Being an attorney, especially a workers’ compensation attorney is not that hard. But there are some firms, for whatever reason, who only want the cases that will easily settle for them and there is litle to no work.
These firms will tell you to use your own insurance the second that a dispute rises up in your case. They will recommend a settlement that is no where near the full value of your case because otherwise they’d have to prepare for a trial.
There is one such firm here in Chicago that is like that. They have a terrible reputation and I often correctly guess that they are handling the case just from hearing the description “my lawyer doesn’t return my calls.” Seriously, they are the worst.
The other day I got a panicked call from one of their clients who was looking for new representation. Her doctor had recommended a surgery for her knee issues and the insurance company wouldn’t approve it.
When this very nice injured worker called her lawyer and asked what he could do (mind you it took five calls in two weeks before they spoke), he told her that the laws in Illinois are awful for injured workers so there is not much he can do to help.
WHAT A CROCK!!!!
Our laws are great for injured workers if you have a doctor in your corner that is credible and says your job activities are the cause of your injury. It takes some work, but it’s not like it’s 100 hours to get ready for trial.
Firms like this one lie because they just don’t want to do the work. If they get 100 cases and 40 of them are disputed, they’ll do a half-ass job on those 40 and coast on the other 60. I can’t even imagine how many of their clients have been ripped off over the years unknowingly.
This is the same firm that, if you follow my blog, I wrote about a while back for promising huge settlement numbers in order to get a client to sign up even though there is no basis in fact for making up any numbers.
These lawyers will say anything, but it’s always to try to build an advantage for themselves, not for their clients. And it’s pathetic.
