Catastrophic Illinois Work Comp Injuries

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Injuries

I recently talked to a woman with amazing emotional strength. I wish it was under better circumstances as she called after her husband had been crushed by a machine at work and has already been through a back fusion. Even worse is she just lost her parents.

We had a nice conversation and discussed a whole set of things. This type of consultation, when you are dealing with a lifelong, catastrophic injury is different than if a caller has something like carpal tunnel or even a torn rotator cuff. Those are serious injuries too, but ones that most workers recover from. When you are in need of a lumbar fusion within weeks of an accident or have something like a traumatic brain injury (TBI) it’s a different situation. You will have those injuries forever.

Because the conversations are different due to the life long nature of the injuries, you’d think we’d tell these callers to think long term. It’s actually the opposite. We usually advise people to think short term. Your life has just dramatically changed. In this case the caller has possible cauda equina on top of the spine injury. That is a nerve injury that can cause such serious problems as loss of bowel control, incontinence and potentially even paralysis. Worrying about life 20 years from now isn’t necessary or helpful.

Instead I encourage people to think about getting through the day, week and month and doing what they can to get the best outcome possible. That means focusing on your health which sounds like a generic statement, but it’s really important. In this case, the company was trying to make him treat with the company doctor only. That isn’t what Illinois workers comp law says and isn’t in his best interests. He needs (and got) a high level Chicago surgeon to take over his medical care.

So for now, the pain and problems are likely (and hopefully) as bad as they will ever be. It won’t be a straight line to healing. Some days will be worse than others. So focus on having as many good days in a week as you can. Focus on how you feel over a 30 day period. Focus on how you feel today. But worrying about the long term future isn’t helpful for most people.

This is true even if you have financial concerns. If you were injured on the job, you will get compensation. In the short term you will get weekly benefits. In the long term, with a major injury, you are likely going to get a six figure settlement or a continuation of weekly payments. It’s not a financial windfall, but you will have tax free money coming in.

The best thing you can is make sure that you are with a great doctor. That’s not someone your lawyer insists you see because it’s their buddy. It’s someone with a big track record of treating the type of injuries you have. Someone affiliated with a big hospital. In Chicago that usually means Northwestern, Rush, University of Chicago or Advocate. Downstate that often means Barnes in Saint Louis. In central Illinois that’s Springfield Memorial, Carle or OSF although sometimes getting your care in Chicago makes sense. Your attorney shouldn’t tell you who you have to see, but should offer an opinion if asked.

As the partner/parent/spouse/child of a worker with a major injury, the best thing you can do is help them sort out other details of their life so they can focus on their health. Be a positive support person. Do whatever you can to point out when things have improved slightly. Pick up whatever slack you can.

Legally, the concern with one of these cases when you file an Illinois workers’ compensation claim is that at some point a hack IME doctor is going to say you are fine or your problems aren’t from a work accident. That sounds insane to say, but it happens all of the time. So you need a lawyer who can show a track record of handling these bigger cases with success.

We have a state wide network of great Illinois work comp lawyers who have handled many of these cases and gotten some of the biggest and best results ever for injured workers. If you’d like a free, no commitment consult, please call us any time at 312-346-5578.

Is The Stabbing At Soldier Field A Work Comp Case?

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Do I Have a Case?

It appears that the Chicago Bears have finally found a quarterback and the team may actually be good. Check back in a month on that prediction of course.

After the convincing 36-10 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, most people were in a celebratory mood. We’ve waited a while to have a good team. That good mood apparently didn’t extend to two workers at the stadium.

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, two food and beverage workers with ASM Global got into an altercation of some sort. The two of them worked in some capacity in food and beverage service. During the altercation, one of them stabbed the other with a knife, cutting them in the shoulder and face.

My wife saw the article and joked, “There’s a work comp case.” It might be, but there’s no way to tell from the article, although there are some clues.

