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
A City of Chicago worker called me after suspecting his lawyer was telling him a lie. Every year hundreds of City workers become permanently disabled from working through job injuries. City of Chicago workers do some of the toughest, most dangerous work around. Under a weird rule of City of Chicago politics, you can’t settle … Continue Reading
Worker’s compensation is a way for injured employees to get money for work injuries (for medical costs and lost income) without filing a lawsuit. The good thing about this is that you don’t have to file a lawsuit in order to get compensated. The downside, for some, is that you can’t collect the types of … Continue Reading
You should always notify your employer of any work injury. It’s common sense, but it’s also how you start the ball rolling on getting workers’ compensation benefits. Under Illinois law you are entitled to payment of your medical bills, as well as a portion of your lost wages if you are unable to work while … Continue Reading
A lawyer who dabbles in workers’ compensation contacted me for advice on one of her client’s cases. I thought it was an interesting scenario so I’m sharing it with you. She is representing a construction worker who injured his back and can not perform his normal job which regularly requires lifting more than 50 pounds. … Continue Reading
We’d like to save you from losing out on potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. The law in Illinois entitles injured employees to certain benefits. Any medical treatment that is reasonable and related to your work injury should be paid for in full by your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance. The insurance company also should reimburse … Continue Reading
We had an interesting call recently from a man whose leg was amputated from a work injury in Chicago almost five years ago. Under Illinois law, because the amputation was below his knee, he was entitled to 215 weeks of permanent partial disability payments. And that’s what happened. Every week for the last 215 weeks, … Continue Reading
I’m going to go off on a little rant here, but it’s with good reason. In less than one week, four clients of a particular Chicago workers’ compensation law firm called me with a similar story which is basically that their lawyer sucks and doesn’t do anything for them. What got me on this rant … Continue Reading
I got a very long e-mail from a reader recently that gave great details about her injury. It was crystal clear that she was hurt while working and that her very credible doctor thinks she needs physical therapy after a MRI showed bulging discs in here back. For some reason the physical therapy treatment hasn’t been … Continue Reading
I’ve written before how there tend to be a lot of trends in the types of calls and e-mails that we get about Illinois work injuries. The latest one has been from people who were hurt a while ago, went to the hospital and were told by their employer or the insurance company that the … Continue Reading
A few years ago, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act was changed in many ways. One of the most meaninful ways was that your employer could choose one of your treating doctors for you. Under Illinois law, you are allowed to have two sets of medical opinions on your case. So if you go to your … Continue Reading
In any area of law, including workers’ compensation, the rules change from time to time. Sometimes it’s because a new law goes into effect. Other times it’s because a court rules on an interpretation of the written law or how it applies in various situations. I recently heard that insurance companies are telling injured workers … Continue Reading
I’m not a very political person. I believe in workers’ rights which is probably a more democratic principal, but I’m also in favor of lower taxes which is probably a more republican issue. I try to evaluate every scenario for what it’s worth, but don’t get involved politically because it’s not my thing and I … Continue Reading
The story of permanently injured professional wrestlers is similar to the football players who have been suing their organizations for not doing more to prevent and treat concussions. As medical knowledge improves and athletes come forward, it’s bringing to light the lifelong damage that can be caused by participating in these intense contact sports. It’s … Continue Reading
Having a good doctor, and one you can trust, is one of the most important parts of getting through a work injury. It’s good for your health, of course, but it also helps when it comes to getting the benefits that are available to you under Illinois workers’ compensation law. Regardless of what the … Continue Reading
We write about a lot of the nuances and specific situations in Illinois law when it comes to work injuries. Here, however, is a broad overview of the three main benefits available. We want to give as much information as possible to employees who are facing this situation. We’ll also talk to anyone for free … Continue Reading
TTD is shorthand for Temporary Total Disability. TTD benefits are what you receive if you are unable to work because of a job injury. It’s meant to partially replace your regular paychecks until you can get back to work. The amount of TTD varies from person to person because it is based on your income. … Continue Reading
Many workers’ compensation claims settle in the end, and there are several things to know before you get to that point in your claim. Don’t get pushed into a settlement. Insurance companies are known for making artificial deadlines for accepting a settlement. It’s meant to make you panic and accept a settlement offer that is … Continue Reading
An initial consultation with an Illinois work injury lawyer should be free. If you decide to hire the lawyer, then they should file your claim without charging you. It’s not a complicated matter at this point. If your claim is accepted and you start receiving benefits right away, your lawyer should not take any portion … Continue Reading
We understand that when a lawyer tells you that your case is work “X” dollars, you feel relieved to finally have an answer. You want to hire this lawyer because they seem to have certain knowledge. After getting injured at work, there are way more questions than answers and you just want to know what … Continue Reading
In almost every type of legal matter there exists a principle that if you settle your case, it’s done forever. So if you get in a car accident in Wisconsin and settle with the truck driver that hit you, you can’t turn around and then sue them in Illinois or anywhere else just because their … Continue Reading
When you file a claim for workers’ compensation, it’s similar to filling a claim with your health insurance. It’s not a lawsuit, and in fact, Illinois law says that you can’t sue your employer for an injury. You have to file a claim in order to get compensation, which is typically paid by your employer’s … Continue Reading
A reader of my blog contacted me because he had a question about the settlement of his Illinois workers’ compensation case. To be clear, his claim is not being handled by my office or anyone that I recommend in my state wide network of attorneys. But like many readers, he contacted me because he knows … Continue Reading
A reader asked the following: My husband was on workers compensation and after awhile died of heart attack. The compensation for the claim settlement never came about even though he was deemed disable from work injury. I was told that since he died the claim was closed and I was not entitled to any claim … 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
