I had a chat with an injured Illinois worker recently. This worker has major injuries to multiple parts of his body. He has had a lot of surgeries over the last couple of years.
Early on he hired an attorney who I had never heard of. There was not a ton for the attorney to do on this case as it was the rare one where it was accepted from the beginning and the IME agreed with the treating surgeon. So while a few TTD checks have been late, all of the medical bills have been paid.
He called me because he wanted to know what his case was worth. I explained that I would need to see his medical records and more thoroughly interview him in order to give an accurate estimate. But when I discovered he had a lawyer, I asked him why his attorney was not giving this information. What he said next kind of stunned me.
His response was, “I am trying to figure out what happens in cases like mine. My lawyer is being really tight lipped when it comes to what the value is.”
Uhm, what???
It is not unusual for an attorney to say that they do not know what your case will be worth if you are in the beginning or middle of your medical care. We can not know for sure until you are all better and done with your treatment.
In this case, however, the worker has been done treating for months and his attorney is telling him that they should try to settle. That usually means that, in the least, the attorney will come up with a dollar amount that they should ask for and a range of what the case could be worth. Most attorneys I know, especially on bigger cases like this one, outline how they are getting to that number in writing or sit down with the client to discuss it.
Not doing this is a big deal. It is the job of the lawyer. Period. This is why you hire them.
My concern because I have not heard of this attorney is they do not regularly handle cases of this size or work comp very much at all. There were additional red flags including the lawyer telling him that he needs to see a doctor to get an impairment rating. That is not something that needs to happen or that would influence the final result in any meaningful way. In fact it is an insurance company tactic to make your case worth less.
Another red flag was that the attorney did not tell him that there could be additional money for future medical care.
In the best scenario, this is a good lawyer who is not providing good customer service. In the worst, it is a lawyer who does not know what they are doing and there lack of experience is going to cost this worker hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The good news is that there is not a settlement offer yet, so this worker can get a new, better firm in his corner if he wants. Once the offer gets made, that will be very difficult if not impossible.
The lesson from this is that your attorney should seem that they are an advocate for you. This includes communicating with you and strategizing with you. They do not have to do everything you want them to do, but should explain what they are doing and why. And when it comes to settlement time, a good Illinois work comp attorney can show you why they are asking for what they are asking for and what you can reasonably expect to get. And they also should be prepared to go to trial if a fair offer does not come in.