The game ended around 3:30 p.m. and the fight took place at approximately 6:10 p.m. If you’ve been to a Bears game, you know that food and beverage service stops before the game ends, so it’s likely that work had already been completed. It wouldn’t surprise me if these two were off the clock when this happened.

What the article doesn’t tell us is what they were arguing about. Even if they were on the clock, it would only be a work comp case in Illinois if they were arguing about something work related. For example, if one of them was smoking a joint and not doing his job and the other one got mad about that and stabbed him, that could be a case. If the stabber did it because they were arguing over who messed something up, that would be a case.

But if the argument was over a girl or a bet on the game or the election or anything else that’s not a part of the job, it would not be a work comp case. Instead the only legal action the victim could take would be to sue the attacker. Similarly, if the victim was the aggressor in this case, even if they were arguing about work, it would not be a workers comp claim. In other words, if the victim got in the other guy’s face and acted like he was going to punch him for not doing his job, if he got stabbed as a result, it would still likely be a criminal case, but not work comp.

The whole situation sounds ridiculous and it’s very likely that one of them is going to jail for a bit for a very dumb reason. I hope it’s work comp because if it’s not, it’s doubtful that a lawsuit against the attacker would amount to anything. There’s a small chance that this worker has anything you’d be able to get in a lawsuit.

On the other hand, if it is work comp, the victim would at least have all of his medical bills paid, compensation for all of his time off work and would be eligible for a settlement some day. It doesn’t make getting attacked and slashed worth it, but hopefully it eases some of the burden.

And this is the legal analysis experienced Illinois work comp lawyers do any time someone says they were attacked at work. We need facts and context in order to help determine what your options are.

Illinois Work Comp and Compensation For Pain and Suffering

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Benefits

A caller to my office wanted to switch lawyers because her attorney yelled at her and called her dumb. That was in response to her asking about getting pain and suffering for her work related injury. She shattered her arm, had a very invasive surgery and has gone through a lot of pain for sure.

The attorney she had did a terrible job of explaining Illinois work comp law. He dismissively told her there is no money for pain and suffering and that she should stop asking about it. When she said that she didn’t understand why, he said to her, “What, are you just dumb?” Total jerk.

He’s not wrong that you don’t get “pain and suffering” pay under Illinois workers’ compensation law. At least it’s not called that. But when your case is over you can get a settlement and that settlement does compensate you for the pain and suffering you’ve gone through. It’s just called permanent partial disability or PPD.

PPD is calculated in part based on what you went through, the medical treatment you had, your time off work and how the injury currently affects you. That is essentially what pain and suffering is. You shouldn’t get hung up on the fact that it’s called PPD or anything else. You will get money and in her case, as she has permanent work restrictions, she’s looking at a settlement around $100,000. That’s a great result for someone who was able to return to work.

It’s not much different than not being able to file for punitive damages when the insurance company or employer does something egregious to deny your benefits. In the Illinois work comp world we call it a petition for penalties and fees. Different name, same idea.

When you go to law school you learn a lot. What you don’t learn is how to run a business or how to communicate. You have to learn that, have it in you or be taught it by a mentor. It’s how some amazing law students end up with terrible careers and how some people who were bottom of their class end up super successful.

Customer service is a huge part of this job. Being able to communicate is really important whether it’s with a client or before a Judge. A person with a work ethic and great personality who cares about others will likely have an amazing career and be a great attorney for you.

In this case, the lawyer had the right answer, but delivered it like an asshole and he lost a client and a good attorney fee. The good news is that this worker didn’t let herself get bullied and found a better choice.

Bottom line is be goal focused. Don’t worry about words you’ve heard on TV or from your family member or friends. Your goal is to get the treatment you need, pay for time off work and compensation for how this injury has impacted your life. Those things are available under Illinois workers’ compensation law and a good attorney can get them for you. And a great one can help you understand what is actually happening while treating you like a family member or friend. For a free attorney referral, contact us today via phone, chat, or our online form.

