We are a Chicago injury law firm that helps people with accidents anywhere in Illinois. We are experienced and fight for our clients for whom we get great results. If you’d like our help fill out our contact form or call us at (312) 346-5578 for a free consultation.
In over 20 years of being a lawyer I’ve helped people with Illinois work injuries from every state in the country. This is mostly because I’ve represented a lot of truck drivers.
A truck driver is often injured at work, away from his or her “home base” on a delivery in a different state when an on the job accident occurs. Sometimes these accidents are actual vehicle accidents; some are related to injuries sustained while loading or unloading. Regardless of the severity of the accident, any on the job injury is serious and where the driver was hired, primarily work from, and even where they were hurt can make all the difference in determining which state will handle their workers comp case.
Take for instance the case where a truck driver was employed in Illinois, but was injured on a delivery in Georgia. The driver’s employer is based in Illinois, which makes his case Illinois workers comp case regardless of what state he was in when he was hurt. In another case, a driver primarily works in Illinois, but is based out of Tennessee. While working in Florida, he injured himself; but because he works primarily in Illinois, he can file in Illinois. This is good news for the drivers because Illinois specifically is a much better state when it comes to filing workers comp cases for on the job injuries.
And of course any driver who gets injured in Illinois can file a case here no matter what their agreement with their company says. Most of the drivers who don’t live here have come in contact with me because they were hurt here.
There are many reasons Illinois is just better with regards to workers comp. Some states limit the income you can receive from workers comp, others put a cap on the total you can receive regardless of your injury. Some states even take away your right to choose your own doctor and force you to use a doctor of your employers choosing.
This is all very important because it allows you, the injured worker, the right to choose where to file your workers compensation claim. In fact, even if you settled your case in one state, we still might be able to get you more money in Illinois. If you want to know your options via a free consultation we are happy to talk to you at any time.
