If you hire an attorney to handle a divorce, you are only hiring them to handle the divorce. Similarly, if you hire an Illinois workers’ compensation lawyer, you are only hiring them to handle to the work comp case unless they agree they will also handle something else.

A lot of firms, including mine, are able to assist you if you’ve been hurt on the job from the negligence of someone else.  But even if the lawyer does only workers’ compensation cases, they still should be able to refer you to an attorney who can handle a negligence lawsuit. If they won’t, they are blowing you off.

I say this because situations like that happen all of the time if you represent people who are injured on the job.  Another common one is injured workers who end up needing a help with a wrongful termination case.  We don’t handle those claims, but it’s so related to the work injury that it’s part of the job to give you some trusted names to call.

When we talk about how lawyers should deliver customer service, this is a big part of what we mean. There’s nothing wrong with telling a client you can’t help with a case because you don’t handle those cases.  There is something wrong if you won’t even have a conversation about it or offer to point them in the right direction.

It shocks me how often we get this type of call from injured workers whose attorneys just don’t care.  In one case a worker was being asked to sign a document that said she wasn’t hurt at work and the attorney wouldn’t even look at it or say don’t sign it.  These are lawyers who don’t want to be lawyers.

So what do you do in this situation?

Hopefully you realize early on in the case that the attorney you chose isn’t going to do a good job for you or is blowing you off. If so, you have no choice but to switch.  A better firm will take over your case at no cost to you and then either handle the other issues in house or hook you up with a trusted attorney that specializes in the case you need help with.

If you are having trouble or just have questions, we are happy to speak with you for free and in confidence.  Contact us any time at 312-346-5578.  We cover all of Illinois. And while we can’t promise a result, we do promise to fight for you and treat you like a family member or friend.