Now Is The Best Time To Settle Your Illinois Workers Comp Case

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Tips if Injured

This is a version of a blog post I write every year around this time. I do it because it’s really important. I’m a big believer that Illinois workers should maximize the benefits they get out of a workers compensation claim. This includes getting the biggest possible settlement for your case.

One big caveat. This post applies to people who are done treating for their work related injury. Getting a settlement is great, but you should never do that before you are done with your medical care. If you do it could cost you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars and put your health at risk.

Now back to the original point. This is the best time of year to settle an Illinois workers’ compensation case? Why? Because you will never find the insurance adjuster more motivated to do so.

Insurance adjusters and their bosses get bonuses based on how many cases they close. They are given goals for how many they have to close each year. They are thinking about their personal bottom line and not what’s best for the company right now. Many of them are feeling pressure to hit a certain number of closed cases.

Insurance companies like closed cases and will offer settlements so they can know that they are done with your claim. The adjuster and/or their boss wants to have as many cases closed as possible. So they are willing to pay top dollar to resolve your case right now because it will get them one step closer to more money in their own pocket.

In other words, let’s say your case has a settlement value of somewhere between $70,000-$100,000 and that the insurance adjuster has been authorized to pay up to $95,000 to resolve your case. If this was March, they’d likely tell your lawyer that the most they can offer is $75,000 and hope that they’d tell you to take it. If your lawyer didn’t budge, they’d continue to nickle and dime you and wouldn’t be in a rush to end your claim.

But now they are less likely to play games and more likely to roll over and offer the most they can offer. That’s because from the moment a settlement is reached until the case is closed can take 30-60 days. While it’s sometimes longer and possible it can happen faster, for them, time is of the essence. They need an approved settlement contract in their hands before the end of the year so your case can be closed in a way that helps them and/or their boss.

That doesn’t mean they’ll offer the most they can right away, but many, many times we’ve seen insurance adjusters do this very quickly. It’s why we joke that It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year is a work comp song.

So if you have a good lawyer and your case is ready to settle, they should be aggressive and make it happen. If you don’t have an attorney or don’t think yours is aggressive, give us a call as we’d be happy to help you. There is a great chance you can have your settlement check in hand before the year is over. Call us any time for a free consultation, 312-346-5578. We cover all of Illinois.

When You Can’t Decide To Switch Lawyers Or Not

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Tips if Injured

While I always encourage people to stay with their Illinois work comp attorney when it makes sense to, sometimes I talk to an injured worker who clearly has a terrible lawyer and they waffle about switching. It’s like Stockholm Syndrome where the kidnap victim becomes sympathetic to their prisoner.

These are things I’ve heard from injured workers who have attorneys who haven’t called back in weeks, yelled at them, didn’t show up to court, forgot basic details about their case or didn’t file motions that they promised to file.

  • I don’t want to make him mad.
  • I’m sure they are busy.
  • This is probably normal, right?
  • It probably won’t be better with anyone else.
  • I shouldn’t have bothered him.

This is just a sampling from what I’ve heard over the years. And I’m talking about attorneys who are clearly doing a terrible job. You should respect your attorney and they should respect you. But respect is earned and when they are acting this awful, you need to look out for you and get a new law firm before it’s too late.

And it can get too late. I was called last year by an injured worker with a major back injury who had a lawyer that for whatever reason wasn’t up to the task. It is a strong case that was denied by a hack IME and the lawyer has done nothing to solve the problem. He’s also ignored phone calls. I’ve heard the attorney is having some personal problems, but that is not the fault of the injured worker. A worker shouldn’t get screwed over because the attorney is dealing with something.

I recommended a new lawyer and this worker gave some of the excuses I listed above. They had a consult with the new attorney who wanted to take over the case and laid out a clear plan as to how to fix the problems. The worker thought about it, but decided to let his lawyer have one more chance. Fast forward six months later and nothing has changed other than the insurance company making a low ball offer to resolve the case. This offer doesn’t include the surgery this worker needs.

