation laws you have to follow all reasonable medical care, except that you can't be forced to have surgery.  So if you refuse physical therapy your benefits can be cut off, but no one can make you get cut open.

Choosing to have surgery or not is a personal choice that should be made between you, your loved ones and your doctor.  From our end, we insure that you get whatever rights you are entitled to under the law.  You lose no rights, including wage loss or vocational rehabilitation, by not having a surgery.

This reader simply needs to hire an attorney and file a trial motion.  A Judge will surely order that vocational rehabilitation take place and I suspect that once a proper attorney is in place the tough talking insurance company will back down.

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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A new client stepped down from a ladder and felt a pop in his knee.  He tore his meniscus and is scheduled for surgery.  He called just to make sure that the insurance adjuster who told him that his case was no compensable was telling the truth.

News flash.  The adjuster is not looking out for you.  Sometimes they are nice, sometimes mean, sometimes they ignore you, sometimes they act like a friend.  In every scenario they make money by saving their employer money.  They are trying to reduce the costs involved in your case.  They are not there to look out for you.

Having an attorney levels the playing field.  An insurance company isn't going to tell you that you have a case if they think you will believe that you don't.  For our new client there is crystal clear case law that shows he was at an increased risk to the general public when he got hurt.  In plain English that means his case is covered under Illinois work injury law and he wins.

We don't pick battles with insurance companies - we fight when we have to, but find that keeping things amicable helps our clients.  That said, we also don't listen to non-sense like them telling us what is going to happen if we go to court.  We know the law and if it's on the side of our clients we make sure that the law is enforced.

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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A caller asks if he is entitled to TTD benefits after his upcoming back surgery.  He retired from his employer a year ago, but now needs a fusion which is related to a work injury from this employer.

Even though he is voluntarily out of the work force, if he is completely authorized off of work following the surgery, he is still entitled to benefits.  Those benefits will continue until he either gets a full duty release or a release with restrictions that the old employer could have accommodated.

The reason for all of this is just because you retire from one company does not mean that you don't want to work anywhere.  Since the work related back surgery is taking him out of the work force, he is entitled to TTD benefits.  It may be counter-intuitive, but it's the law in Illinois and that's all that matters.

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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