The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission is where all work injury cases in Illinois get filed. The main location is in Chicago and that’s where all of the paperwork gets filed along with the majority of trials. There are hearing locations for trials on disputed cases all over the state. Some of the locations include Rockford, Waukegan, Woodstock, Wheaton, Geneva, Joliet, Decatur, Rock Island, Peoria and Quincy (and that is only about half of them).
These cases are not lawsuits so when you file a claim you don’t pay a filing fee and you aren’t assigned to a Judge. Rather you get assigned to an Arbitrator. Every 60 days your case comes up for a status hearing before the Arbitrator your case is assigned to. Usually nothing happens at those hearings unless you are not receiving benefits and your lawyer files a motion on your behalf to get a trial date. Most areas of the state have only one Arbitrator. You are usually assigned to the Arbitrator that is closest to the place where your accident took place.
If you go to trial and don’t like the result (or the insurance company doesn’t like the result) you can appeal. At that time the Workers Compensation Commission will assign your case to a panel of three Commissioners. There are nine Commissioners for the entire State and they travel around the State hearing the different appeals. They don’t hear evidence – in other words you won’t be testifying again – but do read the trial transcript, read memos written by the lawyers about the case and typically give each attorney five minutes to argue why they think the case should be decided in their favor.
Every year approximately 60,000 cases are filed with the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Given that high volume it’s pretty impressive that if you want to go to trial and your lawyer is organized, you can usually get a hearing whenever you need it.
The Commission is also responsible for investigating businesses that don’t care work comp insurance as that is a felony in Illinois. They also report to State leaders and help with investigations of work injury fraud.
And that’s about everything you could want to know about the organization that decides your fate if you are hurt on the job.
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.
