What is my Illinois workers compensation case worth? What should I get for my workmans comp claim. TTD payments Chicago, wage differential, permanent disability law Illinois.
When you get injured while working, to win a case you have to be able to prove that your injuries and need for treatment are related to the job accident. In some cases this is straight forward. For example, if you get hit by a forklift at work and break your leg, it’s pretty obvious … Continue Reading
We are Illinois workers compensation attorneys who help people understand their rights. This includes explaining certain work comp related events such as work hardening. What is work hardening? Work hardening is a form of occupational therapy. It is a highly individualized, job-specific program designed to get an injured worker who cannot work at full capacity … Continue Reading
While every Illinois workers compensation case is different, there are certain factors that we look into when we give you a free consultation that will help us determine if you have a case that we or any other lawyer would want to pursue. One of these factors is how long did it take you to … Continue Reading
If you’ve been injured at work, you may find, even after your injury has healed, that you don’t have the same strength or endurance that you used to. This is a common situation. After all, doctors often tell patients to rest their bodies or injured body parts while recuperating. So it’s not surprising that some … Continue Reading
Some employers are the worst. There’s a factory just south of Chicago that would fit that description. The story I was told by one of their employees was that he hurt his shoulder while working on a machine. Nobody disputes that. When he talked to his boss about it, he was told the company protocol … Continue Reading
A caller to my office hurt her knee while working. It seems like a very compensable case, but she’s not been paid her TTD benefits for three months even though the insurance company is paying her medical bills. She’s owed that money but isn’t getting it because insurance companies play games. She had been thinking … Continue Reading
About once a month or so, we get a call from an injured worker who thinks they are contacting the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. We politely let them know that we are a law firm, but also ask what the issue is to see if we can help them solve it. While we’ve heard all … Continue Reading
When you are injured at work in Illinois and it’s a workers’ compensation case, all of you medical bills should be paid. That means 100%, with no co-pays or out of pocket expenses. This is true as long as your treatment is related to your injury and your treatment is reasonable. That means that it … Continue Reading
As you may know, huge home supply store, Bed Bath & Beyond, has filed for bankruptcy and will be going out of business. This means that eventually 14,000 employees at 360 stores nation wide will be out of jobs including those at the eight locations in Illinois. I hadn’t been in one of those stores … Continue Reading
A lot of what the general public knows about the law comes from things they hear about on TV or the movies or from other sources like the newspaper or the internet. So I don’t blame them when they ask about things that don’t apply to work comp law in Illinois. The two most common … Continue Reading
When you file an Illinois workers’ compensation claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, your case gets assigned to an Arbitrator. This Arbitrator is essentially your Judge as there aren’t jury trials in the work comp system. Every 90 days or so, your case will be up on his monthly status call. At this time … Continue Reading
I had a consultation with an injured Chicago worker recently. She was direct and to the point which I loved because that’s how I am. Here’s the first thing she said to me: I want to close my case. I’m sick of this and want it to be over. As you can tell, she was … Continue Reading
Here’s something we hear a lot from people calling us with Illinois workers’ compensation questions. My case is closed, but I’m still in pain. Is there anything I can do? The answer depends on what you mean by closed. The only real closure of a case is if you wait too long to file the … Continue Reading
We are Illinois workers compensation attorneys who have been helping injured firefighters since 1997. If you would like a free, confidential consultation, please contact us any time at 888-705-1766. The law treats almost every worker in Illinois the same when they are injured while working. By that, I mean that it could be your first … Continue Reading
When we say that every Illinois workers compensation case is different, one big reason is because your course of medical care is not the same as anyone else. Neither is the way the accident is caused, your age, your health background or any possible defenses to the case. Another factor that is really big is … Continue Reading
While Illinois is a very worker-friendly and common-sense state when it comes to work comp laws, we don’t pursue every case that we are contacted about. As these cases are taken on a contingency basis, it means you don’t pay a lawyer anything unless the case is successful. If there are clearly strong defenses to … Continue Reading
A caller to our office was injured when they went to a Goose Island bar and rode a mechanical bull. She was out with a group of girlfriends from college and was goaded into getting on the mechanical bull. She had had a glass of wine, but was not inebriated. While riding the bull she … Continue Reading
In my free time, I’ve coached soccer on and off for over 30 years. I’ve learned so much from other coaches. One of the best things I was ever taught was to look for cues. For example, if you see an opponent turn his hips a certain way, it can be a cue for how … Continue Reading
Despite 26+ years of being an Illinois workers’ compensation attorney, I still get surprised when someone calls me and doesn’t realize that they could have a work comp case. The most common way this happens is when someone contacts me to see if I know any labor attorneys for a wrongful termination suit. Now, we … Continue Reading
I was born and raised in Chicago, went to law school here, and have been an Illinois attorney since 1997. Yet I just heard of a newspaper called Final Call. It was apparently founded in 1979 by Louis Farrakhan. While I just heard of it, I did learn that they have a lot in common … Continue Reading
A client with an Illinois workers’ compensation case was upset with me recently. They felt that the lawyer I had suggested to them to work on their case wasn’t doing what they said they’d do. After we talked, and I broke down how the Illinois work comp settlement process works, he felt better. He told … Continue Reading
One interesting thing about talking to people who have been recently hurt on the job is that you never know what their case will turn into. I’ve talked to people who have what sounds like a horrific injury only to see it subside in a few weeks. Others have been originally diagnosed with strains, but … Continue Reading
Here is a question from a reader about payment for travel to and from a doctor’s office for medical care following a work-related accident in the Chicago area: I’ve been off work for three months. I fell while doing my job. I have been paying for my transportation back and forth to doctors’ offices. I … Continue Reading
I get a lot of calls and emails asking me what a case might be worth. Here’s one I got recently (some info changed to protect their identity): Hello, I’m trying to estimate a potential settlement amount for my work injury. I have 2 herniated disc L4,L5. that caused lower back pain and effects my … Continue Reading
When you get injured while working, to win a case you have to be able to prove that your injuries and need for treatment are related to the job accident. In some cases this is straight forward. For example, if you get hit by a forklift at work and break your leg, it’s pretty obvious … Continue Reading