The worker called me again and said he finally wanted to switch because the lawyer promised a phone call to discuss how to get the surgery and never called. It regrettably is too late because the settlement offer limits the fee a new attorney could get on the case. The downstate attorney I recommended declined to touch it as a result. I doubt anyone else who does a good job will be interested now either.

So this worker is unfortunately stuck with a bad lawyer who won’t fight for him. He’s getting screwed over, but didn’t make the change when he new he had the wrong firm. It’s like being at a restaurant and seeing a bunch of hairs in your food and not sending it back until you’ve eaten most of the plate. At some point it becomes too late.

My advice when things with your lawyer aren’t making you happy is to talk to someone about it. I will often discover that when the client thinks their attorney isn’t doing anything that trial motions have been filed and the attorney is doing everything they can. In other words no new attorney could speed up the process. In other instances we’ll discover that nothing is being done. If you want a free and CONFIDENTIAL consultation about your case, please call us any time at 312-346-5578.

Why Would This Chicago Work Comp Attorney Not File A Trial Motion For Two Years?

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Tips if Injured

Here’s a really common fact pattern under Illinois workers’ compensation law. The names of the workers and the employer might change and the injuries might be different, but the way it plays out happens all the time.

A worker gets hurt on the job. They report it to their employer and go to the doctor. The doctor diagnoses a problem and sends them to physical therapy. The insurance company begins to pay the bills and for the time off of work. Eventually an orthopedic doctor says that physical therapy has failed and the worker needs surgery.

Even though the insurance company has been paying benefits on this case for many months, they send the worker to an IME doctor to “evaluate” if surgery is really needed. This hired gun doctor says no surgery is needed or if it is, it’s not due to a job accident. So now the worker has their benefits cut off as their case is denied.

At this point hopefully you have an attorney because it’s time for them to go to work. And if you don’t, you better get one ASAP. The next step, assuming the orthopedic doctor is in your corner, is to take their deposition and that of the IME doctor and then go to Arbitration. If your lawyer is aggressive you could have your day in court in as little as three months (although it’s usually longer). This doesn’t solve your problem in the short term, but it’s the long term solution.

This was essentially the fact pattern of a woman who called me who was hurt in 2021, hired an attorney and had her benefits cut off in 2022. Well it wasn’t the whole fact pattern, as here it is 2024 and no trial motions have been filed, no depositions have been taken and of course there’s been no resolution.

This lawyer has basically given her lies. “There’s a huge backup at the Illinois Work Comp Commission due to Covid.” “It takes years to get to trial.” “I can’t make the IME doctor pick a deposition date.” “My dog ate the motion.”

OK, the last one wasn’t said, but it’s basically what the attorney is saying to his client. Illinois workers’ compensation law is unique, requires a lawyer who stays up on case law and can’t just be learned in a matter of days or weeks. But it’s also not brain surgery. If two doctors disagree or your case is cut off for some reason, the way to resolve that dispute is Arbitration. It doesn’t take much to get a case ready for that to happen. After that, you just hope the Arbitrator will put you on their schedule.

So why hasn’t this Chicago workers compensation lawyer done anything on this case for two years?

It’s because they aren’t an attorney who tries cases. There are a whole bunch of lawyers whose only goal is a compromised settlement. That way they can handle a huge volume of cases. We see this a lot with car accident lawyers, especially some that do heavy billboard and TV advertising. They’ll sign a case up with the goal of getting rid of it in a year no matter if it’s in the best interest of the client or not. If they can’t get it settled, they’ll just drop the case. It’s disgusting and hugely unethical.

It’s not good news, but at least the woman who called me can still have her day in court. The insurance company knows the reputation of her lawyer, so they’ve made no offers to settle. That means getting a new lawyer won’t be hard for her.

You should always ask your attorney how many cases they’ve taken to trial in the last two years. If it’s not in the double digits it’s a red flag. It’s something to ask before you hire them, even if you don’t anticipate the case will go to trial. Always prepare for the worst.

