Surviving Spouse Rights In Illinois Workers’ Compensation Cases

By Mike Helfand on February 27, 2023 Posted in Benefits

One of the saddest situations in Illinois workers’ compensation law is when a client dies. When you get to know someone well, you are losing a friend, not just a client. It’s of course 1,000 times harder for a surviving spouse. The purpose of this post is to let you know your rights as a surviving spouse when an Illinois work comp claim is on file.

I’m referring to situations where a person is injured on the job and later dies of causes unrelated to the work accident. Note that if your spouse dies of a work-related injury or in part because of that (something like a heart attack brought on by significant weight gain following an accident), that would be a different type of case and one we should definitely talk about.

With Covid especially, we’ve seen a lot of instances in the last few years where someone has a work-related accident and then dies of something like Covid, cancer, heart disease, etc. Their surviving spouse wants to know if they will be able to get the settlement that their loved one would have been entitled to.

The number one thing we look for in these situations is were they at maximum medical improvement or MMI. This is a medical term that basically means you are as good as you are going to get and have essentially been discharged from the care of a doctor. That doesn’t mean you could never have more medical care, but that your recovery has stabilized and you are not going to have regular appointments anymore.

If that happens prior to the death, then you are entitled to the permanent partial disability settlement that your partner would have received. Now it’s arguable that you shouldn’t get the full amount they might have received as factors such as continued pain won’t be a real issue, but according to Illinois case law, that shouldn’t really be considered.

In a recent case, a surviving spouse was awarded a 40% loss of the man for the injury of a police officer on the job who later died of cancer. That ended up being a payment in the six figures.

What is incredibly unfair about these cases is that if your spouse wasn’t at MMI, you might not be able to recover anything other than lost time and medical bill payments. But every case is different and worthy of a review. If you’d like a free consultation with an experienced Illinois workers’ compensation lawyer, call us any time at 312-346-5578.

Chicago Bears Player Shows How To Win A Pre-Existing Knee Injury Case

By Mike Helfand on February 24, 2023 Posted in Do I Have a Case?

One thing that I don’t think my injured workers in Illinois think about is that professional athletes are covered under the same Illinois work comp laws that they are. And because they often have major injuries, their cases can be a road map for how “regular” workers can win their cases.

Now you’d have to be a pretty big Chicago Bears fan to know who Fadol Brown is. He was signed to the practice squad in October of 2019 and never actually played a game for them. Two weeks after signing, he ruptured his patella during practice and underwent knee surgery a couple of days later.

Of note is that prior to signing with the Bears, he had played for the then Oakland Raiders and suffered a right knee injury with them as well. It was also a patellar tendon injury. But after that injury, he returned to football and normal activities and did not have any problems or treatment to that knee for over two years. And then prior to signing with the Bears he was able to pass a pre-employment physical.

So to any person with any common sense, the practice accident was an acceleration of a pre-existing condition and clearly should be covered as compensable under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. The Bears fought it and lost in court at arbitration. They appealed and lost that too and ultimately Brown was given a large settlement in the six figures.

The lesson for any worker in Illinois is that you can have a prior and significant problem, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a work comp case if your injury gets worse. In this case, he was able to return to full duty work of being a football player and was treatment free for two years. The new accident required surgery which is a clear escalation of any problem that existed previously.

It should be no different for any other worker in Illinois. Imagine a construction worker with a back injury who received some physical therapy two years ago. Today on the job he’s lifting some steel and his back pops. He gets a MRI which shows a herniated disc and eventually has surgery. In the last two years he hasn’t seen a doctor once for his back. That should clearly be a great case that no insurance company can credibly fight.

Or picture a secretary who had a cortisone injection for carpal tunnel syndrome two years ago and has not seen a doctor since and has been able to work the whole time. During a busy time at work she works an extra 20 hours per week over three weeks and her carpal tunnel symptoms come back. This time they don’t get better and she needs surgery per her doctor. Just like the football player, she was hurt, got better, continued to work and then had an incident that made her problem much worse.

