Free advice from a Chicago workers compensation attorney on what to do if injured on the job in Illinois. Help all over including Wheaton, Peoria, Decatur, Quad Cities, all of IL for job accidents.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) employees over 4,800 workers and while some of them are paper pushers, most are working to make sure that our bridges and roads are safe. Their work can be as simple as removing roadway debris to as serious as making repairs. Because these are often heavy labor jobs there … Continue Reading
One of the things that makes us unique is that we will talk to anyone about their Illinois work injury and will answer your questions. A lot of those questions end up as blog posts, but some of them are great questions that wouldn’t make a great blog post. So every now and then we … Continue Reading
A settlement demand is the process in which your attorney writes to the insurance company and/or their attorney and tells them what they think your case is worth and why. In some areas of law like medical malpractice, attorneys will ask for way more than what they think the case is worth. There are some … Continue Reading
In what may ironically be good news, if you were hoping to go to Arbitration in the next week or two at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, you might not be. That’s because Governor Pritzker has essentially fired six Arbitrators who were appointed but not confirmed by previous Governor Rauner. Elections have consequences and the … Continue Reading
I’ve written on this blog many times about the danger of nurse case managers in Illinois workers’ compensation cases. Bottom line is that some will try to talk to your doctor directly or schedule your appointments so they can attend. All of that is illegal. A recent caller had a similar situation that I’d never … Continue Reading
There is a REALLY bad Chicago workers’ compensation law firm. They advertise a ton, assign young attorneys to many of their cases, have a lot of turnover and deliver terrible customer service. I know this because I am repeatedly told the same story by their unhappy clients. We get about 4-5 calls from their clients … Continue Reading
A lot of callers want to know if there lawyer has some sort of conflict of interest. It usually happens in small town cases. If you hire a local attorney, chances are that they are going to know your boss from around town and may have a friendship with them. That doesn’t mean that they … Continue Reading
I had the pleasure recently of talking to a really nice guy who appreciated my direct and blunt approach. Not everybody does. He was a smart guy who investigated a little bit after his attorney told him something that didn’t make sense. The average weekly wage they were using to calculate his benefits was too … Continue Reading
Here is a fairly common scenario: You are at work and lift something. You feel a pain in your back like you’ve never felt before. You report it immediately to your supervisor and try to treat the problem with rest and pain pills. Five days later it’s not better, it’s getting worse and you go … Continue Reading
We are Chicago based workers’ compensation attorneys who help with job injury cases all over. If you have any questions, fill out our contact form, call us or click on the chat button. We will always talk to you for free and do whatever we can to help you. We talk to people in plain … Continue Reading
I pride myself in being an attorney who is direct, honest and speaks in plain English. If someone asks me a question and I know the answer, I don’t tiptoe around it if it’s something they don’t want to hear. I’m also willing to tell you that your lawyer sucks if they suck, and of … Continue Reading
A caller to my office told me that he was hurt at work and receiving benefits for a knee injury. His doctor wants to do surgery, but before the insurance company would approve it, they want him to see an IME (independent medical examination) doctor. He’s heard stories about how many of these physicians are … Continue Reading
Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s unethical (and gross) for an attorney to be in a romantic relationship with a client. But that doesn’t mean your lawyer shouldn’t give you love. By “give you love” I mean your attorney should care about you. How can they do that? Do they return your phone calls? Are they talking … Continue Reading
A reader of my blog got in touch and asked a really good question: “My case isn’t going very well. What should I do?” Now as you can imagine, we had a longer conversation because I needed to know specifics, but the fact that this worker even asked at all is a good sign. Too … Continue Reading
Someone who recently clicked on my chat button (which I assume you’ve seen already) and asked a really good question. She wanted to know how long it would take to get her IME report. An IME report is an “independent medical exam” finding. Basically, the insurance company gets to pick a doctor to examine you … Continue Reading
Per the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, you have the right to two medical opinions when it comes to your care. As long as the medical care is “reasonable” the insurance company has to pay for it. This comes up a lot from clients/callers who want to know how to get a second opinion and more … Continue Reading
After Thanksgiving last year we had a crazy snow storm and got 13 inches of snow in one day or as those of us who have lived most of our lives in Chicago call it, a Tuesday. It was a mess for sure, but nothing you haven’t seen before. It was later that week when … Continue Reading
I don’t want to say that the people who run insurance companies are cartoon villains, but sometimes their minions sure act like there is a crazy evil hand controlling all of their moves. At the start of the case you are likely to get a request for medical record authorization form. It’s usually a broad … Continue Reading
I’ve written before about the Illinois work comp law principle that says the insurance company can’t make you have surgery if you don’t want to. Having something like a spine surgery is a big decision and it’s your decision. If not having the surgery leaves you with permanent restrictions and costs the insurance company more … Continue Reading
I’m an attorney and the times I’ve had to hire an attorney and pay them up front I haven’t been happy about it. Their service was great, but just like anyone else, if I don’t have to spend money for an attorney I don’t want to. Once every other week or so, someone calls me … Continue Reading
A lot of different problems can come up in an Illinois workers’ compensation case. Most of them stem from the fact that the insurance company is looking for any way possible to not pay money on your claim, even at times if doing so is against the law. As a result the number one question … Continue Reading
I’m able to see which searches lead people to our blog and one of the leading ones is, “Who is the top workers’ compensation lawyer in Chicago?” I chuckle at this because it reminds me of relatives talking about their doctor being “the best” there is. It feels good to believe you have the top … Continue Reading
I’ve been an Illinois workers’ compensation attorney for 21 years. I like to say that I’ve heard it all, but recently I heard something new. A woman called me looking for a lawyer. I looked up her case and discovered that she had hired an attorney who had filed the case just one week prior. … Continue Reading
Attorneys are required to do 30 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) every two years. I’m listening to one right now about time management and attorneys and it brings up a great point. In a nutshell, there are a lot of lawyers who are late. They miss deadlines to email you, to call you, they … Continue Reading
The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) employees over 4,800 workers and while some of them are paper pushers, most are working to make sure that our bridges and roads are safe. Their work can be as simple as removing roadway debris to as serious as making repairs. Because these are often heavy labor jobs there … Continue Reading
