Posted on January 20, 2010 by Mike Helfand

The #1 question of Chicago work comp lawyers: What is my case worth?

We polled some Chicago workers' compensation lawyers and they all agreed that clients want to knonw what their case is worth more than anything else.  We use a formula based on when you were hurt, what your wage is and how serious your injury was to determine what the case is worth.   We do this by looking at your medical records and job status. Below is a copy of the chart we use:

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF WEEKS FOR COMPENSATION
INJURIES OCCURRING:
Body Part Before 7/20/2005                                11/16/2005 - 1/31/2006 7/20/2005 - 11/15/2005                        2/1/2006 or after
Man as whole 500 500
Disfigurement 150 162
Thumb  70 76
First (index) finger 40 43
Second (middle) finger 35 38
Third (ring) finger 25 27
Fourth (little) finger 20 22
Great toe 35 38
Each other toe 12 13
Hand 190 205
Arm 235 253
*Amp. Above elbow 250 270
*Amp At shoulder 300 323
Foot 155 167
Leg 200 215
 Amp Above knee 225 242
 Amp At hip joint 275 296
Eye 150 162
*Enucleation of eye 160 173
Hearing loss, one ear 50 54
Hearing loss, both ears 200 215
 

Man as a whole refers to injuries to your back, neck, chest and head.  So using the chart above, if your entire leg was cut off on January 2nd this year, you would receive 215 weeks of permanency benefits.  Of course that doesn't happen to most people.  If you had a knee surgery and we determined your leg was 20% disabled then you would receive 43 weeks of benefits (215 weeks x 20% = 43).

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attoneys.  Contact Us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

 

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Posted on May 27, 2009 by Mike Helfand

What's my case worth?

This is by far the number one question we get on any Illinois workers' compensation case from a prospective client.  We don't blame you, it would be in the back of our minds too.  The money you can get if you are seriously injured is significant and tax free which doesn't hurt either.

All that said, we are brutally honest with our clients.  There is no way to tell you what a case is worth without reviewing your medical records and your job situation.  We can make an educated guess, but certainly would never recommend that to anyone.  We strongly feel that it's important to do a work injury case right, not quickly.  This means looking at every relevant medical record and fully assessing the situation. 

Often it's not in a client's best interests to settle their case.  Sometimes they need more medical treatment.  Sometimes we need to make sure that they can work without problems.  Bottom line is that we will do whatever we can to maximize the recovery for you with your long term best interests in mind.

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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Posted on January 26, 2009 by Mike Helfand

What does the death of football player Korey Stringer tell you about what your case is worth?

Seven+ years ago football player Korey Stringer died from heat related problems while practicing with the Minnesota Vikings.  ESPN just reported that the case against the NFL was settled.

While his widow likely received a workers' compensation death benefit, like many of the cases that we deal with, there were also "third party" lawsuits that were filed.  That means that the widow sued alleging negligence against someone other than the employer for causing the death.  We do this all of the time, usually when a client of ours is hurt in a car accident or construction injury that was someone elses fault.  You can't sue your employer for negligence, but the rest of the world is fair game.

What is telling about the Stringer case is that when it was first filed her attorneys asked for $100 million.  Now no one is saying what the case settled for, but it's clear that it wasn't anywhere near that figure.  Mrs. Stringer herself even admitted in the article that the huge demand was to get the attention of the responsible parties and make changes into how they deal with practicing in the heat.

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.

 

The relevance of this for Illinois workers' compensation claims or personal injury lawsuits is that you shouldn't listen to the astronomical numbers that get floated about.  If a lawyer is telling you that your case is worth $100 million you should ask him/her how many cases settled in Illinois over the last five years for even more than $10 million.  The answer is not too many, probably less than 20 and in no case did an individual come even close to $100 million. 

For work injuries, we settled what we believe is the largest workers' compensation claim in Illinois ever and that was for $800,000.00.  That case was extremely unusual and involved a young man who made a lot of money and could no longer work.

So the lesson is to ignore the talk and have an honest conversation about realities.
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