The bottom line is that while every case is different, don’t let insurance adjusters scare you in to thinking you don’t have a case because of some prior problem. Especially if you’ve been treatment free for a bit and able to work, the odds are likely in your favor.

Flight Attendant Injury Location When They Are Hurt In The Air

By Mike Helfand on February 21, 2023 Posted in Do I Have a Case?

We’ve been fortunate enough to help hundreds of flight attendants with Illinois workers’ compensation cases. Their cases are often unique because of the fact that while flight attendants have a home base, they don’t really have an office location. In fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of calls I’ve received from flight attendants who were hurt in an office setting. Most of them sustain injuries either while on a layover (yes those are covered typically even if they are off the clock) or while in air.

The biggest cause of in flight accidents for flight attendants is turbulence. We also see a lot of injuries reported from when they help passengers with luggage or sadly when unruly passengers get violent. A recent caller to my office is a Southwest flight attendant who hurt her back when unexpected turbulence caused her to lose balance as she was walking down the aisle. The flight originated out of the east coast and the accident was in the air. She wanted to know if she could bring the case in Illinois because she lives here.

The good news in this case is that she could because her home terminal is Chicago Midway. That alone is enough to qualify for jurisdiction under Illinois law. The accident technically happened nowhere because it was in the sky, so another way to qualify for Illinois benefits is based on where you are considered to primarily work out of.

Had she not been based here, there is another way we would have been able to help her. If her “contract for hire” took place in Illinois, then under Illinois workers’ compensation law, she is entitled to bring her case here. With flight attendants, it’s not uncommon for home terminals to change a lot. Maybe they moved. Maybe a staffing issue requires them to change their base.

But if when they were originally hired it happened in Illinois, that might be enough to make the case here. And in most instances that’s a huge benefit as states like Texas, Arizona, Indiana and others are terrible for injured workers.

When we say that they were hired here, we are referring to the last act required to make them an employee. That’s usually a physical or drug screen, but can also just be the interview experience or when and where you fill out necessary paperwork. The big exception to that is for United flight attendants. With a possible exception to those who used to be with Continental, most United flight attendants (and pilots) through their union contract can bring their cases here.

The good news is that because we’ve helped with so many of these cases, even if we can’t help you here, we know great work comp lawyers in other states too. If you’d like a free consultation to discuss your case, call us anytime at 888-705-1766.

Illinois Workers’ Compensation Settlement Loans – What To Know

By Mike Helfand on February 18, 2023 Posted in Tips if Injured

We are experienced Illinois workers’ compensation lawyers. If you have questions about lawsuit loans or anything else, call us at 312-346-5578 for a free consultation.

If you have ever watched daytime television, you’ve probably seen an advertisement for “lawsuit loans.” The pitch is that if you have a work injury, car accident or other case where you’ll be getting money someday, they can give you some of that money now.

In theory it sounds great. Many people have financial trouble even before an accident. Getting hurt at work or elsewhere can create additional and very real financial hardships. This is especially true if your benefits are late or cut off or if you can’t work overtime anymore. So I get why people get intrigued by the possibility of a settlement loan.

The way these loans work is that you contact them, they learn about your case, they typically want to speak with your lawyer and then they make an offer to you. What sounds great about these loans is that if you don’t win your case, you don’t have to pay them back. And they can get you your money within 24-48 hours. It almost seems to good to be true.

The reality is that they will never make a loan offer on a case where you aren’t expected to get a settlement of victory at trial. In fact, they almost always get paid back for this reason. So the risk to them is rather low and the upside is really high. I say that because most of these companies charge really high interest rates. And if they give you the loan in 2023 and the case doesn’t settle until 2026, the $10,000 you borrow today could be $40,000 when it’s time to pay back.

In other words, if they give you 10k today, if you settle the case for $100,000.00 in 2026, after lawyer fees of $20,000.00, you’d only get an additional $40,000.00 instead of $80,000.00. That’s a huge difference.

