Some people have a perception that all lawyers, like politicians, suck. I’m not going to lie and say that there are not any good lawyers (or politicians). There are. And the reality is that the bad ones help form the opinions most people have way more than the good ones.
The truth is that most Illinois workers’ compensation lawyers are good at their job. They might not be great on every case and definitely some are better than others. But the majority want to do well and will do what needs to be done for their clients.
Unfortunately, Not All Illinois Workers Comp Lawyers Are Good
Of course there are bad ones. Some are disorganized. Some are part of firms that just take on too many clients and employ too many inexperienced lawyers. Some go through personal events that mess them up like a divorce, illness, death of a loved one or even getting arrested. And some just start to care less as they get older.
I was contacted by an injured worker who got royally screwed by hiring a bad lawyer. I had not heard of this attorney and do not know what they were going through or if they were just incompetent.
A couple of years ago, this worker injured their back. They reported the accident and went to a doctor. They work for a large employer who is known to have an insurance company that treats injured workers poorly. That is not a problem if you have an attorney in your corner who knows what they are doing. Most experienced Illinois work comp lawyers have taken on this employer dozens or more times. They have a lot of workers and a lot of injuries.
It of course is a problem if they do not advocate for you in any way.
How Could This Happen?
This worker reached out to me more than two years after they were hurt. They had received some medical care, but not a lot because the case was denied. Of great note, they injured their back when a forklift ran into them. They had never seen a doctor for their back before. There is absolutely no reason why this case should be denied, but it was.
Normally in these situations, two things would happen. The first is you would see your orthopedic doctor and they would state that your injuries are work related. Somehow this lawyer never told the worker to see an orthopedic doctor. That is stunning. Almost every injured worker with a back injury needs to see one, especially if their case drags on. The worker didn’t know any better and only saw the company doctor and occasionally his own doctor.
The second thing that should have happened is the attorney should have filed what is called a 19(b) petition for immediate hearing. This would have gotten the case before an Arbitrator AND forced the insurance company to give an explanation as to why they are denying/delaying benefits. They have never given one.
In fact this attorney did not file any motions of any kind in over two years. The only motions that were filed were done by the defense attorney who told me that they could not get a call back from the lawyer. That is NUTS!!!
Of course this poor worker had no idea on any of this and why would they. It is not their job. It is why workers go to a lawyer in the first place. They just unfortunately picked a terrible one that does not care.
Now the worker has finally gotten a MRI (should have been done a long time ago) which shows a major disc herniation. The problem is that they no longer work for the company and the MRI does not prove the problem is related to the work injury.
All we could do was suggest they see an orthopedic doctor and let us know if they think the current problem is due to the work accident.
We discuss taking over work comp cases from other attorneys all of the time. Sometimes it is because they are bad communicators or do not return calls. Sometimes it is because a lawyer left the firm and you do not like their replacement. But it is the times like these when the lawyer is either clueless, lazy or just does not give a shit that really piss me off. Everyone deserves better.
