Chicago Personal
Injury Attorney Blog

When injured on the job in Illinois, many workers fear they will become responsible for paying mounting medical bills.  In this case, it is often advisable to seek representation by a Chicago personal injury attorney who specializes in workers comp cases. He or she can ensure your rights are protected. Under the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Act, your employer is responsible for payment of all medical bills that are reasonable, necessary, and related to the work injury.  An Illinois personal injury lawyer can help you ensure payment is made by your employer or its workers’ comp insurance carrier.

Due to some recent amendments to the worker’s compensation laws, medical providers are no longer allowed to place unpaid medical bills in collections, or send you a bill for the unpaid balance, or file suit on those bills. All they can do is send you reminders.  There are certain actions that you or your Chicago personal injury attorney need to take in order to place the medical provider on notice that a bill is related to a worker’s compensation claim.  Once they are made aware of that fact, they have to hold those bills in abeyance until the conclusion of your Worker’s Compensation claim.

Obviously, if a bill is found to be not compensable under your workers comp case, you are ultimately responsible for payment. However, as long as those bills are related to the work injury, you have a right to have your employer or its workers comp insurance carrier pay those bills.  A competent Illinois personal injury lawyer who concentrates on workers comp cases can ease your worries about payment, and ensure you are protected according to the law.

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A majority of personal injury lawsuits end up never going to trial and instead are settled out of court with a specific monetary offer. But just because you have received a settlement offer, this does not mean that the case still does not merit a trial or that, if you do decide to settle, that you have to accept the first offer on the table.If you live in Illinois, the advice of an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney will help you determine the best course of action if you are offered a settlement. Working together, you will be able to evaluate whether or not the offer is appropriate or if going to trial will be more advantageous for your case. It is likely that the attorney will ask these questions to help you make a sound decision about the offer:

How much has this injury cost you so far? Add up the medical expenses and lost wages that you have already incurred as a result of the injury – how does this stack up to the offer put forth? In a sound case, these basic costs should be included in a settlement offer.

How much will the injury cost you in the future? Financially speaking, determine how much the injury will cost you long-term. Then figure the emotional and social damage that the injury has caused or will continue to cause in your life. Although you may consider long term damage to be impossible to put a dollar value on – your Illinois personal injury lawyers can draw on experience to come up with a fair monetary amount.

What is the minimum amount you are willing to accept? Most people have an idea of what they expect financially as the result of a settlement. Keep in mind, however, that sometimes, the dollar amount perceived by the client as fair is unrealistic. Based on experience, your Illinois personal injury lawyers should be able to objectively counsel you as to whether or not your minimum figure for compensation is reasonable.

How much of the settlement amount will go to lawyers’ fees and expenses? Remember that your legal fees will be taken from the settlement. After these fees are paid, will you still have a fair amount of compensation for the extent of the injury? Be sure to consider these types of costs, as well as the taxes that will need to be paid. Your Illinois personal injury attorney will listen and advise you as you consider these questions, taking into account all the relevant information. If you decide that the offer is too low based on these parameters, it can be rejected, and may result in another, higher offer. If you and your attorney decide that justice will best be served through a jury, however, then a trial may be the next step.

If you have any questions about personal injury lawsuits, settlements or your rights after an injury in the state of Illinois, contact an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney today.

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The decision to pursue a lawsuit can be difficult, and many factors must be considered before the process begins. First of all, if you think you might have a case, you will want to be sure that you find an experienced personal injury lawyer who can advise you on the merits of a possible lawsuit. Since laws vary from state to state, Illinois personal injury lawyers will be able to specifically counsel you on the laws that pertain to you within the state.Having a general idea of personal injury lawsuits will help prepare you for your initial consultation with a Chicago personal injury attorney. Keep these facts in mind as you prepare to meet with a lawyer:

Does your case have merit?

Chicago personal injury attorneys are contacted by hundreds of potential clients a year, but not all warrant a lawsuit. Although you may believe that you were wronged and deserve compensation, remember that your idea of compensation may be different from that permitted by Illinois law.

What are your chances of winning in court?

If you plan to pursue a lawsuit in Illinois, personal injury lawyers will advise you on the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence. They will also be able to judge the evidence of your opponent to determine if there is a strong case against them. An attorney will also counsel you when determining whether or not your witnesses will be reliable and/or believable, and even assess your own personality, and determine whether or not you will appeal to jurors.