Most of the loan companies I’ve seen won’t give super large loans, but with interest rates so high it ends up feeling like it. And if the case that everyone thought would settle for 100k ends up settling for 50k, you essentially end up with nothing.

I haven’t met a lawsuit loan company that I find appealing and as a result, whenever someone tells me they want to get a loan against their settlement, I try to talk them out of it. If you absolutely have to do it, I’d suggest two things:

1. Talk to your attorney to see if there is any way the insurance company would pay an advance against your settlement. That is rare, but if your benefits are cut off while an IME is pending, it can happen. And if it does it costs you nothing and there is nothing to pay back.

2. If you have to take a loan because if you don’t you’ll get evicted or something else extreme will happen, keep it as low as possible and avoid doing it again.

I’d also encourage you that if a lawyer is telling you how great these loans are, it’s a red flag. Unless they’ve found one that has a really low interest rate, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had some sort of conflict of interest. In one instance, a lawyer in Chicago was referred for ethical sanctions because he was referring clients who needed money to his Dad. Others I suspect get kickbacks of some sort whether it’s direct financial compensation or referrals of potential clients who aren’t represented.

I get that this can be tough and confusing. If you want to talk about it for free, please contact us anytime.

Does Illinois Workers Compensation Pay For Pain And Suffering?

By Mike Helfand on February 15, 2023 Posted in Benefits

Many workers who call our office are pissed off. It happens for a variety of reasons. They got hurt because their company didn’t follow basic safety rules. Or the insurance adjuster is being awful to them. Or their boss is pressuring them to come back before they are ready to. Whatever the reason, their work injury becomes more aggravating than it should be.

What I hear next is usually something along the lines of “Can I get compensated for pain and suffering?”

The short answer is that pain and suffering is not part of Illinois workers’ compensation claims.

The longer answer is that Illinois work comp settlements take in to account how the injury has affected and continues to affect your life. The pain you notice while working matters. The pain you have while doing normal daily activities such as walking around or playing with your kids matters. So does what you notice when you try to sleep. The pain element is a big factor in any workers’ compensation case. The worse it has been and still is, the more the case is worth.

There is no specific settlement amount for “suffering” in Illinois work comp cases. But another big settlement factor is the type of medical care that you’ve had. Generally speaking, the more serious your injury, the more you suffered and the more medical care that would be required. A back surgery is painful and it also likely makes your case worth much more than if your treatment resolved with just physical therapy. So while it’s not called suffering, in most cases, the more you suffer, the more a case is worth.

And while we can’t typically increase the case value because your company didn’t follow safety rules, if the insurance adjuster is breaking the law by not paying benefits without good reason, they can be hit with penalties and fees that punish them for their bad behavior.

More so, unlike car accidents where the ultimate value of the case is in part due to how much insurance the defendant and you have, there are no caps or insurance limits in Illinois work comp cases. We’ve seen catastrophic car accident cases where the case ended up only being worth $25,000 because that’s all the insurance that was available. The plaintiff didn’t get pain and suffering or anything else near the true value of what they deserved. That doesn’t happen in work comp cases.

My advice is not to worry about what something is called, but focused on what you are and aren’t able to recover financially. If you win $400,000.00 but they don’t call it pain and suffering, that’s a lot better than getting $50,000 and them calling it for suffering or anything else.

This can be confusing, so if you have any questions and want to speak with a lawyer for free, contact us any time.

How An Illinois Work Comp Case Was Worth 45% Of A Leg

By Mike Helfand on February 12, 2023 Posted in Benefits

Almost every caller to our office at some point wants to know what their Illinois workers’ compensation case is worth. If it’s not the first thing they ask, it’s in the back of their mind somewhere and it will be asked at some point. That’s a perfectly logical thing to wonder about.

I tell people that every case is different because every case is in fact different. What your case is worth depends on your medical treatment, wages, age, job history, future medical needs, possible defenses to your case and many more things.

