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.
If you have read my blog for a while or talked to me, you know I’m a straight shooter. I’ll tell people when they don’t need a lawyer. I’ll tell people if their current attorney is doing a good or terrible job. I’ve made it my policy to be direct, blunt and honest. So when … Continue Reading
One thing I try to constantly remind myself when talking to people who have been injured at work in Illinois is that they shouldn’t be expected to have any experience with the Illinois work comp system or knowledge about IL work injury laws. There are a lot of basics that I wish everyone knew, but … Continue Reading
If you are driving while working and get in to a car accident that is someone else’s fault, you can sue the other driver and file for Illinois work comp benefits. The question is should you do both? I was asked this recently by a suburban Chicago man who was badly injured in a car … Continue Reading
Every couple of months I like to do a post on some of the best questions we’ve received as of late. If you ever have a question you can contact us for free to talk to an attorney in confidence. In no particular order: I was hurt while working at a customer’s home. Does that … Continue Reading
A caller to my office injured his back a few months ago in central Illinois. As we’ve created a state wide network of experienced work comp attorneys, I referred him to a downstate lawyer to discuss taking the case over from his current attorney. It looks like it’s going to work out. The crazy part … Continue Reading
A caller to my office was a driver for a major shipping company and got injured in two accidents, resulting in a severe neck and back injury. He was a high wage earner and it’s doubtful that he will ever get back to that job again. With a 30 year work life expectancy he stands … Continue Reading
One of the worst thing that Illinois workers’ compensation insurance companies do is take advantage of “go along” people. By that I mean there are a lot of people who will just go along with whatever someone else says as they assume they are being told the truth and don’t want to make waves. This … Continue Reading
When I started off my legal career over 20 years ago, I worked as an insurance defense attorney. It’s the best training for learning how to handle cases for injured workers because you learn how insurance companies really think. As I’m pro-worker, I hated the job, but I learned a lot that has helped me … Continue Reading
A reader asked us the following: My husband was injured on the job about seven weeks ago. We filed the claim right away, but still do not have an answer from the insurance company as to whether or not they are going to approve his case. How long does this normally take? We get questions … Continue Reading
When you get hurt at work in Illinois, sometimes you are so disabled that you can’t do anything. Other times you are injured and maybe can’t do your normal job, but can do some work. When you can’t work at all you receive workers’ compensation benefits. One caller to my office wanted to know if … Continue Reading
We are experienced Illinois work injury attorneys who give direct, honest advice. If you have any questions please call us at 312-346-5578 or fill out our contact form. Under Illinois workers’ compensation law, your employer or their insurance company has a right to medical records related to your injury. As a result, it’s very common … Continue Reading
I was recently talking to top car accident attorney at another law firm about a case I sent him. It was a driver of a Lyft who had been broadsided and injured. He hurt his leg and went to the hospital. He had told the attorney I recommended that he wanted to sign up, but … Continue Reading
A very nice woman contacted our office via chat and shared that she had severely fractured her arm and is scheduled for an MRI. Depending on what the MRI says, she might need surgery. This had all happened in the six weeks before she reached out to us. What happened next is a really shady … Continue Reading
One of the rights employers and insurance companies have under Illinois workers’ compensation law is requiring that you see a doctor of your choosing. You might get a letter asking you to go to a Section 12 exam or independent medical examination (“IME”). It’s a one time exam with a doctor who is supposed to … 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
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
If you have read my blog for a while or talked to me, you know I’m a straight shooter. I’ll tell people when they don’t need a lawyer. I’ll tell people if their current attorney is doing a good or terrible job. I’ve made it my policy to be direct, blunt and honest. So when … Continue Reading