Are you prepared to settle?

The truth is, the majority of personal injury lawsuits are settled out of court. This may not always produce the desired amount of compensation, since it is a compromise between two positions. It does however remove the risk and high cost of litigation. Consider that if you go to court, a jury can find against your case and award you nothing. Deciding to accept a settlement, however, does not mean that there is no room for negotiation. You and your attorney will discuss the pros and cons of an offer and weigh all the elements that will provide fair compensation for emotional, physical or financial loss due to injury.

If you are considering pursuing a lawsuit, the first step is to find an experienced attorney that you trust – and take the time to educate yourself about the workings of the law in your state. With the assistance of a Chicago personal injury attorney, you will be able to move forward with a clear idea of what to expect from the legal process in llinois.

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Chicago personal injury attorneys say if you are injured at work as an employee of the railroad, there are a few crucial steps you must take.

First, you should obtain immediate medical treatment, and provide specific explanations to the doctor about how your accident happened. You should note that it happened at work, and do your best to be precise in your descriptions of pain problems to your doctor or the company doctor.

Next, you should get the names of witnesses and their phone numbers if possible.

You should consult an Illinois personal injury lawyer immediately. Your employer has high-paid attorneys working to stop you from receiving just compensation — and they work very quickly in FELA cases.

Finally, if your employer offers you free medical care, take it. Consult with your Chicago personal injury attorney about seeing your own physician. The employer’s doctor is likely to be biased against you and in favor of your employer, so it is important that you also have your own treating physician.

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In the state of Illinois, personal injury lawyers may represent injured railroad workers, using the provisions of the FELA (Federal Employees Liability Act) to protect their client’s rights. The FELA provides many benefits for federal workers.

One unfortunate aspect of the FELA law is that once an injured worker reaches his “maximum cure,” the employer need no longer pay for his medical bills. In other words, say Chicago personal injury attorneys, if medical bills are purely for “palliative” purposes (which is to treat pain) rather than providing functional improvement, then the employer may cut off benefits.

For example, if there is no cure for an employee’s back pain and the patient is functionally as good as he will get, then paying for prescriptions to alleviate pain becomes the responsibility of the employee, not the employer.  To force an employer to pay for “palliative” treatment in Illinois, personal injury lawyers must prove the employer was negligent or did not provide a safe place to work. If there is a dispute regarding whether treatment is palliative or not, the court will generally rely on the word of the treating physician.

Hence, to sum it up the provisions of the FELA, if your employer was negligent, you are entitled to compensation for pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, future pain and suffering, lost wages and all medical bills. If your employer was NOT negligent, then you are entitled to maintenance and cure that is payment of medical bills and a percentage of your lost wages until you have reached a state of maximum medical improvement.

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If you are an employee of the railroad and were injured on the job, your case falls under the Federal Employees Liability Act (FELA). According to Chicago personal injury attorneys, the FELA is a law that provides special protection to employees of railroads.

If you are able to prove your employer was negligent (that is, provided an unsafe place to work) then you can recover for pain and suffering and disability. With proper representation by an Illinois personal injury lawyer, you should be able to recover full compensation. This type of case is usually worth much more than a Workers Compensation case since Workers Comp has strict statutory limitations. Further, with the FELA, your case may be decided by a jury, which is always preferable since juries tend to relate well to an injured Plaintiff.

Under the FELA, if your injury was not caused employer negligence, then there can be no recovery for pain and suffering and disability. However, the employer is still responsible for paying the your medical bills and a percentage of his or her lost wages. This is called maintenance and cure.

Sometimes a worker is considered “employed” by the railroad even if he has a non-railroad employer. In these cases, if a Chicago personal injury attorney can demonstrate that the injured Plaintiff was 1) borrowed by the railroad or 2) working for two employers simultaneously, the railroad and his own employer, or 3) the injured Plaintiff’s employer is subservient to the railroad (under the railroad’s control), then they can seek protection for their client under FELA. This can make the difference between a lifetime of benefits compared to the more meager Workers Compensation remedies.

If you were injured on the job as a railroad worker in Illinois, personal injury lawyers can help you obtain the justice you deserve.

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