And while I don’t want to give an example that makes people think they can figure out what their case is worth, I do think it’s relevant to show how one laborer in Illinois was awarded 45% loss of the leg for his injury.

In that case, the worker was part of a landscaping crew. He did what you’d expect. He mowed lawns and cut trees. He also did things like help construct patios and other basic landscaping duties. One day at work he was cutting a large tree trunk when it fell on his leg. He ended up having surgery and missed about three months of work.

That doesn’t sound like a major injury until you learn more. The Arbitrator awarded 45% of the leg for some of the following reasons:

His job is physically demanding and requires him to be on his feet most of the day.
He was only 35 and had 30 years left of work life expectancy.
His detailed injury was a fractured tibia, a spiral fracture of the fibula, a subluxation of the patella, an acute, traumatic, comminuted fracture of the lateral tibial plateau, a complex torn meniscus and bone loss.
He has permanent hardware in his leg from the surgery which consists of plates and screws.
He may need future surgeries for ligament repair.
He didn’t meet his physical therapy goals.
His surgical wound isn’t healing well.
He describes his pain as 8 out of 10 when he physically exerts himself.
He has frequent moments of leg instability.
He has trouble sleeping on his left side due to pain.

The picture I’m trying to paint is that these are the types of details that are taken into consideration when settling a case or getting an award at trial as happened here. The basic case is a guy hurt his leg, had surgery and returned to work. Too many people hear that simple story and conclude that their case must be worth something similar. The reality as shown above is so much more. This guy had really significant injuries and has ongoing issues. He returned to his normal job which lowered the value of his case, but also has a heavy duty job which increased the value. These aren’t common sense or one size fits all evaluations. So when we tell you that every case is different, this one does a good job of showing it.

If you want an estimate of what your case is worth, that can only happen when it’s clear what your medical care and ability to work will be. We are happy to do that with a review of your medical records. If you want to speak with a lawyer for free, you can call us any time at 312-346-5578.

Winning IL Work Comp When You Already Have Degenerative Disc Disease

By Mike Helfand on February 9, 2023 Posted in Benefits

One of the most common ways an Illinois workers compensation insurance company tries to deny benefits to an injured worker is by saying that you have a pre-existing condition. It’s not that these prior problems aren’t relevant. They can be. But they are not the be-all and end-all scenarios that insurance companies make them out to be. In other words, just because you were hurt before doesn’t mean that you don’t have a good work comp case now.

We see this defense used in all sorts of cases. The number one injury it’s used on is when you have back problems. The reality is that most people will at some point in their life have back pain. Some people can manage it with Advil, while others require medical care. This is true of even the fittest people on the planet.

What is also true is that people with back problems have work accidents or a repetitive, demanding job that makes their back problems worse. And when you are trying to figure out if you have an Illinois workers’ compensation case, that is the key. Did your job make your condition worse?

In a recent case, a Waste Management employee had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease back in 2010. That is a common diagnosis for someone with back pain and something that happens to many people as they get older. He still was able to drive a garbage truck for 30 years and make up to 125 stops on a 10-12 hour day. He had to push and pull garbage cans that could weigh up to 200 pounds and he also lifted a lot of heavy boxes.

One day in 2016 he started to feel his right foot get heavy. He was eventually diagnosed with right foot drop which can stem from back injuries. He ended up having a lumbar fusion. Eventually, he was released with permanent restrictions that prevented him from doing his job.

The insurance company tried to pin his problems on his 2010 diagnosis. They also took issue with the symptoms popping up while he was walking to his truck. Eventually, the Illinois Appellate Court found that the worker was injured due to his job duties which aggravated a longstanding back condition. The key again is the word “aggravated.” The job didn’t start the problems, but it made them worse.

Another way to look at it is that if he wasn’t doing this job, it doesn’t seem like he would have needed a lumbar fusion. And he wouldn’t need permanent restrictions.