How To Get A Great Illinois Work Comp Lawyer

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Tips if Injured

A friend of mine who I consider to be an outstanding Illinois workers’ compensation attorney told me about a case he turned down. The potential client was seriously injured to the point where he’d already had two surgeries before he even called a lawyer. Even if he makes a great recovery and returns to work, this lawyer estimated the low end of the case value would be worth over $100,000.00. In other words, he gave up a fee worth at least $20,000 by declining to help this worker.

So why did he do it? Simply put, the injured worker acted like an asshole. He screamed at the receptionist when she said the lawyer was on the other line and asked if he could call back within 15 minutes. He used a ton of swear words. We aren’t prudes, but apparently the way he was using them was so aggressive that it was a huge turnoff. As in, “I want you to f my employer in the ass over how they are treating me.” There was more, but there were so many red flags on his behavior that he felt like a client who would be more trouble than it’s worth. Certainly disrespecting the staff is something you should never do.

So this worker missed out on a great work comp attorney. How do you get one if you get hurt? There are a few things that come to mind:

  • Be honest. We aren’t looking for a perfect story from you or a perfect case. But if we catch you lying about what happened or your injury, it not only makes you look bad, but makes us look bad. Just tell the truth and let us sort it out.
  • Be kind. This includes treating the staff well. You don’t have to be best friends, but you should treat people how you want to be treated.
  • Don’t be racist, sexist, etc. If we hear this type of stuff, it ends our involvement.
  • Recognize we want you to succeed on your case. We only get paid if you win and the more we get for you, the more we get. So we have selfish reasons for wanting you to do well.
  • Listen to advice. Sometimes people come in with notions that are so far from reality. In other words, they’ll tell us they want a million dollars for their back strain or to sue for pain and suffering. Neither thing is possible under Illinois workers’ comp law. We don’t care if you want to know about the law, but if we explain to you what the law is, work with us please.
  • Ask thoughtful questions. If you want to know why you can’t get pain and suffering I’ll tell you. That will include explaining how you can still get compensated, but it will be called something else. If you want to know why your neighbor’s case went differently, we’ll tell you. You asking these questions allows you to vet whether we or anyone else seems worth working together on your case. If you don’t ask questions about things that concern you, you have no way of telling if you are making a good hire.

There is no such thing as “the best” Illinois workers comp attorney. There are a lot of great ones, a lot of bad ones, and a lot of meh ones. We have a state wide network of great attorneys who have great reviews, experience and success. If you’d like our helping in finding the right one for you, please contact us any time.

Illinois Work Comp When You First Don’t Realize It’s A Work Injury

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Do I Have a Case?

When you have a repetitive use injury from your job activities, sometimes it’s obvious the cause and other times it’s not so clear. You aren’t a doctor and aren’t expected to be able to diagnose an injury or the cause of it. Your job is to work and seek medical treatment if you are in pain.

Sometimes you think you have an injury that is caused by something that isn’t from work, but later on realize it probably is from your job duties. The question becomes, is it too late to bring an Illinois work comp claim.

This happened to a recent caller of our office. She started having problems with her back. She assumed it was because of a knee injury she had from playing softball years prior. It still bothered her and her thought that was because of how she was walking it must have thrown her back out of line.

She went to a doctor who told her that her knees were fine. Her pain got worse, especially with all of the lifting she was doing in her warehouse job. Her physical therapist suggested the problem might be work related. A MRI eventually showed multiple bulging discs and she’s slated for surgery.

She wanted to know if it was too late to bring a case. Under Illinois law, you have to notify your employer of a work injury within 45 days of when you knew or reasonably should have known that you had a work related injury. In this case, it appears that the day the physical therapist mentioned something is when the clock started ticking. Note that while it’s best to formally tell your employer in writing that you believe you have a work related injury, in some cases them being aware that you are injured can be enough.

So in a case like this, her thinking at first that her injury wasn’t work related shouldn’t take away her right to pursue Illinois workers compensation benefits. Now I would expect that the work comp insurance will fight this case, especially if her older medical records mention back problems when she was treating for what she thought was continued knee issues. That’s ok. Your case doesn’t have to be perfect. And in this case, as long as she testifies credibly, the story makes sense. She’s not a doctor, she thought one thing and then a medical professional explained what is really going on. It’s not a slam dunk case, but it’s likely a winner.