The whole situation is aggravating, no pun intended. If you drive a garbage truck for 30 years and do a ton of lifting on daily, long shifts, it doesn’t take a genius to tell you that work could contribute to back problems. Yet this worker had to jump through hoops and a trial and multiple appeals to get what he was entitled to.

Fortunately, the good guys won in the end. But it doesn’t make the scenario any less frustrating.

How An Illinois Laborer Proved They Aren’t An Independent Contractor

By Mike Helfand on February 6, 2023 Posted in Do I Have a Case?

One of the biggest trends in Illinois workers’ compensation law over the last ten years or so has been employers trying to outsmart the system. They don’t want to pay for workers’ compensation insurance so they call all of their workers “independent contractors.” It’s also a way for them to cheat the Government because they avoid payroll taxes when they do this. It works out great for them unless they get caught.

In most cases, workers aren’t running to the IRS and telling them that their employer is committing a felony. But when those workers get hurt on the job, they are seeking out assistance and usually gaining access to work comp benefits.

Just because your boss calls you an independent contractor and pays you as a 1099 employee, doesn’t mean you are one. They don’t get to make the rules. Even if they get you to sign something that says you are a 1099, that doesn’t mean you are one. Instead, we look at the facts.

In determining whether you really are or aren’t an employee, the most important factor is control. The more control they have over you, the more clear it is that you are an employee. The recent Illinois Workers Compensation Commission claim of a laborer shows what I’m talking about.

In that case, a marketing company got jobs for contractors in exchange for a commission. They entered into an agreement that labeled the contractor a 1099. He was hired to clean gutters and on his third day of work, he fell off a ladder and sustained multiple injuries. He tried to make a work comp claim and was denied.

He got a lawyer who took the case to Arbitration and won all the benefits he was owed. The court noted that despite what the contract said, it was clear that the workers were serving as employees. The supervisor directed the worker and other laborers to meet up at a certain time and loaded them into a company truck. They all rode together to a job site and once there, the supervisor directed them where to start, who was assigned to certain duties, and what buildings to work in. The supervisor remained on the job site to oversee the work. They also provided all of the equipment that was needed.

So common sense tells you that the company had control. This wasn’t a handyman who was hired and brought his own tools. This wasn’t a painting company that sent out their workers. The employer was trying to game the system and did so in a shamefully obvious way.

The good news is that this worker was smart enough to not get pushed around and seems to have easily won their case. The key to winning was his credibility as a witness and the facts of control that were in his favor. Note that they don’t have to control everything, but the more the employer does control, the more likely it is that you are an employee no matter what they say or had you sign.

PPD and TTD Rates For 2023 In Illinois Work Comp

By Mike Helfand on February 3, 2023 Posted in Benefits

Under Illinois workers’ compensation law, you are entitled to payment for your time off of work. This payment is called temporary total disability or TTD. You are also eligible for a settlement (although they don’t have to give one) if you are hurt on the job and that is called permanent partial disability or PPD.

How much you will get depends on what your TTD and PPD rates are. TTD is 2/3 of your average weekly wage, but it is subject to a maximum weekly amount. The PPD rate is 60% of your average weekly wage and also is subject to a maximum amount. Those amounts are based off of what workers make on average state wide. The new benefit rates for 2023 have been recently posted by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.

The current state average weekly wage, as of January 15, 2023, is $1,386.15. That means that the TTD maximum rate for accidents on or after that date will be $1848.20. By comparison, that’s approximately $350 higher than the maximum from 2019.

For PPD, the current maximum was set July 1, 2022 and is valid for accidents through June 30, 2023. That rate is $998.02. It’s also a large increase from 2019, more than $150 higher. The end result is that settlements in Illinois workers compensation claims are worth more than they ever have. If you are injured in 2023, don’t estimate a possible settlement off of a similar injury from five years ago. Your case is likely worth much more.

Note that in cases of death, amputation or permanent disability, the PPD rate is actually the same as what is used for TTD. There is also a minimum rate which as of January 15, 2023 is now $693.08. So if a loved one died on the job, even if they were a low wage or part time worker, the weekly benefit would be at least $693.08 and as much as $1,848.20.