My best advice to anyone who thinks they might have a work related injury is to do a few things:

  1. Get to the doctor ASAP. Tell them what you do for work and what is going on with you.
  2. Make sure your employer is aware of your injury and tell them you want to file a workers comp claim.
  3. Talk to an attorney who focuses on helping injured workers. That doesn’t mean you have to hire them, but it gives you a chance to learn what you don’t know and what you need to be thinking about. The goal is to not make any mistakes that doom your case down the road.

If you’d like a free, no commitment consultation with an experienced work comp lawyer, call us any time at 312-346-5578. We help injured workers everywhere in Illinois.

Is It Harder To Win A Work Comp Case In Conservative DuPage County?

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Do I Have a Case?

In my 27 years of being an Illinois attorney, I feel at times like I’ve heard it all. But then people come at me with questions I’ve never heard before or thought to discuss and it’s actually exciting in a way.

A great example of that is a caller who recently called me about his lower back injury. It’s a pretty straight forward case in that it happened on the job, was reported right away and he got medical care right away. An issue has come up with his possible surgery. When asking if we would help him, he said something I hadn’t ever heard before. He asked me, “I know DuPage County is really conservative. Does that make you not want to get involved in my case since it will be harder than if it was in Cook County?”

Before we discuss work comp law in Illinois, let’s discuss DuPage vs. Cook County. It’s a well known fact that if you are bringing a medical malpractice lawsuit, Cook is a more favorable place than DuPage. That’s based on years of data and me talking to the top medical malpractice lawyers in the Chicago area. I’ve heard someone with a good case in DuPage tell me the case would be worth $5-10 million more if the case was in Cook. That’s because generally speaking, jurors in DuPage are more conservative which leads to lower jury verdict amounts. It also makes the cases tougher to win.

This is of course a stereotype, but stereotypes are often true. But what does any of this have to do with winning an Illinois work comp case in Wheaton?

Honest answer is nothing. Illinois workers’ compensation claims don’t have jury trials. They have Arbitrators who are the sole decision makers. Those Arbitrators rotate, so sometimes you’ll have a conservative one, sometimes you’ll have a liberal one and other times you’ll have one that is just known as fair. And to be honest, that’s most of them.

The law is the law and I think almost every case works out the same no matter who the Arbitrator is. Yes there are some that are much more worker or employer friendly than others. Yes there are some where they will likely award the worker a little bit more or a little bit less.

But there is nothing about the case being in DuPage vs. Cook or Geneva vs. Rockford or any other city that changes what is likely going to happen. It’s literally irrelevant to us and we have never thought to not get involved in a case because of the political leanings of the area in where the accident happened.

So this was a good and interesting question, but also one where the worker was over thinking things and not understanding how the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission truly works. I don’t blame him as it’s his life and he’s trying to ask good questions in order to look out for himself. But just as we aren’t afraid to take on a big company, we aren’t afraid of taking a case anywhere in Illinois. It’s really a non issue.

Expenses And The Illinois Work Comp Attorney Contract

By Mike Helfand on Posted in Tips if Injured

A lot of people avoid hiring an attorney because they don’t believe they can afford it. With some areas of law that is a legitimate concern. Getting divorced can be crazy expensive for example. In other cases the lawyer might not cost much, but do cost more than the case is worth. For example, it doesn’t make sense to pay a lawyer $500 to get out of a $100 parking ticket.

Work comp is fortunately not an area of law where you have to worry about whether or not you can afford an attorney. There is never an up front cost to hire a lawyer, not even the bad ones :0. Attorney fees are capped at 20% of whatever settlement we can get for you in the end. And if you lose the case, you owe us nothing.