The TTD rate will go up as of July 15, 2023, so if you are reading this and were injured after that date, your maximum rate will be higher.

Below is a look at the rates over the last few years. This information can be confusing. If you have any questions or want to speak with an experienced Illinois work comp attorney for free, please contact us any time at 312-346-5578. We help everywhere in Illinois.

	7/15/18 through 1/14/19	1/15/19 through 7/14/19	7/15/19 through 1/14/20	1/15/20 through 7/14/20	7/15/20 through 1/14/21	1/15/21 through 7/14/21	7/15/21 through 1/14/22	1/15/22 through 7/14/22	7/15/22 through 1/14/23	1/15/23 through 7/14/23
Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW)	$1,110.09	$1,130.11	$1,147.38	$1,161.80	$1,179.01	$1,210.45	$1,270.32	$1,301.12	$1,344.55	$1386.15

Disability

Death, Permanent Total Disability, or Permanent Partial Disability if amputation of a member or enucleation of an eye

Recipients of death and PTD benefits may be entitled to cost-of-living adjustments through the Rate Adjustment Fund. Death benefits are paid for 25 years or $500,000, whichever is greater.

	7/15/18 through 1/14/19	1/15/19 through 7/14/19	7/15/19 through 1/14/20	1/15/20 through 7/14/20	7/15/20 through 1/14/21	1/15/21 through 7/14/21	7/15/21 through 1/14/22	1/15/22 through 7/14/22	7/15/22 through 1/14/23	1/15/23 through 7/14/23
MAXIMUM	$1,480.12	$1,506.81	$1,529.84	$1,549.07	$1,572.01	$1,613.93	$1,693.76	$1,734.83	$1,792.73	$1,848.20
MINIMUM	$555.05	$565.06	$573.69	$580.90	$589.51	$605.23	$635.16	$650.56	$ 672.28	$ 693.08

TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABILITY

	7/15/18 through 1/14/19	1/15/19 through 7/14/19	7/15/19 through 1/14/20	1/15/20 through 7/14/20	7/15/20 through 1/14/21	1/15/21 through 7/14/21	7/15/21 through 1/14/22	1/15/22 through 7/14/22	7/15/22 through 1/14/23	1/15/23 through 7/14/23
MAXIMUM	$1,480.12	$1,506.81	$1,529.84	$1,549.07	$1,572.01	$1,613.93	$1,693.76	$1,734.83	$1,792.73	$1,848.20

MINIMUM
The minimum is the employee’s average weekly wage or the rate below, whichever is lower.
Number of children and/or spouse:

	7/15/18 through 1/14/19	1/15/19 through 7/14/19	7/15/19 through 1/14/20	1/15/20 through 7/14/20	7/15/20 through 1/14/21	1/15/21 through 7/14/21	7/15/21 through 1/14/22	1/15/22 through 7/14/22	7/15/22 through 1/14/23	1/15/23 through 7/14/23
0	$220.00	$220.00	$220.00	$246.67	$266.67	$293.33	$293.33	$320.00	$320.00	$346.67
1	$253.00	$253.00	$253.00	$283.67	$306.67	$337.33	$337.33	$368.00	$368.00	$403.88
2	$286.00	$286.00	$286.00	$320.67	$346.67	$381.33	$381.33	$416.00	$416.00	$456.04
3	$319.00	$319.00	$319.00	$357.67	$386.67	$425.33	$425.33	$464.00	$464.00	$508.04
4+	$330.00	$330.00	$330.00	$370.00	$400.00	$440.00	$440.00	$480.00	$480.00	$520.00

New TTD minimums take effect with increases in the minimum wage each July 1, but appear in the July 15 rate. The Illinois minimum wage increased to $13.00 on January 1, 2023.

PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY IF NOT AMPUTATION OF A MEMBER OR ENUCLEATION OF AN EYE *The change in PPD disability maximum amount is derived by comparing the current FY SAWW rate with the prior FY SAWW rate. PPD rates are updated annually on or about January 15

Effective 2/1/06, the maximum 8(d)1 (wage differential) award is equal to the SAWW, and the minimums are the same as the TTD minimums.

	7/1/11 through 6/30/12	7/1/12 through 6/30/13	7/1/13 through 6/30/14	7/1/14 through 6/30/15	7/1/15 through 6/30/16	7/1/16 through 6/30/17	7/1/17 through 6/30/18	7/1/18 through 6/30/19	7/1/19 through 6/30/20	7/1/20 through 6/30/21	7/1/21 through 6/30/22	7/1/22 through 6/30/23
MAXIMUM	$695.78	$712.55	$721.66	$735.37	$755.22	$775.18	$790.64	$813.87	$836.69	$871.73	$937.11	$998.02

MINIMUM The PPD minimum rate is the same as the TTD minimum rate (see above).

Why Isn’t My Illinois Work Comp Case Settled Yet?

By Mike Helfand on January 30, 2023 Posted in Benefits

A caller to my office was incredibly frustrated with his case. Here’s what he had to say. Note that he’s not a client of ours.

I was hurt six years ago and my work comp case isn’t settled. Is it because I work in Chicago? None of it makes sense to me.

We talked to him further and it turns out that he had a major injury that required multiple surgeries and almost three years missed from work. He’s back to a new job within the company, but just stopped treating with his doctor a little more than six months before he called me. So while his case could be settled by now, it’s not insane that it isn’t. It’s possible that his lawyer is lazy, but it’s also possible that they are working out some Medicare issues and making sure he can tolerate work. It’s also possible that the settlement demand is so large that it’s taking longer to resolve because multiple people have to approve it.

In the big picture for you though, remember that every case is different. If it’s been six years and your case hasn’t settled that would be unusual. Here is an incomplete list of why some cases take so long to settle:

You have a major injury and haven’t finished your treatment. That means the case isn’t ready to settle.
The case is disputed and needs to go to trial so depositions of the doctors need to be taken. Only when it’s ready for trial will the insurance company make their best offer.
The insurance company went bankrupt and now the case is being handled by the Illinois Insurance Guarantee Fund. When that happens it will often add years to a case.
You hired a terrible attorney. When I first started practicing law 25 years ago, one lawyer who boasted of having gone to Harvard seemed to never settle his cases. It makes no sense as the lawyer doesn’t get paid until the client does and his cases were ready to settle. But some attorneys are just lazy or incompetent or overwhelmed and do a bad job.
The insurance company won’t offer a fair amount. There is no requirement that they give you a settlement offer and sometimes they won’t for strategic reasons. In that case you have to go to trial. Some lawyers don’t see what is really happening and you end up waiting around.
Issues such as a Medicare set aside need to be worked out still.
You haven’t found a job within your restrictions yet. If you settled now it would potentially be for much less than you could get.
You had a second work related injury and even though the first one is healed, the insurance company wants to wait and settle them both at the same time.
The insurance adjuster who was handling your case left the company and whoever took over their files is behind.

Whatever the reason, if your case is truly ready to settle and you either haven’t gotten a settlement offer or don’t like the one you got, there is only one solution. Your lawyer has to get the case ready for trial. That means taking doctor depositions, securing your medical records and bills by subpoena and arranging for witnesses if any are needed. After that it’s just a simple trial motion and you should have your day in court. Being ready for trial will force their best offer if there is going to be one and if there’s no offer, a trial victory is the only way to get paid.

Sadly, some work comp attorneys in Illinois are settlement only and don’t go to trial very often if at all. If that’s what you have, you have the wrong lawyer. If there isn’t a significant settlement offer already, you can likely get a new, better firm. If you’d like to discuss your case, you can contact us for free and in confidence any time at 312-346-5578. We have a state wide network of attorneys so we help everywhere in Illinois.