Despite this, I still talk to people every month who are afraid they can’t afford a work comp attorney. That’s because on the contract you sign with the lawyer (by law everyone has to use the same form) says the client agrees to pay the attorney for all expenses related to their pursuing the claim. And it doesn’t really clarify what that means. A copy of the standard Illinois work comp attorney representation agreement can be found here.

So what do you need to know about the expenses? What are you agreeing to when you sign that contract?

First thing to know is that there are no court filing fees. When you file a car accident injury case, the court fees for example can be over $600. Illinois work comp cases aren’t lawsuits so there isn’t a filing fee at all.

The second thing to know is that while there are expenses on most cases, they are usually very small, often under $100. In my 27 years of being an attorney I can only think of two cases where the case expenses got into the low five figures. In many cases there are no expenses at all because the client is able to provide a copy of their medical records.

Third thing to know is that attorneys advance all of the costs. If a law firm is asking you to give them any money to cover expenses that is a huge red flag. Either their firm is in shambles or the case is not a good one. No reputable attorney I’ve ever met would ask the client to front the expenses in a work comp case. The only exception I can think of is if you are switching attorneys and the case needs to go to trial because of possible defenses.

With most cases, the main expense is subpoenaing your medical records which can be as little as $20 per subpoena. Many cases can settle with this being the only expense at all. If the case might go to trial, we’d need to take the deposition of your treating doctor and the IME doctor. We pay the treating doctor for his time testifying and that can be a couple thousand dollars. There would also be a fee for the court reporter and to get a copy of the transcript that can be a couple hundred dollars. The insurance company pays for their IME doctor’s time to testify and the court reporter, but we’d have to pay their court reporter for a transcript copy.

Everything listed in the last paragraph is the limit of expenses in most cases. The big exceptions are times when we represent out of state people with Illinois work comp claims. Sometimes we have to travel to their state to take the deposition of their doctor since they are treating locally. In those situations if we have to fly a long way and spend the night in a hotel, we’d get reimbursed for that. It’s pretty rare, but even when it does happen, we aren’t flying first class or staying at the Ritz Carlton. I once took a deposition in the city where my in-laws lived and stayed with them to save the client money.

When we spend this money on your case, it’s our money, but it’s really yours. That’s because ultimately it comes out of your settlement at the end to reimburse us. Because of that, we don’t spend your money without your permission. Maybe not for a subpoena, but certainly before paying a doctor.

There are some very shady Illinois work comp law firms, in my opinion, who try to charge their clients for expenses that I don’t believe they should charge for. Examples of that are for postage, photo copying, mileage when driving to a doctor’s deposition (when it’s within an hour of their location), mileage to drive to court for status calls, meal expenses and in the worst case, inflated expenses for the doctor’s testimony because the doctor refers them cases. No law firm we work with on cases would ever do this and if we found out they did, we’d stop working with them. You should clarify with the lawyer what they will and won’t charge for before you hire them.

Beyond that, note that it’s not legal to have liens on a work comp case with the exception of child support/maintenance court orders. A lien is a legal term that basically means that if you get a settlement, someone else has a right to it. In other words, in a car accident case, a doctor can put a lien on the settlement for their bill. In work comp cases, doctors can’t do that.

With respect to how a reimbursement should work, on the settlement contract it will have a line for the amount of the settlement, expenses (called petitioner’s costs), attorney fees and something called “other” that is rarely used. A typical case would say something like this:

Total Amount of Settlement: $50,000

Deduction Attorney Fees: $10,000

Deduction Petitoner’s Costs: $200

Deduction Other: $0

Amount Employee Will Receive: $39,800.00

The final thing to know is that the contract does provide the lawyer the right to go after you for expense reimbursement if the case isn’t successful. We’ve never been involved in a case where that happened and no reputable Illinois work comp attorney would do that in my opinion. But if it makes you feel more comfortable, ask the lawyer about that before signing up.

Lots of information here, but I get it can be confusing, especially if you haven’t dealt with a lawyer before. If you have any questions you can call us for free and in confidence at 312-346-5578 or fill out our contact form.

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